Scope and Contents

Less than a quarter of a linear foot of audio materials and documents donated to the archive by William M. Dempsey. Dempsey was an Air Force Public Information Officer for AFVN-Saigon in 1967 through 1968. The audio materials include a reel-to-reel and duplicated CD recording of an AFVN program narrated by Staff Sergeant Herb Manchester describing the rescue of three downed pilots in North Vietnam in November or December 1967. The documents in the collection are about AFVN personnel involved in the show.

Biographical / Historical

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1931, William Dempsey volunteered for the United States Air Force in 1955 and served twenty (20) years. In Vietnam he was assigned to the USAF Rescue Headquarters at Ton Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon during 1967 and 1968. He later served in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. His MOS was a Public Information Officer and he held the rank of major. Dempsey served as an Air Force Public Information Officer for AFVN-Saigon from 1967 through 1968. As a Major, he would later go on to serve in the Air Force's Office of Information in New York City. During his service in Vietnam William Dempsey earned multiple medals, ribbons and commendations before retiring in 1975.