NS7X

Saturday marked the first anniversary of the day my OM, Bob, died.  It was an anniversary I was dreading.  Yet, so many things seemed to come together this last week as if that awful first anniversary was in itself a nexus.  For example,  I got word that my beloved husband's tombstone had been completed and was ready to be installed.  Saturday, the 81 st anniversary of the Fall of Bataan was commemorated here in Albuquerque - an event that Bob was an integral part of the planning of.  And I don't know why, but I chose this week to finally report to the FCC that Bob was a silent key.  Suffice it to say that it's been a tough week.

I noticed today that QRZ.com lists Bob as a silent key.  So I guess it's a done deal, and his call will now be up for grabs.  He loved his call dearly, and was awfully proud of it.  And, yes, it was a vanity call.

You see, Bob was a big fan of Buddy Holly.  As far as Bob was concerned, the day Buddy was killed in that tragic plane crash in Iowa was truly "the day the music died."  

When Bob upgraded from tech to general, he began looking for a new call.  When he learned that the callsign K5PSG was available he jumped on it, and got it!  You see, K5PSG was originally the call of Peggy Sue Gerron (PSG)who was not just a ham, but was the girlfriend of one of the Crickets - Buddy Holly's band.  Not only that but she was THE "Peggy Sue" made famous by the Buddy Holly song.  So, suffice it to say, Bob not only loved being a ham, but he also loved his unique tribute to the great Buddy Holly.

Here's to Peggy Sue, and Bob Cornett - both of them made the call K5PSG pretty darn cool.

 

K5PSG is a silent key.  His name was Bob.  He was not only a ham, but he was also my OM - the love of my life, my better half, my soul mate, my bestest friend ever.  

He and his writing partner, Kevin Randle, authored over 40 novels.  Some were science fiction, many of them a series about the Vietnam War.  Even though the Vietnam books were originally published in the 1980's, they are still available and are being re-read by old fans and are being discovered by a whole new generation of readers.  And that is pretty darn cool.  

He and I first met decades ago when we were both paramedics.  I guess you could say we drove fast and pushed drugs together.  We were partners both as paramedics, and then as husband and wife.  For some years, we were never separated.  We worked for a county wide ambulance service, and then, when we finished our shift, we'd be "on call" for the volunteer rescue squad for our small town.  Those were the days we learned to trust and respect each other completely.  We relied on each others' strengths, and took up the slack when it came to each others' weaknesses.  We made one helluva team.  Which we continued when we became EMS instructors and taught others how to work our craft.

Luckily for me, when we first met, one of the things that attracted him to me was the fact that I was an extra class ham.  You see, he had been enthralled with amateur radio since his Boy Scout days but had never found the time, or the opportunity, to get a license.  Had I not been a ham, I probably wouldn't have appeared on his radar at all.  It took a while (you know how life, the universe, and other things get in the way), but he did eventually did get his tech, and then his general.  It turns out, he was the ideal ham-mate for me.  He trusted my judgement in all things radio ("Bob, I think we really do need to get this HF radio...")

Bob left this life with a huge legacy.  Through his creativity, tenacity, and strength of character, his small corner of the world is a better place for having known him.  My heart is broken, but I find comfort in knowing that, as a writer, he told the stories which needed to be told.  As a paramedic, he saved lives.  As an EMS instructor, he taught others to save lives.  As a ham, he understood the frustrations and limitations prospective hams must overcome, and he was the first in line to offer encouragement, assistance, a loan of equipment, or just some sage advice.

K5PSG is a silent key.  For me, that silence is deafening.