Radio Vietnam: Veteran Michael Papale recalls wartime DJ days at Phuoc Vinh Base Camp

Michael Papale (left) at the mic in the radio station at Phuoc Vinh Base Camp in Vietnam. (Image from “Radio Phuoc Vinh”) Radio Phuoc Vinh started broadcasting during 1967 on a growing U.S. Army base in southern Vietnam. Phuoc Vinh Base Camp commandeered a rubber plantation with stately but dilapidated French colonial-era buildings 12 miles from the Cambodian border.The famed 1st Infantry Division, also known as the Big Red One, brought about 2,500 soldiers. The 1st Cavalry Division moved in with a fleet of helicopters and the 506th Infantry Regiment arrived with more troops, bringing the total to nearly 5,000.Ventura resident Michael Papale was an 18-year-old working his dream job as a radio DJ at a Top 40 music station in Virginia in 1966 when he was drafted into the 1st Infantry Division.

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