Review – 2024 Veterans Day Special Event at D-Day Memorial – New River Valley Amateur Radio Club

November 11th, 2024 came in with a rainy start to the morning, but with promises from the weather gurus that we were in for a beautiful day. The gurus were right!

We arrived at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA around 8:30am with all of the equipment and were directed toward an area to set up across from the gift shop. Once committed to the task, we were able to set up two stations consisting of the two canopies, a Yaesu FT-991A, a Yaesu FT-710 AESS, logging computers, Triplexer, and the DX Commander antenna. Our setup was completed about 10:30am, but since the main ceremony was to start at 11:00am, we didn’t want to chance any issues with the D-Day Memorial sound equipment, or reverence of the event. Instead, we opted to view the ceremony, and start our operation after.

The ceremony referenced the many sacrifices that were given during the D-Day operation from June 6, 1944. It was humbling to hear the dedication and fearlessness of the allied forces sent to free Normandy.

At 12:00pm EST, W2B began operations on 15 and 20 meters. Making use of the internet, we were able to use spotting networks to get our operation up to speed quickly with many pileups of operators wanting to make contact with our special event. It was nice to hear so many veterans from around the world wanting to make contact with us on this special day. Many had not heard of the National D-Day Memorial and were curious to find out more information.

There was some local foot traffic as well that were interested in what we were doing. They were able to see and hear us making contacts with hams around the world, often showing signs of intrigue as we noted some of the states and countries we were talking to. A QR code was displayed at our station guiding visitors to find out more about Radio Use During D-Day.

The 15 meter station moved to 10 meters around 2pm as things slowed on 15, but the 20 meter station stayed strong during the entire event.

At 3pm the stations went QRT. The end result was 220 contacts (12 on 10m, 35 on 15m, 173 on 20m) made for the event!

In all, this was a very fun time, full of great exchanges for a meaningful special event. Big thanks to Danny, AI4RC for the idea and putting the event together.

Other countries (and band used) contacted included:

Belgium (15m)
Canada (15, 20m)
Guatemala (15m)
Mexico (10m)
Panama (15m)
Poland (15m)
Portugal (10m)
Puerto Rico (10, 20m)
Spain (20m)
Western Sahara (15m)