Norwood Father-and-Son Radio Team Connects Local Families With Servicemen in Vietnam-November 17, 1966

Civil Defense Deputy Director Lee Griffith and 11-Year-Old Son John “Jake” Griffith Relay Free Radiograms Through Military Affiliate Radio System

NORWOOD – At a time when sending a standard commercial telegram to Vietnam cost 34 cents per word, Norwood families had a vital, free alternative right in the center of town thanks to the communications division of the Norwood Civil Defense. Reported by Patriot Ledger correspondent Evelyn Masson on Thursday, November 17, 1966, Civil Defense Deputy Director Lee Griffith—assisted closely by his 11-year-old son, John “Jake” Griffith—operated a dedicated amateur radio relay network keeping local households connected with loved ones serving in the United States Armed Forces overseas and across the continental United States.

Operating out of Civil Defense headquarters on Nahatan Street, located directly behind the Norwood police station, the division transmitted personal radiograms free of charge to members of every military branch except the Navy, whose ships at sea were not equipped to receive personal radio traffic. To dispatch a message, residents simply limited their text to 25 words and provided the recipient’s rank, full name, serial number, Army Post Office (APO) address, and zip code—an essential detail Mr. Griffith used to verify whether a receiving relay station operated in the serviceman’s sector. Residents could drop off messages in person at headquarters or telephone their 25 words directly to Mr. Griffith after 7 p.m.

How the MARS Network Worked—and a Long-Distance Marriage Proposal

From Norwood’s well-equipped radio room, Griffith transmitted outgoing messages to a transcontinental relay station that forwarded them into the Military Affiliated Radio Services (MARS). Each branch of the military maintained its own volunteer radio corps—off-duty military personnel staffing overseas “radio shacks” specifically to handle morale-building family messages. Once MARS received a transmission, military volunteers delivered the note directly to the serviceman. Similarly, for domestic radiograms across the continental United States, Griffith contacted a volunteer dispatcher who relayed the message to a local amateur “ham” operator near the recipient to deliver by telephone.

Among the thousands of transmissions handled through the Norwood station, Griffith recalled one particularly memorable incoming message from a serviceman overseas: “Do you love me? Will you marry me?” Fulfilling his communications duty, Griffith telephoned the young woman in town and read the proposal aloud, then transmitted her immediate reply back across the airwaves: “Yes, on both questions!”—unbothered that anyone tuned to the open radio frequency could hear the romance unfold.

At the time, Griffith dispatched more than 150 military messages per month, with 90 percent bound for Vietnam. Holiday surges tested the station’s endurance: 35 messages were transmitted on Thanksgiving Eve, Mother’s Day averaged between 50 and 100 transmissions, and two nights before Christmas the previous year, Griffith stayed at the radio console all night and into the next day to send out over 300 holiday greetings.

24-Hour Civil Defense Readiness and a Young Radio Prodigy

Beyond morale messages, the all-volunteer Civil Defense communications division maintained 24-hour standby readiness for national emergencies. In the event of an air attack, State Police teletypes would alert Norwood headquarters immediately, mobilizing volunteer police, nurses, rescue squads, and specialists trained in everything from first aid to scuba diving. The headquarters radio room was also equipped to back up all radio communications for Norwood’s public works, fire, and police departments—a capability proven during the 1965 Northeast Blackout, when Norwood’s emergency generator automatically kicked in four seconds after power failed, keeping local radio traffic running seamlessly.

Named deputy director when the Nahatan Street headquarters opened three years earlier in 1963, Griffith first developed his passion for radio as a boy in Indiana in 1929 and had been active in Norwood Civil Defense for 15 of his 23 years in town. When residents called his home line after hours, they frequently reached his 11-year-old son, John “Jake” Griffith—who already boasted eight years of hands-on amateur radio experience. Proudly praising his son’s skill at the microphone, Griffith noted that Jake could handle and transmit traffic just as capably as he could, calling him “a tremendous assistant in the operations of handling and sending communications.”

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger