The ring of truth?

A fun video from our friends at jibjab.

What We Call the News | Funny Jokes at JibJab

Blast from the past

Found some pics from the good old days. Army Specialist Fred Friend, "Good Morning, Taipei." Also ended up in Tucson after getting out of the Army. Fred was anchor and news director at several local TV stations and went on to be director of public affairs for Diocese of Tucson. He is married to the former Nan Nixon, whom he met at the station.

Cal Thomas writes

I sent Cal Thomas a link to this site and we exchanged several emails over the weekend. He mentioned several names I haven't heard in about 40 years -- staffers who served with us including Les Blatt who went on to be a network news producer and Paul Kerivan whose car Cal used to borrow for his monthly PX and commissary run . Also CG Wells who Cal says died some time ago. If I remember correctly, CG was the news director of the Armed Forces Press, Radio and TV Service in New York, and a real professional.

When I told Cal that I am currently hosting the local segments of "All Things Considered" on Tucson's NPR station, he suggested tongue-in-cheek that I have him on the show.

"We could choke the audience with nostalgia," he wrote.

The real Burt Schneider

When Col Hornsby and I went to Screen Gems TV in 1965 to see the pilot of "The Monkees," I ran into a problem when I introduced myself to the receptionist. It seems the producer of the show was also Bert Schneider. We eventually ran the show, although the colonel thought it was a bit racy for the troops. Coincidentally, my aunt, June Whitley Taylor, had a small role in the pilot. She died earlier this summer.

AFRTS alumni store

Just found this link selling AFRTS logo gear.

Filming TV series "The Lieutenant"

Ensign Schneider with actress Nancy Rennick aboard USS Princeton (LPH-5) in 1963 during the filming of an episode of NBC's "The Lieutenant" starring Gary Lockwood and Robert Vaughn. This short- lived 1963-1964 series was written and produced by Gene Rodenberry of "Star Trek" fame. "Green Water Green Flag" was filmed while we were in Long Beach and at sea off Camp Pendleton. It aired Feb 15, 1964. I was the ship's public information officer and later assistant navigator. We made two Westpac cruises and participated in the first amphibious landing at Chulai, South Vietnam in March, 1965.

Anyone have a copy of the film?

Taiwan memories

From 1967 to 1969, I was officer-in-charge of the Armed Forces Network in Taiwan. We had stations in Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung. We had one of the first FM stations in the AFRTS system. The first year we had our studios in downtown Taipei and staffers loved to eat at the myriad of restaurants and food stands in the area. Once a month we organized a feast under the auspices of the "Chow Chow Club" and sampled menus from the many provinces of China. In 1968 we moved to new studios in Yangmingshan or “Grass Mountain.” Living in Taipei was a fantastic experience. I really enjoyed the wonderful people, the language, and the culture. We had a great air staff including Fred Friend, who coincidentally ended up in Tucson; Larry Fogel, who came from KXYZ in Houston, and Mark Bragg, who I later read had something to do with the Watergate incident. And who could forget, Joe Brooks, our program director who was fluent in Chinese and was a walking encylopedia of all things Chinese? I visited Taiwan with my daughter Lara in 1986 in honor of her 18th birthday (she was born in Taipei). I returned in 1992 before visiting the mainland. The station had become International Community Radio Taiwan and was still in the same building on Yangmingshan. I got together with Gordon Brooks, Joe's adopted son.

New York Memories

I worked at the Armed Forces Press, Radio and TV Service in New York City in 1965 and 1966. My main job was to secure permissions from the networks and program producers to air programs on AFRTS. From time to time, I anchored the evening shortwave radio news which was broadcast to Europe. I also interviewed celebrities including Tom Jones and the Supremes. Most interviews were conducted on sets of television shows such as "Shindig," "Hullabaloo," and "The Bell Telephone Hour." We had members of all the service branches plus Department of Defense civilians. We shared offices and studios with the Voice of America at the Fisk Building, 250 W. 57th St. It was a great place to be, accessible to the commercial broadcast studios and Broadway theaters. I also moonlighted in master control at WOR-TV located on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building.

Some notable members of the crew were Col Joseph Hornsby, USAF, Officer-in-Charge; Navy Journalist Jim Brumm, who went on to work for a number of news organizations on the east coast; and Army Pfc Cal Thomas. (Yes, that Cal Thomas). Writing in one his columns, he described his work there as "fighting commies on 57th St." One of my favorite staff members was Gordon Bridge, a civilian sports announcer with a dry sense of humor and nefarious friends along Eighth Avenue.