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MECHANICS, ETC.  LIVING IN THE DEPRESSION ERA, THEY SOUGHT BETTER PAYING
JOBS.  UNFORTUNATELY, HISTORY WOULD SHOW THAT THEY WERE TRULY IN THE WRONG
PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME.  SHIPPING OUT THE K9W TEAM ASSEMBLED FOR THE FIRST
TIME IN HAWAII ON OCTOBER 31.  AFTER DINNER, THE TEAM PREPARED FOR THE
SHUTTLE BUS TRIP TO HICKAM AT 1 AM.  HICKAM IS A RESTRICTED AIRFIELD
IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO HONOLULU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.  WHILE WAITING TO
DEPART, LOU CONDUCTED HIS FIRST TEAM MEE

ALTHOUGH TWO OFFSHORE ANCHORAGES EXIST FOR LARGE SHIPS.  THE ATOLL LIES 19
NORTH OF THE EQUATOR WITH A TROPICAL CLIMATE SIMILAR TO HAWAII.  BECAUSE
WAKE IS LOCATED WEST OF THE INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE, IT IS 1 DAY AHEAD OF
US CONTINENTAL TIME.  BECAUSE OF DEFENSE RELATED ACTIVITY THERE, WAKE IS A
HIGHLY RESTRICTED AIRBASE OVERSEEN BY THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE USAF.
THE ROLE OF WAKE IN WORLD WAR II WAKE WAS FIRST SETTLED IN 1935 BY PAN AM
AIRWAYS TO SERVICE TRANSPACIFIC CHINA CLIPPER FLIGHTS BETWEEN SAN FRANCISCO
AND HONG KONG.  AS THE STORM CLOUDS OF WORLD WAR II GATHERED IN LATE 1940,
THE US NAVY BEGAN CONSTRUCTION OF A MILITARY BASE AND AIRFIELD.  ON AUGUST
19, 1941, THE FIRST GARRISON LANDED.  LESS THAN 4 MONTHS LATER, ON DECEMBER
7, 1941, THE JAPANESE ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR AND WAKE ISLAND SIMULTANEOUSLY.
THE SMALL GARRISON HELD THEIR POSITION.  ON DECEMBER 23, WAKE ISLAND
SUCCUMBED TO FURTHER JAPANESE ATTACKS AND REMAINED OCCUPIED UNTIL THE END
OF THE WAR.  ALL US MILITARY AND CIVILIANS WERE SENT TO POW CAMPS IN ASIA,
EXCEPT FOR 98 CIVILIAN CONTRACTORS, WHO BECAME KNOWN AS THE FORGOTTEN 98.
FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS AS POWS, THE 98 CIVILIANS CONSTRUCTED BARRICADES,

K9W REMEMBERING THE FORGOTTEN 98  A DXPEDITION TO WAKE ATOLL IN MEMORY OF
THE 98 CIVILIAN CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WHO DIED THERE DURING WORLD WAR II.
JOHN MILLER, K6MM, AND LOU DIETRICH, N2TU  THE 2013 K9W DXPEDITION TO WAKE
ATOLL WAS UNIQUE IN THAT ITS PURPOSE WASNT JUST TO PUT A RARE ONE ON THE
AIR, BUT TO COMMEMORATE AN IMPORTANT EVENT IN HISTORY, AN EVENT THAT TOOK
PLACE IN A PART OF THE UNITED STATES THAT MOST AMERICANS WILL NEVER SEE
WAKE ISLAND ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND ISOLATED CORAL ATOLLS IN THE
WORLD.  OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS, THERE HAS BEEN LIMITED AMATEUR RADIO
ACTIVITY FROM WAKE ISLAND.  THE LAST DXPEDITION WAS IN 1998.  SINCE THEN,
ACTIVITY FROM THIS RARE DXCC ENTITY HAS BEEN INTERMITTENT, MOSTLY FROM
MILITARY PERSONNEL ON TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT.  IN OCTOBER 2012, THE CLUB LOG
MOST WANTED LIST RANKED WAKE ISLAND AS 14 AND DX MAGAZINE HAD IT AT 21.
WAKE ATOLL OVERVIEW WAKE IS A WISHBONE SHAPED ATOLL, CONSISTING OF THREE
ISLANDS PEALE, WAKE, AND WILKES SURROUNDED BY A CORAL REEF ENCLOSING A
CENTRAL LAGOON.  ITS SITUATED IN THE NORTHERN PACIFIC OCEAN ABOUT 2300
MILES WEST OF HAWAII SEE FIGURE 1.  WAKE OCCUPIES AN AREA OF 2R8 SQUARE
MILES.  ITS SURFACE CONSISTS OF DISINTEGRATED CORAL WITH BOULDERS, TREES,
AND SHRUBS.  THE BEAUTIFUL BEACHES ARE A COMBINATION OF WHITE CORAL SAND
AND JAGGED CORAL ROCKS.  THERE IS A 9800 FOOT LONG RUNWAY BUT NO PORTS,
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