Rohan on the air
National Commander Denise Rohan talks with Post 1992 member Lee Johnston during her post visit. (Photo by Mike Rohan)

Rohan on the air

On Feb. 21, American Legion National Commander Denise Rohan visited Gautier-Vancleave Post 1992 in Gautier, Miss. At the same time, Don Rand (KA5DON) - who helped found the post's ham radio club in 2015 - was serving as control on the K5TAL Legion net. This provided an opportunity for those listening in to hear from the commander herself, through a chain of connections: at the post, Rohan got on the phone of Lee Johnston (K5CUB), on the other end of which was Rand, who had patched his own phone in to his radio.

According to the net report Rand submitted, "During her brief comments, she expressed the gratitude of Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico to the hams who passed traffic during the hurricanes, and to all hams involved in emergency communications.

"Comments were taken from the check-ins, and while some were only able to clearly hear the first portion of her comments, and some the second half, some were able to clearly hear all of her comments due to the undulating band conditions."