Many years ago, at the July 1968 club meeting, a question of changing the club callsing from W6OTX to something shorter was brought up, and that is when the club was reminded of the history of its callsign.

I’ll repeat it here, becuase it is an important memory of Wilbur Lauridson, the original holder.

The question of changing the Club call sign from W6OTX to a 2 letter call was discussed. It was pointed out that W6OTX was adopted by the Club in memoriam of one of the oldest members. Wilbur Lauridson was the original holder of W6OTX. He enlisted in the Navy before the outbreak of World War II and was aboard a ship in Manila harbor when it was bombed by the Japanese December 7, 1941. His ship made it to Surabya, Java, after taking a terrific beating from bombs. There it was placed in drydock for repairs. Wilbur was aboard when it was again bombed by the Japanese. It was demolished and Wilbur was assigned to a Dutch Cruiser. This cruiser was heading for Australia when in Suribaya Straights it was caught by four Japanese cruisers and sunk without a survivor. Wilbur Laurisen heroically gave his life protecting our country. The members decided to retain his call as that of our orginization.