As your host at the Hall of Heroes, it is my sincere pleasure to welcome you to our roof-top inspiration podium.  As you enjoy our warm sun (we get 300 days a year here in Pueblo) and bask beneath the majesty of the Colorado Rocky Moutains, you will begin to understand why our city is often called the "Heartland" of America.

It is here beneath the flag of the United States that we have the privilage of introducing you each month, to inspirational speakers from all walks of America.  We begin this new Hall Of Heroes feature by following a long standing tradition.

In 1995 the Hall of Heroes project brought 15 Medal of Honor recipients to Pueblo for a special Independence Day celebration.  At that time we inaugurated the Jimmie E. Howard Memorial Award.   Joining the Medal of Honor guests was a delegation from the rescue workers that performed so heroically in the aftermath of the tragic bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City just two months before.  During our ceremonies here, this new award was presented by the heroes of America's wars of the past, to these citizen-heroes of the present.

Our speaker for this first major "Home of Heroes" event was a very special and interesting Vietnam Veteran.  It is our pleasure to welcome him back as the first guest speaker at the Hall Of Heroes Museum on-line.

In the mid-1980s, two of the most popular shows on television were M*A*S*H and WKRP in Cincinatti.   One was a comedy set among soldiers during the Korean War, the other a comedy set in the studio of a radio station.  Considering the success of these two very different comedies, a former Air Force disc jockey of some renoun for his broadcasts in Vietnam, decided to combine both settings into the idea for a new sit-com.  Based loosely on his own experiences, he wrote a treatment for such a sit-com which was rejected as too timely.

Undetered, Adrian wrote another treatment on the subject, this time for a movie of the week.  This treatment later got into the hands of Robin Williams who bought an option on it.  Robin Williams developed the treatment into the hit movie "Good Morning, Vietnam", co-authored by Adrian Cronauer,  with Mr. Williams playing the part of the Air Force disc jockey.   Almost overnight,  Adrian's Vietnam War trademark "Goooooooood Morning Vietnam" became one of the most quoted movie lines of all time.

In a moment I will introduce you to the "REAL" Adrian Cronauer, but first I would like to tell you a little about him.  I begin by saying that Adrian is a TRUE friend and a man of integrity and commitment I respect and admire.  Today he and his wife Jeane live and work in the Washington, D.C. area where Adrian is a successful attorney and Jeane is the radio broadcaster of the family.

Prior to his legal career, Adrian owned his own advertising agency, managed a radio station, and was program director of a television station.  He has taught broadcasting at the university level and authored a textbook on radio & TV announcing.  Adrian's How to Read Copy, published by Bonus Books in Chicago, comes complete with an audio cassette and is now in use by many colleges and universities.

After the successful release of "Good Morning Vietnam", a special on National Public Radio about the role of military radio in Vietnam earned Adrian a 1992 Ohio State Award and two 1991 Gold Medals from the New York Radio Festival.  In 1992 Adrian was invited to Australia to participate in the dedication of that country's Vietnam Forces National Memorial.   While "down-under", Adrian emceed a four-hour, nationally televised outdoor concert featuring Australian entertainers who had entertained troops in Vietnam during the 60's and 70's.

Adrian received his Doctor of Law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was Special Projects Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.  He also holds a masters degree in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research in New York City.  He clerked at the Federal Communications Commission for Commissioner Patricia Diaz Dennis, and was honored with the FCC's Special Service Award.

Today Adrian is Vice President and Senior Attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm of  Burch & Cronauer.  In addition to his membership in the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, he is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania,  and holds membership in the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity.  He serves on the Arlington County (VA) cable TV Advisory Committee, and the National Board of the Armed Forces Broadcasters Association.

Adrian commits much of his free time to veterans' and patriotic activities; and has used his celebrity status, achieved after the release of "Good Morning, Vietnam",  as a means of reaching and helping veterans.  In 1996 he was presented the Hall of Heroes "American Patriot Award" for his dedication to such causes.  He is Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Institute and a member of the Board of the National Vietnam Veterans Coalition.  He spends much of his time speaking before veterans' groups, colleges, universities, social, legal, and business groups.  He is very active in the effort to convince members of the U.S. Senate to send to the States,   legislation allowing them to decide if a Constitutional Amendment should be approved to protect our Flag from acts of desecration. 

It is with great pride and sincere appreciation to a very special American, that we are happy to introduce you to our first Hall Of Heroes guest Speaker:

Mr. Adrian Cronauer

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