Description:

In the early months of World War II, radio producer Louis G. Cowan was faced with a problem. Not long before the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Cowan had joined the radio arm of the War Department's Special Services division, where his primary duties had been to produce radio-based propaganda for civilian audiences. Now, however, hundreds of thousands of newly enlisted soldiers were in desperate need of mainstream entertainment - in particular, the sort of radio shows they had enjoyed while they were civilians. In anticipation of the conflict to come, a 'Buddy Disc' program had already been established to distribute recorded music and comedy programs to recreation centers and mess halls, but for troops stationed far away from home, there was a constant need for the sort of morale-building entertainment that radio could best provide. Cowan considered the audience for such a show. As a result of the attack the previous December, in a short three months, hundreds of thousand s of outraged American