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Letter to the Editor: In memory of Jerry Bortner

By Letter to the Editor
Published: April 03, 2008

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To the Editor:
When an Amateur Radio Operator (Ham) passes on, those of us left behind refer to the departed as SK – short for Silent Key. This comes from the telegraph key that Hams “pound” when they send Morse code over amateur radio frequencies.
Jerry Lee Bortner was a Ham, with the call sign KE4NHP. He enjoyed HF – High Frequency, and VHF – Very High Frequency. He talked to people all over the world, but especially with his brother Jack in Indiana. He participated in the Greene County Emergency Net on Sunday nights, preparing himself, along with the rest of us, for times when public service communications was interrupted or was knocked out completely. Ham radio can fill in many of the gaps left when that happens.
Jerry passed on the cloak of Emergency Coordinator to me. He had already broken down many of the barriers that normally exist within a community.
Thanks, Jerry. We know you’ll have fun on all those super celestial frequencies. We miss you already.
Vic Vickery, N3DFS