John Swanson - Obituary

ohn H. Swanson, Jr. was born on May 21, 1919 in Neoga, Il and died on December 27, 2012 in Baltimore, MD. As a young man he enlisted in the US Navy and served for many years, retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer. He worked in the electronics field for Motorola, Aeronautical Radio and ARINC in Annapolis, MD where he lived with his wife Bernice who predeceased him on July 1, 2012. Some highlights of John’s Navy Career included duty on the USS Searcher that was home ported in Charleston, SC and Newport, RI. The Searcher served as an integral part of the seaward extension of America's early warning defense system. He reported on station for her first patrol on 5 July 1955. John’s role as a communications specialist ensured the sophisticated electronic search and tracking equipment could detect, track, and report enemy aircraft at great distances, and control high-speed interceptor aircraft in event of attack. She also carried out weather reporting duties during her cruises. The Searcher also served during the during the Cuban Missile crisis in 1962, she operated at sea for 60 out of 67 days. In 1958 John was serving as a Radioman Chief onboard the USS Boxer. During that time the Boxer was flagship for Operation "Hardtack", a nuclear weapons test program in the Central Pacific. John witnessed several of those test in the vicinity of Bikini Atoll. In particular in May 19858 the first 1.36 Megaton atomic bomb was tested. Overall John participated in 35 nuclear tests under Operation Hardtack I conducted at the Pacific Proving Ground between April 28 and August 18, 1958. These tests included balloon, surface, barge, underwater and rocket-borne high-altitude tests. The first test, Yucca, was a nuclear device attached to a helium balloon launched from the USS Boxer near Enewetak Atoll. Lastly, John served in the American Consulate in Jerusalem Palestine during 1948 he was one of 13 radioman and technicians at the Embassy, where he transmitted some of the first messages concerning the birth of the state of Israel. In particular, his log shows that on 14 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared "the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel," a state independent upon the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine. Throughout his careers in the Navy and in the electronics industry John was a valid amateur radio operator holding an active FCC Advanced Class license. As late as one week prior to his death he enjoyed meeting his radio amateur friends with whom he had daily and weekly chats around the world and in the U.S. for the better part of 50 years. Across those years he was a mentor to many friends and neighbors who were curious about the global communications he maintained though his hobby. Several of them became amateur operators like him and all mourn his profound loss to the amateur radio community. John was employed at ARINC Research Corp. in Annapolis Md from 1965 to 1980 when he retired. He continued his Electronic career working in the Research Laboratory R & D (research and development) facilities in Electronic Assembly and Test. John Participated in many DOD (Department of Defense) related projects, early on was a Mini tube reliability study for the DOD that greatly improved the failure rate of electronic equipment. Additionally he was a key person in the fix of the AIM 9 Sidewinder Missile. John and the team fixed the Infra-red seeking sensor to improve the strike reliability. While employed by ARINC he was an active member of the W3ZH radio club and a member of the American Radio Relay League ARRL. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, January 3 at 4pm at the George P. Kalas Funeral Home, 2973 Solomons Island Road, Edgewater, MD.