The American Forces Network can trace its origins to 26 May 1942,
when the War Department established the Armed Forces Radio
Service (AFRS). A television service was first introduced in 1954
with a pilot station at Limestone Air Force Base, Maine. In 1954,
the television mission of AFRS was officially recognized and
AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service) became AFRTS (Armed
Forces Radio and Television Service).        

AFN-Japan’s radio services today consist of AM and FM stereo operations at Yokota Air Base (810 AM & cable FM), MCAS
Iwakuni (1575 AM), FLTACTS Sasebo (1575 AM), Okinawa
(648 AM & 89.1 FM) and Misawa Air Base (1575 AM).      

AFN-Okinawa ceased over-the-air analog TV operations along
with all other Japanese TV stations on July 24, 2011.      

All music was recorded on LP discs.

1960

AFRTS Okinawa Record library (1950s)

AFRTS Okinawa TV Master Control booth in 1964.

Pat Sajak, the host of TVs Wheel of Fortune
served in the U.S. Army as a disc jockey
during the Vietnam War for American
Forces Vietnam Network. He hosted the
same Dawn Buster radio show that Adrian
Cronauer had, and for 14 months, followed
Cronauer’s tradition of signing on with
"Good Morning Vietnam!"

On October 8, 1871, flames spark in the Chicago barn of Patrick
and Catherine O’Leary, igniting a two-day blaze that killed
between 200 and 300 people, destroyed 17,450 buildings, left
100,000 homeless and caused an estimated $200 million
(in 1871 dollars; roughly $4 billion in 2021 dollars) in damages.

Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in the O’Leary barn
and started the fire, but other theories hold that humans or even
a comet may have been responsible for the event that left four
square miles of the Windy City, including its business district, in
ruins. Dry weather and an abundance of wooden buildings, streets
and sidewalks made Chicago vulnerable to fire.

Martin Milner and George Maharis

On October 7, 1960, the first episode of the one-hour television
drama "Route 66" aired on CBS. The program had a simple
premise: It followed two young men, Buz Murdock (George
Maharis) and Tod Stiles (Martin Milner), as they drove across
the country in an inherited Corvette (Chevrolet was one of the
show’s sponsors), doing odd jobs and looking for adventure 
while on a journey in search of themselves.

On October 6, 1926, Yankee slugger Babe Ruth hit a record
three homers against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth
game of the World Series. The Yanks won the game 10-5,
but despite Ruth’s unprecedented performance, they lost
the championship in the seventh game. In 1928, in the fourth
game of another Yanks-Cards World Series, Ruth tied his
own record, knocking three more pitches out of the same
park.

CHICAGO (WICS/WICD) — Illinois and Bears great Dick
Butkus passed away on Thursday. 

The Chicago Bears confirmed the news of the passing.

The team said Butkus died in his sleep overnight at his
home in Malibu, California. 

In August 2001, Butkus underwent quintuple bypass
surgery to remove blockages in his arteries.