Johnny Cash had a knack for deciphering Morse Code & was 1st American To Know Stalin Was Dead
The things you learn on twitter...
Years before anyone would know him as a country music singer – let alone a legend in the genre – Johnny Cash would achieve something like nobody else in all of the country…
A young, spry 18-year-old Johnny Cash quickly enlisted in the United States military and his knack for quickly crunching Morse Code and deciphering it proved invaluable to the Air Force.
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During this post, Cash earned the rank of Staff Sargeant and his knack for deciphering Morse Code was recognized. He was quickly moved into a Security Service unit as a Morse Code operator and was given an important role to decipher Soviet communications.
While at his listening post in Landsberg, West Germany, Cash also formed his very first band and was inspired to write one of his most recognized songs “Folsom Prison Blues” while likening his life on a secret post to life in the prison.
Because of the incredibly sensitive nature of his position, Cash couldn’t discuss anything about his work life with people outside of his unit – and for that reason, it wasn’t until many years later that he could reveal the important role he played.
More: https://countrymusicfamily.com/how-johnny-cash-became-the-1st-american-to-know-stalin-was-dead/
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Thank you Man in Blue. 
should (I guess you have) document it all and continue the research when those items become declassified. I'm so sorry your dad had so many health issues from his service.
As far as my knowledge goes, there is some basic stuff I'd tell you only in a message so as not to ID myself to anyone on this board. But other things, I learned from watching those abbreviated documentary series on cable tv, such as WWII in Color. They have segments on various turning points in military actions, including the capture and liberation of Malta, how Montgomery took the place of another British general in N. Africa, the taking of El-Alamein, etc.
What was striking to me as an adult was Hitler's hubris in firing so many of his generals. ("I know more than the generals. 
) He lost the war not just by taking on Russia, but not having clear reasons for attempting to take certain areas.
The movie with Benedict Cumberbatch about Enigma was pretty good. I don't know how much of the technical stuff was reality. But one dramatic (and likely untrue) detail in the movie that was so heartbreaking was when they discovered they had the code, and realized the next attack from that first decripted message would be against an Allied resupply convoy. One of the people in the group had a brother aboard one of the ships. The sibling insisted they be warned. The mathematician said they couldn't; that would have to be a strategic decision by the generals and pols. Preventing every attack using sigint would tip off the Germans. They needed to keep the secret until more critical objectives could be achieved. I had never thought about that detail and the pain and guilt it creates in sacrificing "pawns."
I'll send you a message shortly.
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The dots and dashes, but to listen to the music of the code. Each letter has a different sound and each word has a different melody.
P.S; if you're wondering "what pun";
