Chuck Malefyt is a product of the Pacific Islands having grown up in Saipan, Micronesia, Guam and eventually Hawaiʻi, where he went to college and returned for retirement after 20 years of service in the U.S. Army and a 10-year commercial pilot career.
In addition to helping raise grandchildren, he said that after he retired, he dove back into his old hobbies, including photography and ham radio.
“My dad was an amateur radio operator in Guam and when I came to UH in the late ‘60s (to study anthropology and general education), we would communicate by ham radio twice a week – that was the way to go versus cell phone back then,” Malefyt told Aloha State Daily.
Today, he blends his life experience in the military and passions for radio with community service, having volunteered for the Battleship Missouri Memorial at Pearl Harbor National Memorial for more than a decade.
“It’s been quite fun and rewarding, I thank my lucky stars every time I go down there, at least a couple times a month,” he said.
As a docent, Malefyt enjoys educating about radio. “Radio Central was one of the more important areas of this ship, where you’d get information about targets and battle plans, and exchange signal reports, stories and locations. Now, people still want to talk to us using the world-famous call sign KH6BB.”
“If you are touring the USS Missouri, the best way to visit Radio Central, where KH6BB is located, is to sign up for the Captains Tour.”
His role also includes training new operators and organizing events each year.
On June 7-8, the Mighty Mo will participate in Museum Ship Radio Days, which will connect more than 85 ships from across the globe. The event is not open to the public, he said, but more information can be found here.
On August 22-24, he will also help host the Hawai‘i QSO Party, an event promoting the use of high-frequency radio waves.
This year, Malefyt aims to get more people interested, involved and licensed in radio, he said. “I enjoy talking about the radio, what we do and how we do it." Interested? Click here.
Over the years, some of his favorite memories have included welcoming special visitors, including a Pearl Harbor survivor and fellow radio operators. He added, “I also love when the kids come on board and spend the night or get enthused about the radio world.”
Malefyt was recently awarded the Truman Centennial Award Outstanding Senior Volunteer 2024, among other Battleship Missouri Memorial Volunteer Award Winners. The full list of recipient is here.
Last year, the Mighty Mo “was supported by an extraordinary 1,400 volunteers, who generously gave their time across 2,879 individual visits,” the nonprofit association said. “Collectively, these volunteers contributed 9,129 hours of service, a remarkable contribution of time, energy and service. According to Independent Sector’s 2023 estimate of $33.49 per volunteer hours, this equates to more than $305,500 in contributed labor, a powerful testament to the dedication and passion of our volunteer community.”
“Our volunteers are the backbone of the Battleship Missouri Memorial — not only supporting us as a nonprofit organization but also playing a vital role in preserving her place in history,” said Michael Carr, president and CEO of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, in a statement. “Their thousands of hours of dedicated, hard work have been essential to the upkeep of the Mighty Mo, ensuring that visitors from around the world can continue to learn her remarkable story.”
The USS Missouri launched in 1944, with a career spanning five decades and three wars – World War II, the Korean War, and Desert Storm – and was decommissioned in 1992, mooring in 1998 near the USS Arizona, Malefyt said.
The Battleship Missouri Memorial is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Military, kama‘āina and school group pricing is available.
For additional information, call 808-455-1600 or visit USSMissouri.org.
Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
