A few years ago, I met Kat Fitzpatrick, a very special person with a special story. Kat grew up in Vietnam during the war with her family; it certainly was not a normal childhood. Her story is one of the most intriguing I’ve ever heard.

Her father, James E. Welch, was a CIA operative and the head of a covert “Black” radio station from 1972-75 operating out of a CIA facility known as “House Seven” in Saigon at 7 Hong Tu (street), near the American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN) studios, along with several other psyop operations. Her mother was also previously employed by the CIA.

The station was known as Mother Vietnam Radio. The voice of that station was a woman named Mai Lan (sometimes spelled Mai Lon). The Station broadcast propaganda aimed primarily at Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) forces to encourage defections under the South Vietnamese government’s Chieu Hoi (“Open Arms”) program.

Mai Lan was an attractive, seductive-voiced female announcer who had studied broadcasting in the United States. Her father was reportedly a ranking official in the South Vietnamese government under President Nguyen Van Thieu. She served as the primary on-air voice for Mother Vietnam Radio. The station broadcast extensively (up to 55 hours per day on medium and shortwave frequencies at its peak) with nostalgic Vietnamese music, soft news, and appeals designed to undermine enemy morale and lure fighters to defect. She had a voice double who worked closely with her and sometimes stepped in to ensure regular programming.

The broadcasts targeted VC/PAVN soldiers and supporters as part of broader U.S.-South Vietnamese PSYOP efforts tied to the Chieu Hoi program (launched in the early 1960s). This initiative offered amnesty, resettlement, financial incentives, and a chance to “return to the government side” (often with promises of safety and a better life). Mai Lan’s delivery featured a warm, maternal, or alluring tone, hence “Mother Vietnam,” combined with nostalgic music, personal appeals, and news highlighting the futility of the communist cause, hardships faced by fighters, and benefits of rallying. Scripts emphasized themes like family, peace, and returning home. Kat’s father was the American adviser to this Vietnamese-run effort between 1972 and........

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