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Project Jenny KLIK - 1st Inf Di v Women in Vietnam RELATED-- To AFVN To Saigon To Vietnam Further Afield Index
From: Bob Mays
Date: February 7, 2015
Thanks guys. I remembered Paul as an E-7. But then I was a PFC until a couple of months before I rotated home, so EVERYbody had lots more rank.
From: Jim White
Date: February 7, 2015
Tom, Same person but Paul was a MSG E8 while with AFVN, then promoted to SGM E9 after he got to his next assignment in Germany. Also, while in Saigon, Paul was the NCOIC of the Broadcasting Section but possibly not of AFVN Station as a whole. Hard to say, however, because, true, the Broadcasting Section was the core of the Station's "operations" (the S3 in a normal Arny unit) but as Admin NCOIC--Admin being the "S1 in a normal unit"--I was sometimes considered the NCOIC (and 1stSgt) of the "station as a whole."
Jim White
From: Tom Watson
Date: February 7, 2015
Is he the same Sgt. Major Paul VanDyke that was the NCOIC of AFVN Saigon in 1969? I was there with Paul Bottoms in Saigon, 1969-1971?
From: Paul Bottoms
Date: February 7, 2015
Jim, thanks for the updated info. I worked about a month in the Chu Lai information office and four of us were sent to Saigon where we were going to return and put the radio station on the air there. Glad to say I'm glad I got to stay in Saigon but remained officially atached to Chu Lai my 23 months in country.
From: Don Dornberg
Date: February 7, 2015
Good name for a new Brian Williams show "You Were there...Sort of."
From: Michael Goucher
Date: February 7, 2015
And you have the evidence, Don Dornberg!
From: Don Dornberg
Date: February 7, 2015
And he introduced Maude Frickert and Faron Kool!!
From: Mick Goucher
Date: February 7, 2015
At Det. 3, Lt. Ed Morrison did intros, ran camera, and otherwise performed in whatever capacity would not diminish his OIC status but still give him that on-air satisfaction.
From: Dick Downes
Date: February 1, 2015
I've always thought the major continuity error in the movie "GMV" was the LT doing an airshift. I was told officers weren't to be on air. Now I learn that a Captain did the voicers. Can you guys clear that up for me?
From: Bob Mays
Date: February 1, 2015
Paul Van Dyke. Don't believe I had thought of his name since I left. But then, working the night shift for all eight months didn't help the overall knowledge of the station. Wasn't Paul "the voice" for a lot of our opens and closes?
From: Jim White
Date: January 28, 2015
I contacted Garry Lyon (my roommate in Saigon--Jan15, 1971 to Apr 12, 1971) asking if he wasn't the one who closed the first AFVN detachment to be closed. He wrote back saying that "Actually, it was Paul Van Dyke who closed the first...Chu Lai...and it was early 1971." Paul was the other of my roommates in Saigon--Nov 11, 1970 to early Jan 1971 but I recall lthat he was at Chu Lai part of that time. The MACOI website says that Paul rotated out of Vietnam in January 1971 so the end of December 1970 might be when the Chu Lai Detachment actually went off the air. Ron: Your spelling is OK. Capt Mayer, USAF, was OIC Broadcast Operations in 1971/72.
Jim White
From: Rick Fredericksen
Date: January 28, 2015
I was in Saigon in June '72, I remember the top of the hour station identification changing to only about four stations down from seven. I don't recall which stations were dropped but I'm sure Da Nang, Qui Nhon and Cam Ranh Bay were still there. ID was voiced by Captain Mayer.
From: Paul Bottoms
Date: January 27, 2015
Jim, as I often do, I collect a lot of stuff and don't always remember where I got it. I think one of the places was the AFVN site that you administer. It isn't a critical point----just something I'm going to put on a slide for an aircheck of Steve Sandoz but I'd like to be right about it.
From: Jim White
Date: January 27, 2015
Paul, DIfferent reports by different folk result in different reports. Which two reports are you referring to? I think that the closing of the detachments began in very late 1970 or during the first half of 1971. I think I know who closed the first one so I'll give him a buzz and ask what he remembers.
Jim W
From: Paul Bottoms
Date: January 27, 2015
While reading about the history of AFVN, I read conflicting accounts about when the AFVN detachments upcountry were discontinued. One report said 1971, the other said 1972.
I'm assuming it started in 71 and continued in 72 but does anyone know for sure
Closing Detachments and Officers on the Air
Facebook Discussion
February 2015
AFVN Group Conversations