WMNR Fine Arts Radio

For ten years, the Armed Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN) radio served as a lifeline to "home" for the millions who served in Vietnam and southeast Asia.

Americans in Vietnam between 1963 and 1973, without a doubt listened to the programs on AFVN, Armed Forces Vietnam Network. They were a big deal. There was no internet or email. The best way to connect with "home" was with the stateside vibe coming from the radio: news, information, "commercials" that were actually PSA's geared toward the troops, and most of all the music. Pop, rock, soul, folk and country all held their own on the programs heard on AFVN.

AFVN was staffed by military personnel with few exceptions. Your "job" in Vietnam just may have been as a broadcaster on one of the shifts coming from the radio 24/7. The 1987 film, Good Morning Vietnam starring Robin Williams, made one such broadcaster, Adrian Cronauer, famous. What you probably don't know is that for his two year stint in the Army, Wheel of Fortune's Pat Sajak did the Dawn Buster show with the famous opener GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING VIETNAM starting at 06:00 each day.

This edition of American Jukebox features the actual air checks of the voices of AFVN, and with careful editing, weaves the music into the soundtrack for a robust hi-def sound. The air checks came from the collection of Marine Sergeant Harry Simons, a prominent AFVN DJ who did two rock 'n' roll shifts a day - morning and night. The tapes also hold several other voices and programs. Town and Country, for the country and western leaning GI's and Chris Noel's A Date With Chris are also featured in the program. In 2015, WEBY in Pensacola, FL put a 10-hour special together master-minded by WEBY's Mike Bates and Harry Simons, USMC Retired. Portions of that 2015 broadcast have been used to create this two-hour special edition of American Jukebox. Without these men, all this history would be lost.

If you're a Vietnam Vet you'll be turned back to another time and place. For those of us who weren't in Vietnam, this is the "taste of home" that we were used to and they longed for. The program is dedicated to the 3.4 million Americans who served in Vietnam and to the memory of more than 58,000 who died there.