.tiff) |
| AFN Hdqrs in Frankfurt... look closely on the right & you'll see the place on the moat above river where Nick Clooney, me and the other guys drank beer and talked most of the night. One of us would be assigned to go buy a case of Hennenger Brau. Up from the river is a high moat wall where we sat and enjoyed the beer and talk about home (usually) |
My Heroes....
At AFN...The American Forces Network headquarters in the old castle...several imposing characters come to mind.
Since I was just 17 years of age...I was an impressionable guy...and these folks impressed me:
Ed Pennybacker, civilian news writer/editor who has NEVER been bested
by anyone (including David Brinkley) in his news writing
capabilities...in my opinion.
Ed taught me to be simple in my writing and never to write a sentence
longer than five words! At NBC News Chicago in later years (1969-70)
when writing tv news copy for Floyd Kalber, Jim Ruddle and John Dancy I
utilized that technique. Except with Floyd you always had to insert the
word “today” into the news copy...maybe every other line. He loved
that word!
Ed was indeed...the greatest.
----------------
Johnny Vrotsos, civilian AFN the castle...best remembered for hosting the most listened too daily radio program in Europe:
MUSIC IN THE AIR
Hit the airwaves for an hour about 6 or 7P and it was great. Nick Clooney filled in a few times...I never was asked!
Johnny was one cool guy...everyone loved him!
------------------
Al Kasch...my “on the air hero”...a Sergeant back in 55-56 and a cool guy to listen to and learn from.
------------------
Don Cosgrove...another Sgt and a real professional.
_______________
Walter
Sheppard...out of Boston and let you know it...classical music expert
and had to help me desperately the one time I announced AFN’s classical
show. How do you say Eine kleine Nachtmusik? I still can’t spell it. Thanks Walt!
Went
to visit Walt in Boston after he got out. He took me out to Arthur
Fiedler’s house and we had coffee and the maestro showed off everything
RCA made that filled up his west wing. Also his Firemen hats which I
think he liked more than all the fancy high priced recording equipment.
Lux Radio Theater comes to AFN...
Well not really but we did have a weekly locally produced radio drama
or comedy which the bunch of us guys jumped into when directed. I
would not like to remember this too much...that is to say..none of us
were really great actors like the ones Cecil B Demille used from the
movies for Lux in Hollywood. (I saw one of these shows when we took a
west coast vacation...so more on that later.)
Anyway we had fun doing them...but they wouldn’t win any awards!
---------------------
Speaking of recorded shows...the AFN (or AFTRS) library was fantastic.
The networks furnished, free of charge, every show on big
transcripts...if you wanted a Jack Benny or Red Skelton show...or
maybe
Fibber McGee and Molly.... or Lux Radio Theater or The Lone Ranger...we
had them all. It was beyond challenge the largest collection of such
shows because ALL the networks furnished them. I wonder how much a
collector would pay for those libraries today!
________________
Let me just mention one more interesting civilian guy at AFN headquarters.
He was older than most of us...German....and I can’t remember his name.
He
had been in the German Air Force commanded of course by Herman Goring
and he flew bombing missions over London! He didn’t talk about that
much but he didn’t have to.
It boggles the mind just to think about it if your a 17 year old
American kid. He wasn’t a Nazi (AFN had to clear him) just an airmen
with the German Air Force who really took part in history.
__________________________________
Now here is the link to AFN history. It is EXTENSIVE. select what you want to hear
Enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVKFXlpuiXM
__________________________________
Now here is the link to AFN history. It is EXTENSIVE. select what you want to hear
Enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVKFXlpuiXM
my email:
stanmajor@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment