Wake Up to the Rhythm

Neatly tucked away on shelves in Wake Island Airfield’s base operations building, airmen uncovered an immaculate trove of 9,000 vinyl records—the 1970s collection of Wake’s former radio station. Inconspicuously locked behind a door stenciled with the station’s call letters KEAD, “it’s a little time capsule,” said Colin Bradley, a communications contractor. “I have not run across a collection that well preserved or that intact in my career.” Originally provided by Armed Forces Radio and Television Service to entertain the troops, the island’s 611th Air Support Group detachment is working to send the unique collection back to AFRTS in Virginia for preservation. Requiring an estimated $10,000 worth of packaging and 75 16-inch boxes to ship, the records will complete AFRTS’ local museum collection, with any extras headed to the Library of Congress or National Archives. (Wake report by Capt. Amy Hansen)