Since we were going to be broadcasting in FM, we had a full dial to choose from to use as our broadcast frequency so I picked my favorite number 69, and the rest as they say, is history. We met every day after work and on our days off and hammered out music, commercials, gimmicks and shticks. We all covered the "latrine scene" and wrote down any and all things that were written. "Nguyen", believe it or not, brought in a lot of funny stuff from the ladies latrines. We went into it knowing that we wanted to have 30 DAYS worth of programming. Honestly, I thought we would be lucky if we lasted a day. I did not see how we could keep pulling it off for multiple days without being caught.
To make our broadcasts smoother, we pre-recorded each day's music and marked each day accordingly. If you listen, you will hear "Pete" cutting the Akai reel to reel on and off occasionally. We also pre-recorded all the gimmick stuff like "Capt. Pansy's Daily Weather", "Swap Shop", "Theater Schedule", etc. We had three big Akai reel to reels. One for pre-recorded music, one for pre-recorded commercials and one for pre-recorded gimmick stuff. Unlike DJ's that have a delay in case of screw-ups, we were totally LIVE. You can catch "Nguyen", "Pete" and I in tongue twisters a few times but we just had to struggle through it. Everything is done. We are ready. We plan to hit the airwaves on January 1, 1971. We just have one last thing to do, get the word out.
January 1, 1971. D-Day. Although we have tried to spread the word as much as possible, we do not have the luxury of showing our hand too soon. We decide to take a big gamble and hope that it does not bite us in the ass. We decide that we are going to preempt AFVN on their own frequency and promote the new Radio First Termer. At 7:59 p.m. on January 1, 1971, the following message plays on AFVN's own frequency.
"Vietnam, in just 30 seconds your radio experience will change forever. Turn your radios to 69 Megahertz on your FM dial. If you don't we are going to re-up you for another tour of Vietnam".
With that, AFVN returned to their regular crap and at 8 p.m., 2000 hrs. for you maggots, Radio First Termer was BORN. With the increasing threat of being discovered, 21 days and 63 programming hours later, it was laid to rest forever.
Taking one of the famous radio lines ever spoken by Edward R. Murrow and changing it just a bit, my last words were:
"Good Night Vietnam and Good Luck!"
During our run, we did do a few crazy things that drove the base commander crazy as well as the establishment; we had placards made with the rabbit logo saying "Rabbit Power". We also had about 250 Dave Rabbit Hard-On Shirts hand painted that were sold by Vietnamese Merchants to the troops. All of the station equipment, mattresses and furniture were given to the "madam" as payment for rents due. In March 1971, "Nguyen's" tour was up and she went home. I elected to go back to school and got an early discharge leaving Vietnam in May 1971. "Pete" discharged a few months after and went home. The three of us kept in contact for a few years off and on, but like most real life military friendships, moved on with our own lives and lost contact somewhere along the way.
In the summer of 1982, 11 years after Radio First Termer ceased, I am at a dinner party and begin talking with a gentleman. Somehow or other, we get to talking about military service. He tells me that he was in the Army and served in Wiesbaden, Germany. I tell him I served in Vietnam. He asks me if I ever heard of Dave Rabbit. I ask him why? He tells me that Dave Rabbit and his Radio First Termer program is extremely popular overseas. I ask him, how he heard a program that was done in 1971. He tells me he has a tape. I tell him that I am Dave Rabbit and would like a copy of the tape. He makes me do some of the latrine sayings in my DJ voice, and then proclaims that I have made his day. I say no, you have made mine.
That is the first time that I knew that someone, somewhere and somehow made a recording of one of the programs. He makes me a copy. A few months later, my teenage daughter decides that she needs some cassette tapes to record some of her music on. She grabs the tapes of Radio First Termer. One day when I am getting ready to transfer them to another median, I hear radio songs, but not mine. My daughter has wiped out my only copy. I would never find this guy again.
On February 9, 2006, 24 years after my tapes have been wiped out by my daughter and 35 years after the show in Vietnam, I am searching the internet for some Vietnam pictures for a project. I click on a sight that has Vietnam Audio Files. I look down through the list and come upon two that say Radio First Termer.
