[Mldxcc] N4BQW SK

[Ken K6TA]

>From todays DailyDx:

Normally we don't start off The Daily DX with Silent Keys. Today's
issue is dedicated to N4BQW. Sunday July 23rd the DX community lost a
very special man. N4BQW, Dr. Charles E. Brady, Jr became a Silent Key
after a long illness. Chuck was born on August 12, 1951 in Pinehurst,
NC. He received his doctorate in medicine from Duke in 1975. In 1986
he joined the Navy where he was the flight surgeon for the Blue
Angles. Later NASA chose Chuck for the space shuttle program in 1992.
Chuck was part of the STS-78 Space Shuttle flight in 1996 setting a
record at that time for the most hours in space - 405! During the
90's and early 00's Chuck made a number of trips, many work related,
to some of the rarer American Pacific Islands including KH1, KH3, KH4,
KH5K, KH5/P, KH7K, KH9. In fact Chuck when on one DXpedition with his
nephew KA4IST, Mark Kennedy. Probably Chuck's most notable operation
was that of 3Y0C from Bouvet Island. This one was kept totally
secrete until he showed up on the air in January 2001. Later that
year Chuck was the dinner speaker at the Dayton DX Dinner. That was
the first time I meet Chuck in person, along with my Dad, N3ME, Tony.
The thing that stuck me most about him was that he was just as down to
earth and a real humble guy. He was very personable and we quickly
became friends. Several years later Chuck called me in a pileup while
I was on a DXpedition on Johnston Island (AH3D), one of the many
places Chuck had operated from. It was February 1, 2003 and I had
just woken up and was glad to work my friend N4BQW. Then he asked me
in a somewhat disturbing voice "have you heard the news"? I said,
"No, what's up"? Then he gave me the sad news of the Space Shuttle
Columbia (STS-107). It took me a minute or two to gather my thoughts
and the only thing I could come up with was "wow I'm sorry to hear
this sad news, but I'm glad it was you who told me Chuck." Several
months later one of our local radio clubs invited me to talk about the
AH3D DXpedition. There were about 8 or 9 guys at the meeting and out
of no where Chuck Brady walked in. He had just moved into the
Bethesda area. He had just picked up a work assignment with the Naval
Hospital Center. About a month ago or so I had exchanged emails with
Chuck and he was hoping to go on another surprise DXpedition trip. I
can't remember where it was that he was going but he was really
looking forward to putting another rare one on the air. Chuck will
surely be missed by his many friends around the world and many will
remember him as a kind a loving human being. A full military honors
service is being planned for in the next couple of weeks. Chuck is
survived by Susen, Chuck fianc,e, and their four year old son Charlie.
Rest in peace N4BQW. . -.- For those who worked Chuck for one of his
many trips and still need a QSL card you can send requests (with SASE)
to KB6NAN, Dianna, who is working with KA4IST, Mark, to get all the
logs.