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Adrian Cronauer: Air Force Radio Announcer in VietnamVietnam | Single Page | 14 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post
'Vietnam was fought as a no-win war,' he observed, 'and when you don't have an objective to win, you've reduced the whole effort to waking up in the morning and seeing how many NVA and VC you can shoot — if you were allowed to shoot at all. It became a body-count game. But that was a political decision forced upon the troops. The troops never wanted to do that. Subscribe Today
'When I was stationed in Vietnam, I did interviews with the troops out in the field, and one of the reactions I got from them was one of frustration. They would be in hot pursuit of an enemy unit and then they would have to disengage because the unit would cross over some invisible barrier or border.' He also cited another example: 'They'd be sitting there receiving incoming fire, and not only were they not permitted to return the fire, but they weren't even allowed to load their weapons without permission from headquarters.'
Cronauer also noted that, while during the Vietnam War it was possible to separate news for public consumption from battlefield events, today such separation is hardly possible. 'We saw that in Desert Storm,' he said. 'Can you imagine an Iraqi artillery officer watching CNN as one of its reporters describes the location and blast of one of the Scud missiles in, say, Tel Aviv? That's something that could easily be used to direct the fire of even more missiles to other targets in the city.'
Cronauer said he believes there must be some control of information taken out of a war zone. He also thinks the American people can make intelligent decisions about a war without having the minute details of every skirmish presented to them, no matter how sensational, in full and living color. On the other hand, he believes the military will try to clamp down on all the information it is allowed to. 'We saw in Desert Storm that the military and media came to an uneasy truce,' he said, 'and that is about the best we are going to get, because the military is never going to trust the media with information, and the media isn't going to trust the military with it either. I think that attitude helps to keep both sides a little more honest.'
Cronauer also believes that it would be ludicrous for the media to be able to influence the conduct of a battle. 'Once during the Somalian conflict our troops came in, supposedly for a secret landing in the middle of the night,' he said. 'And when they hit the beaches, all the television lights lit up the beach so that it could be broadcast. That's ridiculous.
'We cannot be the policeman to the world,' Cronauer commented. 'A while back, during the Reagan administration, Casper Weinberger, then the secretary of defense, tried to outline the lessons we should have learned from Vietnam. It became known as the Weinberger Doctrine. It says, among other things, that there are certain criteria that should be met before involving our troops in a conflict: there must be a definable and significant U.S. interest to be served; there should be significant support for it on the home front; the goal should be definable and we should go in to win; and it should have a sound exit strategy after the first three objectives are obtained.' He added, 'We saw the results of that doctrine achieved in Desert Storm. In Bosnia we are seeing what happens when those principles are violated.'
Cronauer said he maintains that the military should not be an organization for social experimentation. The sole purpose of the military is to defend the country and to win wars: 'Anything that contributes to that is good and anything that detracts from its ability to do that is bad.'
Although Cronauer said that he does not have a real desire to go back to Vietnam to visit, he knows of some veterans who have gone and others who are planning to go back. 'I believe that American business interests would have the most positive effect there by moving that country more toward a market economy,' he said. 'That's the best thing that can happen to them.' This article was written by Gordon Zernich and originally published in the February 2001 issue of Vietnam Magazine. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Vietnam Magazine today! Pages: 1 2 3Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, Historical Figures, People, Vietnam War
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14 Comments to “Adrian Cronauer: Air Force Radio Announcer in Vietnam”
I had the pleasusre today to escourt Adrean from Indiana to Illinois line after a speaking last nite. What a pleasure to meet this man. :)
By RED DOG on Sep 20, 2008 at 9:45 pm
A few days ago I saw the movie "Goodmorning Vietnam" again. It had been many years since seeing it the first time. I'm only slightly younger than Adrian. I was re-struck by how the movie captured the poignancy and feeling of that era. The music was a big part of it. Much of the absurdities and contradictions of the time also seemed to be well depicted.
By redog on Nov 25, 2008 at 12:27 pm
i cant believe what a pompous foolish man you are,,,bush is a murderous stupid swine and your suppot of cromagnon concepts of war,that cripple the human race is just foolih
By joel Kaminer on Dec 27, 2008 at 2:56 pm
to Joel Kaminer,
It is becuase men like Adrian and my uncles and father that you have a right to speak your mind. If you would like to change that and live in a sociolistic society, then I suggest you move to Russia or Cuba or Venezuela and try to expose your views and see who comes knocking on your door… Just be thankful for those that served and continue to serve so that you might have the freedom that you have
By Loritsn on Jan 3, 2009 at 1:18 am
I had never even heard of Adrian Cronauer untill my dad told me about the movie “good morning Vietnam” and it turns out that I'm related to Adrian:)
By Nikki Cronauer on Feb 27, 2009 at 10:45 am
To Loritsn
Thank you! From a 67th Evac Hosp vet
By Curtis on Mar 15, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Although Adrian's story skips the 10 years he spent in Roanoke, VA, I was working at the little TV station in 1968 when he was hired and we quickly became friends. Adrian is one of the most talented and interesting people I have ever had the pleasure to know. We worked together for 3 yrs when he had an advertising agency and he used to tell me about this great idea of his for a TV sit-com. A combination of MASH and WKRP – thus the idea of "Good Morning Vietman" was born. Adrian moved to NY in 1979 and pursured the series idea with his old Air Force buddy. Andrian was my mentor and friend – I still consider him my close friend even though we have lost contact over the last 20 years.
By Ellen (Dowdy) Butler on May 16, 2009 at 11:02 am
I will be meeting Adrian on November when he sails with a bunch of Veterans and their supporters on the Carnival Valor for a Veterans week cruise.. I can't wait to meet the man..
By Mike Lowe on May 17, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I hated to hear "Good Morning Vietnam" blasting on the radio all those years ago. But now 40 plus years later I think about all the many hours listening to Armed Forces Radio and Television stations around the World. I truely appreciate those hours of entertainment and those who provided it.
The movie "Good Morning Vietnam" brought back many good an bad memories of my stay in Vietnam with the 1st Engineer Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division (June 1966 – September 1968. I wondered what happen to Sgt Cronauer. Now I know and I thank you and your associates for their support and efforts.
Harry Miller
USA Retired
By Harry Miller on Jun 28, 2009 at 11:01 am
Joel Kaminer, life in Iran awaits you.
Leftist Marxist and Communist are the roots of all evil.
By A free American on Jul 12, 2009 at 7:46 pm
um my dad served in vietnam from 1967 till 1969 whith 173rd airborne he told me before his death from his serives in vietnam that the movie good morning vietnam was very true um he rembers alot that music in the movie he also said that that music got him threw good times and bad times in vietnam gave them guyssomthing to party to i happend to listen to alot of the 60s and eraly 70s music and alot of classic country my parents raised us kids on it iam 27 years old so i grew up listening to alot of the doors ccr the beats rolling stones and so many others um i also served my country in afghanstan and iraq whith the 82nd airborne as a combat medic and i rember hearing armed forced radio it was out of europe
By ED brittain on Aug 6, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I think Ms. Dowdy should have looked at pages 2 and 3 of Adrian's bio. There, it does mention his ten years in Roanoke, Va. I don't know the man, but he must be quite a fellow. I served over in 'Nam from Nov. 69 to Dec '70.
By P. Scheiner on Oct 31, 2009 at 3:04 am
Adrian has returned to the Roanoke, Va. area, having retired to the community of Troutville. I just saw him last night in The Showtimers community theater production of Miracle On 34th Street where he played the role of Kris Kringle. What a great talent.
By Don W on Dec 5, 2009 at 7:25 pm