Dave Rabbit

★

The Pirate Voice of Vietnam

★

In January 1971, an Air Force sergeant calling himself Dave Rabbit went on the air from Saigon with an unauthorized FM station built for the troops. It was funny, profane, rebellious, and unmistakably alive — a signal that sounded less like command and more like the men listening.

More than fifty years later, the surviving broadcast opens the door to a larger story about war, music, radio, friendship, loss, and the man behind the voice.

69 MHz★Saigon★January 1971★Underground FM

Hear the Broadcast ◖)))Discover the Story

The Station That
Wasn't Supposed
to Exist

Radio First Termer was a real, unauthorized FM station created for American first termers and non-re-enlistees serving in Vietnam. Built from spare radios, wire, imagination, and a refusal to be ignored, it spoke directly to the troops — in their language, with their music, and from their point of view.

69 MHzOn the FM dial

SaigonBroadcast from the underground

21 NightsThe surviving January 1971 run

First TermersThe audience it was made for

What It Sounded Like

Hard rock, satire, profanity, and the everyday truth of life in country. Dave Rabbit mixed the music with jokes, complaints, letters, and the kind of talk the official networks would never touch.

What Made It Different

Official military radio followed rules. Dave Rabbit followed the troops. No scripts. No censors. No requests for permission. Just a voice from inside the enlisted world — funny, angry, bored, tired, afraid, and alive.

A Signal From Inside the War

It borrowed the shape of official radio, then twisted it into something riskier, funnier, and more human. For three weeks in January 1971, a tiny signal cut through Saigon's static and reached young men who did not hear themselves anywhere else.

Hear the Signal

On Air

Listen to the surviving Radio First Termer broadcast and explore the sounds, voices, and atmosphere that made Dave Rabbit unforgettable.

Public Restored Broadcast

4 parts · 3:22:47

00:0051:18

Fair warning: this was broadcast from a brothel, not a Sunday school. Expect foul language, dark humor, and zero apologies — listener discretion is very much advised.

Now Spinning

Saigon · January 1971 · 45 RPM

Why It Mattered

★

This was never just about radio. It was about young men trying to hold on to their humor, their sanity, and their humanity in a place that asked them to do things most people never have to imagine.

Dave Rabbit preserved the wit, the anger, the boredom, the fear, the music, and the personality of a generation far better than any official report ever could.

Fifty-plus years later, this surviving broadcast is more than a curiosity — it is a time capsule, a piece of cultural history, and the first open door into the life of the man behind the microphone.

It Captured the Enlisted Voice

Not the filtered, approved version — the real one. Witty, profane, tired, and brave. A register of daily military life rarely recorded with such honesty and personality.

It Made the War Feel Human

Between danger, convoys, bunkers, and the endless routine, there was music, jokes, boredom, friendship, and dark humor. Dave Rabbit turned survival into something listeners could actually laugh at.

Pirate Radio History

A pirate signal inside a war zone — rare, risky, and almost lost. The recordings sit at the intersection of broadcasting, counterculture, enlisted life, and military history.

It Opens the Larger Story

The deeper story is how David DeLay became the man capable of creating Dave Rabbit — and how the voice survived the war, the years, and everything that came after.

Before Saigon and before the underground station, there was a Richardson kid, a rock band, the Air Force, Vietnam, and the slow apprenticeship that taught him how a signal should sound.

Before the Legend, There Was David DeLay

RichardsonThe Down BeatsMusic, an audience, and David out front.

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VietnamChina BeachYoung, in-country, and seeing the war up close.

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Radio Phan RangLearning the CraftTape, levels, pacing, and the mechanics of live radio.

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Return to VietnamBack in CountryMore confidence, more experience, and an idea taking shape.

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Saigon 1971Dave Rabbit69 MHz. No permission required.

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