25 Years On: K4A Takes to the Airwaves for "9/11 We Do Remember"

Some anniversaries you mark on a calendar. This one, amateur radio operators mark on the air.

For the sixth year running, the Alabama Contest Group is putting K4A — call sign shorthand for "K4 America" — on the air for the 9/11 We Do Remember special event station. It's a simple idea with a lot of weight behind it: volunteer operators taking shifts across the airwaves, working stations, and giving hams everywhere a chance to share where they were and what they remember.

Twenty-five years. It genuinely doesn't feel that long since the towers fell, the Pentagon was struck, and the passengers of Flight 93 fought back over a field in Pennsylvania to stop a fourth attack. For a lot of us it still plays back like yesterday's news. For anyone licensed since, it's history worth hearing directly from those who lived through it.

K4A will be on air from 9–13 September 2026.

This isn't just a contest log and a QSL card exchange, though there will be a special QSL for those who work the station. The organisers want your stories. If you'd like to remember someone lost that day, the operators will name them on air and pause for a moment in their honour — a small tribute carried out over HF to anyone listening. Every story, memory, and name shared during the event will be gathered and published in the Alabama Contest Group's Smoke Signals newsletter.

Fancy being part of the K4A crew yourself? The Alabama Contest Group is looking for volunteer operators to take shifts during the event. It's a low-barrier way to get involved — a single email is all it takes.

For details on the special event, or to volunteer as an operator, contact Bob, WA1FCN, at wa1fcn@charter.net.