W5EWF (SK) was Captain John H. Schulte, US Army Signal Corps (Ret). He was my father, and was a ham from the early 1930's until his death in 1981. He also held a US Army in China call (occupation army, 1945-48) and W2OUB (while at Ft.Monmouth, NJ as a Sr. Instructor at the Signal School). As a ham, he preferred CW and had a code speed of over 45 WPM,which he copied on Army and Navy nets as well as on ham QSO's with old military operators. He was once the Signal Corps CW speed champ (51 WPM), just before Pearl Harbor. He once said to me that CW over 40 WPM was not like code, but like a voice speaking to him in words. He was a Signal and Artillery NCO and then went to an early OCS class and became an officer. While at Ft. Monmouth, he founded the famous HQ Signal Corps Radio Club K2USA/AA2USA, which is still there. He was one of the first MARS members as OIC of that station. I later served as VP of that club and did many phone patches to Japan, Guam and Germany and later some obscure place called Viet Nam. My Dad was a linguist as well(many with such extraodinary CW skills are, speaking German, Old Frisian (like Old Low German/Old English), Spanish, Chinese, Turkish, Greek and of course, English. He told me to learn another's language if you want to make friends, show respect and be a better representative of America. He was a working cowboy in Texas, of an old pre-Civil War German-Texan family from Emden, by the Dutch border and the sea, and was also a master of firearms (12 expert badges in various firearms from revolver and pistol through 75 mm howitzer). This another of his skills I inherited, besides radio and languages. He was a religious man and could/did read the Bible in several languages.

The Captain John Henry Schulte Signal Corps Memorial station seeks to preserve his memory, as well as that of the "Old" Signal Corps, when radio skills - technical and operational to include CW - were paramount. Main "Hang out" freq's are 7037 (W5EWF's favorite), 14037 and 10137 Kc. Full membership is open to Signal Corps members, former members and family of Signal/communications soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines; US, British/NATO. Email wa2kbz for more info. See also the Signal Corps Regimental Association website for more info on the Signal Corps.

73 de Karl Schulte (CW4 US Army Signal Corps (Ret); WA2KBZ

PS: Incidentally, I have followed in W5EWF's footsteps in several areas: language interests, radio, religion (am a kind of ass't clergy - like a lay minister - in Luth Ch., & was captain of Wisc. NG HQ pistol team (3rd place in USA that year). My code speed tops out at 24 wpm unfortunately! In Signal Corps received two honors he would have easily earned (Silver and Bronze Order of Mercury) had they existed then. The Army must be able to Move, Shoot and Communicate; without Signal, they don't know where to move, what to shoot and can't communicate!