Earl Freudenberg: How I Got To AFNE

Chattanooga City Court Judge Russell Bean recently asked me how I got into military radio while in the Army.  I responded it had to be a “God Thing”. 

 

I had enlisted for three years in 1970 and served about a year and a half at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.  I received orders for Viet Nam, came home for a short leave and then off to Oakland, California.

During my time at the transfer station we went to an Oakland A’s baseball game.  We were greeted by Gene Autry who thanked us for our service.  He was a quiet matter of fact person but shook hands with all of us.  After four days in Oakland, there was formation.  The Sergeant started out by saying President Nixon thanks you gentlemen for your service.  The following enlisted men are being diverted to other duty assignments around the world.   My orders, Germany.  After another short leave I arrived in Frankfurt, spent the night and then rode the train to Heidelberg.  It was wet and I couldn’t do a lot of outdoor activities so I spent a lot of time at the military library.  That Saturday afternoon they were playing AFN and “Weekend World” hosted by SSG Monty Jones. The program was almost like NBC Monitor.   SSG Jones was giving the football scores.  What caught my ear was hearing that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga had won their football game.  In my mind I visualized the game being played at Chamberlain Field. 

 

Monday morning came and I reported to what I thought was my duty assignment. A very friendly Sergeant greeted me.  He read over my file and asked, "You’ve got radio experience?"  Yes Sergeant, nearly 10 years but not much. That might have been stretching it a bit.  After all this was 1972 and I had started in 1962. The Sergeant said wait a minute. He picked up the phone and called his good friend at AFNE - Mr. Moore, a warrant officer.  He told Mr. Moore he had a young man with radio experience and asked if he would he be interested. I barely heard but Mr. Moore said to send him up.  "If they can’t use him in the back I’ll use him here in the office." The sergeant called down to the commanding officer's office and asked if the Colonel's car was in use.  He knew it wasn’t.  The colonel was off that day.  The colonel’s drivers said it’s washed and has a full tank of gas.  The Sergeant told me to meet the driver outside in front. 

 

Off we went in the colonel’s car from Heidelberg back to Frankfurt, which was about a 50-minute drive.  When we pulled up in the parking lot I looked at the studio and thought is this where I’ll spend the rest of my time in the Army.  Still almost in shock I walked up the flight of stairs and was greeted by Sergeant Maggart.  He said welcome and handed me this audition copy about a quarter inch thick.  I took one look at it and said Sergeant this is all classical material.  I don’t think I can pronounce most of the names.  I said where I come from it's Dolly Parton, Buck Owens, Roy Acuff. Before I could speak another word he started laughing real hard.  He said. "I’m from the Tri-Cities and I just wanted to mess with a fellow Tennessean." I remember his next words like it was yesterday.  He said, "The guy that does our morning country program is rotating back to the states. You’ll start next Monday morning."

 

The next thought was had he listened to me back home on WDOD.  I already had a program and he’d never heard me.  The sergeant said take your duffel bag to your room on the fourth floor where you’ll be staying. He handed me a building ID and said get acquainted with the studio and sometime this week make me a tape for your file.  That began probably the most exciting time of my broadcasting career.  

 

The next Monday I started “Town and Country”.  I used as my theme song, Chattanooga Choo Choo by Floyd Cramer. I would record the show the day before and it would play back the next morning waking up a lot of Europe.  I was playing country music, taking mail requests and just being me.  I was given the name Country Earl, long before HEY EARL. The mail clerk, who had been at AFN for years, said I had received the most mail of any announcer in his time in the mail room.  It was a request show so I was asking for mail.  Letters came from England, all over Germany, France and one from East Berlin. The show ran until I returned home in November, 1973.  

 

A lot of other things happened while at AFN.  A couple of times the newsman called in sick. I remember reading two newscasts.  I wasn’t that good but I guess not that bad either. 

 

I worked with some of the most experienced broadcasters in the business. If I start mentioning names I’ll leave someone out.  The show was centered around requests.  I never learned to speak a lot of German. A couple in Frankfurt loved country music and listened to me every day. We became friends and they took my family to Freudenberg, Germany. That is where my ancestors are from. AFNE has been completely re-structured because of the Internet. The 150,000 watt AM station in Frankfurt went off the air in 2004. It truly was an experience of a lifetime.  

 

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Earl Freudenberg can be reached at HeyEarl1971@comcast.net