If the name isn’t familiar, it is probably because that’s his real name and not his radio moniker, Dick Richards.

For over 35 years, Richards has been a radio weatherman known for his time at WLAM radio where he gave his daily forecasts. Today, he can be heard on WQRY, Oldies Y 106, an entirely web-based radio station out of Lisbon Falls that plays the tunes of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.

“When I was the new kid on the block, I did the midnight to 6 a.m. shift as a disk jockey,” said Richards. “I did weather live from 6 to 9 a.m. with Don Zihlman during the morning drive. I also did weather live from my home in the afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m., with Scott Carpenter, another on-air personality.”

Though he never got his degree in meteorology, Richards went on to carve a career in communications that began when he joined the army in 1967 at 18 years of age.

“At that time they were drafting so I joined in order to avoid the draft,” said Richards. “I was able to choose my military occupational service and get into communications.”

His enlistment took him on a six-month tour in Vietnam serving as a Specialist E-4 with significant work in communications. His role had him encrypting and decrypting message information coming in and out of the area. It was clearly top secret work as a security clearance was required for those holding the job. And unlike the high tech encrypting and decrypting on today’s Internet, Richards’ work came by teletype.

Little did he know that his communications work in the military would lead to a lifelong career in broadcasting.

While in Vietnam, Richards noted that two future celebrities were getting their start in broadcasting at a radio station in Saigon, AFVN; American Forces Vietnam.

Pat Sajak, the television game-show host of Wheel of Fortune, was on the air at the time and so was Adrian Cronauer, an on-air disk jockey who would one day be portrayed by Robin Williams in the movie “Good Morning, Vietnam.”

Richards was stationed in Tay Ninh, just 30 miles northwest of Saigon from AFVN. “I never had the pleasure to meet them.”

After his tour in Vietnam, he spent the remaining time of his military career stationed in Hawaii before being medically discharged in 1968.

“I enjoyed my tour in Vietnam. I interacted well with the staff and people around me,” said Richards.

On his return stateside, he studied broadcast journalism at the University of Maine from 1972 to 1975. Not long after that he joined the radio business on WLAM, a station well known for serving the Lewiston-Auburn area. His hobby of weather watching turned into his on-air profession.

In his current job, he broadcasts online which can be heard not only locally but worldwide on computers and mobile devices.

“I believe online broadcast is the future,” said Richards. “I have my own studio and I download all my forecasts to the station.” He especially likes interacting with the public and providing a service to his listeners all over the world.

Today, Richards is 66 years old, single, and shows no signs of retiring. In addition to his broadcasting duties, he plays drums in a Christian band and he’s the audio engineer and board tech for his church, the Christian Fellowship in New Gloucester, in a role he’s performed for over 15 years.

“I keep busy. There’s no time to retire,” said Richards, citing that his 90-year-old uncle serves as the pastor at the church. “I guess it runs in my family.”

Reflecting on the meaning of Veterans Day, Richards believes the day is to honor the service and memory of veterans.

“All play an important role whether on the battlefield or in any noncombat profession.”

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