Soldier of the Airwaves

A teenager from Amish country enlists as an Army DJ during the Vietnam War, beginning a life of adventure and a storied career spanning decades and continents.

When I opened my mic in the 1970s in Utapao, Thailand, I played music and cracked jokes, unaware people tuned in for far more than entertainment. In 1975, troops dialed in for breaking news on the planes crash landing around them in rice paddies. As the Cold War raged in Europe, my fellow DJs and I introduced a continent to wild, unpredictable music. After dodging bullets, mortars, and improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. warriors returned to base and decompressed with my network's live TV sports.

Read behind the mic stories filled with humor, history, and home. Learn how America's GI broadcasters influenced hall-of-fame rockers, shaped the attitudes of foreign politicians and championed freedom of speech in this non-fiction book.