AP Radioman

The radio on this soldier's back was built by a company you know by another name. It was made by Galvin Manufacturing, a Chicago firm that had built its reputation putting radios in automobiles under a brand it coined from "motor" and the Victrola record player: Motorola. During the war Galvin turned that expertise into the SCR-300 backpack "walkie-talkie," a rugged FM set good for about three miles. The company took the Motorola name for good in 1947 and grew into an electronics giant — car radios, televisions, the gear that relayed astronauts' voices home from space, and, in 1973, the first handheld cellular telephone. The set slung on this GI is a direct ancestor of the phone in your pocket. The radioman walks with the SCR-300 riding high on his back, its long whip antenna swaying overhead, an M1 Carbine in hand for defense and the single stripe of a private first class on his sleeve. He is the officer's voice: post him at the shoulder of the Lieutenant and the Sergeant, relaying their orders and calls for support. He carries the very same set as his counterpart in the Ardennes, the Bulge collection's Walking Radioman. In a diorama that tall antenna is a story in itself — the mark of the man who could reach beyond the fight for help. Model: DD401 / King & Country / 1/30 (60mm) scale / matte finish / 1 piece set