The Philip B. Petersen Collection Broadcast May 16, 1991

     On the night of January 12, 1991, Russian troops in tanks and armored vehicles came into the capital city of Vilnius, Lithuania to take over government buildings, radio and television stations.  Their purpose was to suppress the freedom actions taken by the Lithuanian people, who for 50 years wanted to take off the yoke of Russian communism.
     Aware that radio and television would be taken over by the Red Army and that telephones to the outside world would be cut off, members of the Vilnius Amateur Radio Club set up a portable emergency, low-powered, amateur radio station in the top of the Parliament building while Parliament was in session.  From there, the first official news that the Red Army troops were in the capital city was relayed to radio amateurs all over the free world, who quickly informed the international press, radio and television media.
     What follows is a transcript of one of many radio transmissions to radio amateurs from Vilnius, Lithuania:

"Military actions are taking place at this moment.  Eleven people are killed and 108 people are severely injured.  The hospitals are over-crowded.  The Minister of Health has appealed to the world for medicine and medical instruments.  Television, radio and editorial buildings are occupied by the Red Army."

     Up to 400,000 people formed a human shield and surrounded the parliament building, singing the Lithuanian anthem, praying and shouting "Free Lithuania, Lithuania will never join the Soviet Union."
     Word about the Red Army action continued for days, as amateur station LY2RW in Parliament stayed on the air, relaying official information from Parliament through a more powerful amateur radio station elsewhere in the city that kept the outside world informed of the plight of the Lithuanian people.
     In the next few days, the influence of world opinion, brought on by the international press, radio and television media, combined with the steadfast will of the Lithuanian people to apparently cause the Soviet leaders to reconsider and withdraw the Red Army from more serious military action as the Lithuanian people still struggled to be free.

May 16, 1991

** Broadcasts recordings preserved and presented here by Mr. Robert Buss and Mr. Bernie Ricciardi, Phil's friends and fellow Marconi Chapter 138 QCWA members **

Page updated January 24, 2004  page created June 11, 2001