James S. (Jim) Farrior (USA)

James S. “Jim” Farrior, b.1920, Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.A. Radio amateur W4FOK since 1938. Served 1938-1941 as U.S. Government point to point wireless telegrapher. In London, May 1943, he joined the American Merchant Marine and sailed from Hull, England, to New York as Chief Radio Officer on the Liberty Ship S.S. John Chandler, on which he made 6 additional voyages to various ports is the U.K., Mediterranean, and to Cuba. He held First Class Telegraph and First Class Telephone licenses. In November, 1946, at New Orleans, Louisiana, he joined another Liberty Ship, the S.S. Anthony Ravalli, as Chief Radio Officer. He served for two voyages, in the Pacific. The first included the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia, and New Caledonia. The second voyage was from Tacoma, Washington, to Okinawa, and arrived there just at the end of WW-II. The ship returned without unloading in early December, 1945. Returned home to Montgomery, Alabama. In 1949 received BS Degree in Electronics from Auburn University. Retired in 1980 after a career as an aerospace engineer and manager with the U.S. Government and with the Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. He now resides with his wife Peggy in Florida. He is the author of the popular computer program “The Mill” that teaches both American Morse and International Morse code and the operating procedures for both. The program and several books telling about his life experiences are available as free downloads at his Web Page: http://home.comcast.net/~w4fok. The August, 1994, nostalgic photo shows him in the radio room of the Liberty Ship Jeremiah O’Brien during its fueling stop at Jacksonville, Florida, while returning home to San Francisco from the D-Day Celebration in France. The Chandler and the O’Brien were identical ships from the same ship yard two months apart.