Editing American Forces Network (section)

===South Vietnam===
As the U.S. military presence in [[South Vietnam]] increased, AFRTS opened radio and later television stations there.<ref name="geocities.com">{{cite web |title=AFVN – American Forces Vietnam Network |url=http://www.geocities.com/afvn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006032042/http://www.geocities.com/AFVN/ |archive-date=6 October 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

AFRTS stations in Vietnam were initially known by the name "AFRS" (Armed Forces Radio Saigon), but as the number of stations quickly expanded throughout [[Republic of Vietnam|South Vietnam]] became known as "AFVN" (American Forces Vietnam Network)<ref name="geocities.com"/> and had several stations, including [[Qui Nhơn]], [[Nha Trang]], [[Pleiku]], [[Da Nang]] and [[Huế]], the latter being overrun by the [[People's Army of Vietnam]] during the [[Battle of Huế|Battle of Hue]] in January/February 1968 and replaced by a station in [[Quảng Trị]]. AFVN's headquarters station was located in [[Saigon]].

In Vietnam, AFVN had a number of war-related casualties. After a fierce fire fight that killed two soldiers and a civilian contractor, the remaining AFVN station staff at Huế was captured and spent five years as prisoners of war. At the height of American involvement in the war, Armed Forces Vietnam Network served more than 500,000 fighting men and women at one time. AFVN developed a program along the lines of "[[GI Jive]]" from World War II. A number of local [[disc jockey]]s helped make hourlong music programs for broadcast. Perhaps the best-known program became the morning "Dawn Buster" program, (the brainchild of Chief Petty Officer Bryant Arbuckle in 1962) thanks to the popularity of the sign-on slogan "Gooooood Morning, Vietnam" (which was initiated by [[Adrian Cronauer]] and later became the basis for the film ''[[Good Morning, Vietnam]]'' starring [[Robin Williams]]). Among the notable people who were AFVN disc jockeys were Don L. "Scotty" Brink, [[Lee Hansen (radio)|Lee Hansen]], Les Coleman and [[Pat Sajak]], [[Chris Noel]], John Allgood, Joe Huser, and Dennis Woytek. Army Spec. 5 Robert Morecook announced the upcoming end of the Vietnam War on AFVN-TV news in February, 1973, which followed 30 days later. Army Spec 4 Tom Fowlston was first to announce the war end on radio news. Harry Simons hosted the ''GO Show'' at both AFVN Saigon and Danang in 1968 and 1969. Simons along with broadcaster Mike Bates created and produced a 10-hour radio documentary (''AFVN: The GI's Companion'') as a tribute to AFVN and to honor all Vietnam Veterans. It aired and streamed on Veterans Day 2015 on WEBY Radio in Pensacola, Florida. The documentary is archived at Rock Radio Scrapbook: AFVN: The GI's Companion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/afvn.html|title=Rock Radio Scrapbook: AFVN: The GI's Companion|website=rockradioscrapbook.ca|access-date=11 October 2022}}</ref>

Beginning in 1971, AFVN began to close some stations in Vietnam. The last station to close was the key station in Saigon in 1973. Broadcasting continued under civilian leadership on FM only and using the name American Radio Service (ARS).<ref>{{cite book|last=Engelmann |first=Larry |title=Tears before the Rain: An Oral History of the Fall of South Vietnam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zXiJy6aAr2oC&pg=PT372 |access-date=22 June 2015 |year=1990 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199878925 |page=372}}</ref> The civilian engineers were provided by Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE). ARS stayed on the air until the [[Fall of Saigon]] in April 1975. It was to play [[Bing Crosby]]'s version of [[Irving Berlin]]'s "[[White Christmas (song)|White Christmas]]" as a signal for Americans that the [[Operation Frequent Wind|final evacuation of Saigon]] had begun. The Crosby version of the record could not be found so [[Tennessee Ernie Ford]]'s record from 1968 was played.