Many service members dedicated lots of hours of free time to help facilitate radio communications and MARSGRAMS from and to US troops and their families during the Vietnam era. This is one man’s story.

“Jonesy”

This photo of RM1 Nathaniel Jones AKA “Jonesy” appeared in a Sunday edition of the Honolulu Tribune. “March 1967” is written on the back of the photo. While the photo was being taken the news reporter was listening on an extension telephone while Jonesy was running three minute collect call phone patches from Vietnam to the 48 states.
Jonesy first received his Ham license in Feb 1956. He joined Army MARS and was active handling MARSGRAMS on cw and voice. He served in the US Army then joined the Navy in April 1959.
Said Jonesy, “While I was on shore duty in Norfolk, VA in 1962 the Navy started Navy MARS. As a previous Army MARS member and being an RM2 they wanted me to help set up a Navy MARS net in the Virginia area.”
Jonesy was on USS Brister (DER-327) home ported at Pearl Harbor from Sept 1965 to Nov 1966. He used the shipboard radio to provide stateside phone patches for the crew while in port. Jonesy received a nice letter from the captain’s parents in Dayton, Ohio for allowing them to talk to their son.
While off duty Jonesy lived in Navy housing with his wife and two small children. He made a 2 element quad for 10, 15, and 20 meters using bamboo poles. A MARS member heading for the states gave him a 35 foot tower. Jonesy bought a swan 350 transceiver, built an amplifier using a pair of 4-400 tubes, and started running stateside phone patches for friends and neighbors. After supper he would get on 14.450 to check for Vietnam MARS stations and run patches until the band closed around 2 or 3 in the morning.
Dec 1966 Jonesy was transferred to USS Charles Berry (de1035) at Pearl Harbor and took over as lead radioman.
Jonesy recalled, “We sat in port for a long time and then got underway, following “special interest vessels”. While under underway I was not allowed any ham radio operating, but when we returned to port about 2 or 3 months later I resumed my MARS patches again.”
In July 1969 Jonesy was transferred to San Diego as an instructor at RM”A” School.
Feb 1975 Jonesy retired from the Navy and moved to Milwaukee, WI where he set up teletype operations, passing MARSGRAMS until he left NMC MARS in 1985.
Nathaniel Jones.