Birth date: Mar 11, 1942 Death date: Sep 29, 2018
John Reese Allen, age 76, of Mt. Dora passed away on Saturday, September 29, 2018. He was born March 11, 1942 in Youngstown, OH and moved to Lake County in 1987 from Ft. Walton Beach, FL. He was a retired Major in the U.S. Air For Read Obituary
John was an accomplished "Ham" radio operator. I did not know much about the hobby until I spent an evening with him in his "radio room" atop our radar site at Yongmunsan in Korea. It was a BLAST hearing him make contact with other Ham operators from around the world! For most operators, this was their only contact from Korea EVER! John was GREAT site CO!
Gary S. Houp, Lt.Col., USAF Ret.
I first met John when we were both at Loring AFB, Maine. John was a co-pilot and I was an electronic warfare officer on B-52 bombers. Since we were both amateur radio operators, we would talk frequently on our radios. We used nicknames for each other on the radio, he was the "Boomer" and I was the "Fisherman". John and I had a lot of fun together.
Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time together at Loring. John was transferred to a different assignment, with his final assignment being a forward air controller in Korea. But fortunately, through amateur radio, we were able to stay in touch. John had a Jeep with a radio when he was in Korea, and we were able to talk from the USA to Korea via radio.
I wish John and I had lived closer together after we left the air force so we could have met up more frequently. But at least we had our radios on which to talk.
l'll always remember John as a great friend, and I will miss him.
Richard Yerian
