From: Bob Nelson
Sent: October 11, 2012
Subject: AFVN Reunion Underway
My body was in Alaska, but my heart was in Memphis with you folks. Seriously, it was hard to sit here and follow the email traffic- glad everybody had the chance to greet, meet and relate tales of past exploits and deeds of daring.
[Bob was able to join us for a while via a Skype video-call.]
From: Ray Profeta
Sent: October 10, 2012
Subject: AFVN Reunion Underway
Ray Profeta (SP5)
AFVN Radio, Saigon
June 68 - July 69
From: Jack A. Holsomback
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
Could it have been SFC Mike Tate? Bill Sutphin would know. He has rosters.
JackH
From: Robert Vail
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
From: Joe Ciokon
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
I relieved Mike Turpin as TV news anchor as he DEROSed during TET ’68 . I was also War News Editor, attending the daily “Five O’Clock Follies”. Nick Palladino was News Director, my direct boss, and MSGT “Dirty Dan” Dougherty, USMC, was News NCOIC.
JoeC
From: Dick Ellis
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
I was a TV guy... Clown on a kid show and youngest weatherman in the USA when I was 19. Drafted and sent to AFVN. I had a show like the Johnny Carson Show and interviewed all the movie stars....when they came to visit. I also did voice overs for radio...network ID's and other stuff. Produced and set up the weather for both Bobbi weather girls...#1 and #2.
Dickie
From: Morrie Beitch
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
Didn’t Paul Baldridge take your place? Paul did the interviews when USO stars came to town and, more often than not, I ran audio.
From: Frank Rogers
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
From: Steve Shular
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
Thanks so very much! Hello news desk, copy off for Earle Farrell.
Thanks.
Steve Steve Shular, Public Affairs Officer, Shelby County Mayor's Office
From: Ken Kalish
Sent: September 27, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
Certainly, Steve.
My cell is 612-819-5823. I had just returned to my keyboard to apologize for not having sent my phone number. There will be 27 people present who served at AFVN the American Forces Vietnam Network, most of whom were on-air personalities. There will also be three women who served with the American Red Cross in Viet Nam. Some of the Red Cross women volunteered to work with AFVN for five-minute short features in radio and as the TV “weather girls.” Chris Noel will be in attendance. Chris toured Vietnam as part of USO groups, and she also voiced a daily one-hour radio program that was recorded in Hollywood at the American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) studio and then shipped to all AFRTS outlets, both ashore and at sea. Chris founded a shelter for homeless veterans that operates in Florida. This will, in all probability, be our last reunion. We were always few in number, and time has taken some of our best from us.
Why did we choose Memphis? We took a vote within our Yahoo discussion group. The candidates were San Diego, Branson, Dollywood, A Florida cruise, and Memphis. Those who selected Memphis did so primarily because Memphis is the home of Sun Records, a label upon which many of the artists whose music was played on AFVN were recording. Almost all of us were in broadcasting prior to and following our work with AFVN, and the Sun label was central to our real-world broadcast work.
Was I an announcer with AFVN? Yes. I was an anomaly, though. Most of the AFVN talent had attended the Army’s Defense Information School (DINFOS) at Fort Benjamin Harris in Indianapolis and were trained by DOD to broadcast in a military environment. They were, as you might already have guessed, primarily Army. I originally went to Vietnam in July of 1967 as a 3rd Class Gunner’s Mate. I was a gunner on small river boats called PBRs (Patrol Boat, River) and spent TET of 1968 in Vinh Long, during which two of our boats were sunk and our unit was twice ordered to retreat while under assault. I was injured in April of 1968 during a helicopter rescue and sent to Saigon to recover. When it was learned that I had previously been in broadcasting, I was scooped up by AFVN as an announcer. That’s where I stayed until I left Viet Nam on 28 February 1969. I was one of three Navy personnel at AFVN at the time, and the only on-air voice. My live show ran from 10 am to noon daily, but I also did production work and ran the audio board for pre-recorded shows such as the one by Chris Noel that I mentioned earlier. Other AFVN broadcasters were about as anonymous as I, but we were also able to boast names such as Adrian Cronauer (he headed the MIA/POW recovery efforts during the G. W. Bush administration), Gary Gears of WLS in Chicago, Pat Sajak, and John Steinbeck III. Many of us went on to successful broadcasting careers. Gary and Pat were my AFVN contemporaries. Pat’s daily morning shift preceded mine from 5:00 to 9:00 in the studio, and Gary’s ran in the six hours leading up to midnight. One of those who will attend the reunion is Joe Ciokan who, with another AFVN staffer, went to the Saigon Embassy to photograph and report on the Tet assault on that facility.
Our jobs as talent were targeted at one goal: troop morale. We could not have carried out that mission without the support of our engineering, news, and production staff. The engineers were the gerbils making the wheels turn. They kept our towers up and operating. They fixed everything from a blown fuse to Hue’s destroyed facility, where two of our staff were killed in a firefight and four taken prisoner by the NVA. One of the Hue POWs was Harry Ettmullier, who may be attending -- he has outpatient surgery scheduled for October 3rd. The news staff kept everyone up to speed on what was going on outside of our tiny corner of the world. The production staff were wizards. They created fun, professional spots from material that was about as dry as a Mastodon bone. Their spots warned us to take our pills so the evil anopheles mosquito wouldn’t give us malaria, to get medical help if we found ourselves dealing with sexually transmitted diseases, and to take those two weeks of Rest and Relaxation leave each of us earned for our in-country service -- exotic destinations such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Seoul, Taipei, Sydney, and Honolulu. Some of those people will be attending the reunion.
There is not a Viet Nam war veteran alive who didn’t hear AFVN at some point during his tour. They know us from the music and news and sports, and some were able to watch AFVN TV. They think they know how “soft” we had it. That they believe we had it “soft” is an indication of how well we did our job. They don’t know about those of us who were wounded, killed, or taken prisoner. They never knew that the Saigon anchor station was bombed twice, each time knocked off the air while the emergency tapes at Can Tho (tower facility) kicked in to keep the music machine running. They never knew that many of the voices heard providing live music programs during daylight hours at our northernmost outlets were infantry grunts, just like them, who spent most of every day “humpin’ the boonies.”
Yes, I was part of the AFVN mission. We knew that every day we were on the air was going to be the last day of life for some of our listeners, and we did everything in our power to bring a tiny bit of home to them on that last day. Sure shoots down the Robin Williams “Good Morning Vietnam” clown, doesn’t it?
Ken
From: Jean LeRoy
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Bring Stuff...16-mm
I have a 16mm film full studio production called "The Golden People of Hawaii." It is a large reel but I can bring it too.
From: Dick Ellis
Sent: September 27, 2012
Subject: Bring Stuff...16-mm
Years ago I brought back some kiniscope (16-mm) from Saigon and they stayed in my basement for years. 10-years ago I gave them to a history teacher here in Raleigh to have them put on tape...but he had a heart attack and never got around to it. Last week he called me and said he found them in his attic and would bring them back to me on Friday...(tomorrow). I think it is a kini of John Mikesh and me playing a piano and a lot of footage from Tet.....I will be glad to bring them and we will look at them for the first time in 40-years if someone will bring a 16-mm projector....
Dickie
From: Ken Kalish
Sent: September 27, 2012
Subject: Registration
From: Tom Fowl
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Registration
Ken,
My registration and check should arrive Wednesday by Express Mail.
If we need any a v equipment other than projector, screen and sound system, let me know. It is what I do for a living.
Tom Fowlston
A V Pro, Inc.
AFVN Reunion
October 3 to 6, 2012 -- Memphis, Tennessee
A Selected List of Messages Leading up to the Reunion. (Page 3)
Home Contact AFVN Past Contacts AFVN Roster POWS: The Honored Taps: Those Departed AFVN Organization AFVN Reunions
AFVN History AFVN Photos & Stories AFVN Group Conversations Audio Archives Video Archives AFVN Guest Book
Project Jenny KLIK - 1st Inf Di v Women in Vietnam RELATED-- To AFVN To Saigon To Vietnam Further Afield Index
From: Don Fox
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Reunion Display
For what it's worth, I'll be bringing a digital photo frame that will be running the slides of the photos in my traveling "Face to Face" exhibit.
Don Fox, Dawnbuster, 1966- '67
From: Steve Wiltsie
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Reunion Display
This brings up an interesting question - what will be the security for items we want to bring to Memphis for show and tell in the conference room we have reserved? I'm sure we all have stuff that we wouldn't want to disappear if left in that room.
Steve Wiltsie, Memphis bound next Thursday
From: Bob Casey
Sent: October 6, 2012
Subject: AFVN Reunion Underway
I wish t extend my deepest and most heartfelt hello to any and all of my AFVN brothers and sisters. My roots in broadcasting began at AFVN in Saigon from March of 1968 through June of 1969. Some great friendships began and were nurtured through the years with many fond memories.
I wish you all a grand reunion and hopefully, I'll be able to attend a future endeavor.
Sincerely, Bob Casey
From: John Lehman
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
I anchored Evening News out of Saigon after I was NCOIC NEWS when Phil Upton was reassigned to CINCPAC. Also anchored TV News on Okinawa from XMAS 60 to April 63 and again from Sept 68-Mar 71, Then News Director/ Anchor WSPA AM-FM-TV CBS in Spartanburg SC for 18 months after retiring at TRADOC in April of 74
Jay Lehman
From: Ken Kalish
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
Dickie was TV--or was it VD? Anyhow, he's like you.
From: Morrie Beitch
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
My civilian career included sales manager for a sign on in Greenville, SC (WHNS Ch21) in 1984; obviously way after you left but I spent some time in Spartanburg (Spartan Foods/Hardees) and there was a good French restaurant in Spartanburg, probably because Michelin’s US headquarters was there.
From: Morrie Beitch
Sent: September 28, 2012
Subject: Feature Coverage
Ken,
Am I the only "TV" guy coming; I thought Dick Ellis was a TV guy.