The War From Thailand 66-67 (Edited) I still see the water buffalo, a skinny Asian man driving two of them through the rice patties, turning over the bottom for the next planting. Most of his family, children and all, out there knee deep in muddy water. Trees, as you might imagine in a tropical climate.....nothing familiar, except in pictures. Wild growing bananas everywhere, tiny, uncultured....but oh, youve never tasted anything like them! Wed cut bunches from the side of the road, ate them like candy, so good! Pull on one of the the leaves first...pull it hard, shake it up! A certain deadly spider hung out among them. Not good news at first, but they scurried on out of there. Letting the other guys do it. Do you want my pocket knife! (g) Exotic, primitive, even frightening, everything new, a totally different culture. Dont pat a child on his/her head....never sit with your legs crossed, your shoe pointed toward another. The head is sacred.....the feet are dirty.....considered an insult. Gee, OK....Ill do my best to nix this habit of patting children on the head for a spell, both feet firmly planted on the floor. Its hot....smelly, oh, the air so heavy, such a peculiar smell. Every Thai native would emit an odor from 5 feet away. Its in their diet, I was told. OK then, thats easy enough, and I was curious, to follow with the obvious question! What in the world are they eating? You dont want to know, but Im going to tell you anyway! :-) Street merchants everywhere in the towns and cities.....Wok and Bunsen burner (or something like it), bubbling a little grease (or motor oil?)....they are frying up insects, beetles, grubs, small fish, lizards, and various unrecognized (by me) little critters. It was the standard wok-by take out, not your local McDonalds. (grinning) Hot Dogs, hamburgers, fries?.....well no. Those were available on weekends.....but only in our mess hall. :-) Casual dress for women and girls, they wore what was called a sarong. Looked like a table cloth wrapped around, very colorful, tucked in somehow, reaching to the ankles. Standard footwear? Well our western markets would reach them decades ago....you would recognize them as thongs. Today, they would be Made in China.....no doubt. I never liked snakes, no need to chase them down for closer examination. I was never THAT curious. Any of the poisonous variety, even behind glass at the Pittsburgh Zoo, I found absolutely terrifying! No affection for snakes....of any make or model. Anything found in nature with a bite, a stinger, or fangs....I aint gonna bother you. :-) To my dismay, then....snakes were plentiful in Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos, nearly all of them dangerous, deadly. Our sleeping quarters lined with heavy screen.....open air hootches, at night it was advised....just pee out the door. There were boardwalks leading to the latrine, but very common to see two coal black emperor scorpions in combat, competing with one another for superiority, maybe even for the affection of apretty little mate. :-) I never knew how that worked.....readily yielding to them my share of that real estate. At night, well, I peed out the door, from two steps up....right, left, and straight ahead.....alternating doors....there were two of them. (laughing) It rained every day, late afternoon....washing everything away. Hey, we became kind of primitive too....ours though, a matter of survival. :-) It was 1966-67, that war would last 8, 9 more years. We were somewhat new to the locals, a curiosity, but they sure liked our money. Strange, their currency.....the Baht, worth all of a nickel. Paper money for 5, 10....up to 100 Baht, or $5.00. Our base, called Camp Friendship, Korat, Thailand....rather small, nothing fancy, no modern buildings, all wooden framed structures, unpaved roads, most of it cleared from the jungle. A detachment of military police, a Brigade of 1st infantry division (for our protection), and, the rest of us....U.S. Army, Stratcom, Long Lines Battalion, communication units all over Southeast Asia. We were the phone line guys, the message facility, carrying on the war from behind the scenes, and, almost always, away from hostile fire. Unarmed, except for within the compound.....no stranger to the M-16 rifle. Part 2 Everything familiar is gone. I knew nothing or anybody, only that I was heading for some ancient and strange land called Siam....today known as Thailand. I would become a frequent flyer, no rewards for accumulated miles. The toughest part was our last phone conversation from Oakland, and then, that final departure. So hard on the mental health, my physiological profile, if analyzed, so out of kilter, depression and dread.....Will I ever see her again, will I ever return home? So easy to calculate and determine the time span of one year, from birthday to birthday, Christmas to Christmas, school year to school year. Three hundred-sixty five days before I would see my wife and family again. I swallowed hard, and so many times. Twelve hours difference in time, and my thoughts reaching for balance. She was asleep while I was working, I was under a mosquito net while she went to work at Chadwells Market. The moon and stars we saw only at intervals now, remembering the two of us, holding hands, lying on a blanket in her side yard, looking up at the sky on a warm summer night. Small talk....mesmerized by the vastness of the universe. Robert, do you suppose there is other life out there? There must be, I replied. The daily exchange of letters, bitter sweet, sharing with her my daily activities, those details I knew to be safe, holding back just a little, not wanting to cause her any measure of fear. Every written word, to confirm my love for her....burdened with a heavy, aching heart. Oh, how I missed her! It would have been mid June, 1966....her 21st birthday. We didnt even celebrate. It would have been a big deal, but I was half a globe away. Happy Birthday, Babe! She would write in return....Its meaningless without you, I would have forgotten had you not reminded me. Our 3rd wedding anniversary too, the separation....there would be no party. Undoubtedly, the most trying time of our lives, both of us....miserable. The big Air Force Base, I couldnt tell her about, probably wouldnt have anyway. Royal Thai Air Base, its official title, though it was a total U.S. operation. I couldnt observe a consistent daily count, the highest was around 60. Just before dawn, always anticipated, the deafening roar would continue....on and on. We couldnt have been much more than 250-300 yards from the runway, sleep disrupted for better than an hour! And no, I never would get used to it, even the lockers vibrated! They were F-105 fighters, bomb laden, missions to North Viet Nam! By 4:30 each afternoon, here they come, returning, always in formations of 4, every eye to the sky....so neat to watch! One at a time, peeling away, circling to land, parachutes deployed. Those first few weeks, a few of us would walk over there to get a better view, so fascinating to watch. Flashing signals, lowering gates, very similar to a railroad crossing......so low to the road all traffic stopped. Almost like a 4th of July parade, 7 days a week. (g) An occasional straggler.....a leftover bomb to release several miles down range. The first few times, the explosion alarming...scary! That, I would eventually get used to. :-) Our sports facilities, first rate! One of each....softball field (with lighting), football, and an outside basketball court. At only 23, I was still in the best of conditioning. I had not long ago completed basic training, after all, much rougher than any spring football program. Naturally, I would participate in all three. :-) Had one swell of a time....took my mind away, you know? Made life a little bit easier. I could write Kay with some enthusiasm.....I scored 23 points.....caught a touchdown pass....or hit a double and two singles! (grin) I think it may have lightened her load too....just a tad. We would get the most wonderful break, fully recorded in the story.....Our Fake Divorce and a Way Home It was all contrived.....my best and only acting role ever! Though I was very, very deceitful.....I just didnt care, not even the slightest twinge of guilt. It cost only me, not the government....those flights with or without me. Meeting her that day at the Pitt Airport will remain as one of the most memorable for me, still retaining those images. We had the best thanksgiving and Christmas together! New Years Eve....I was gone again, spent it with Kays cousin in Oklahoma City. Tom Gunion was stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, picked me up as I flew into town. First time I met his little boy and wife, Becky. So genuinely happy to see me, I would have all the latest news from home. :-) Part 3 Getting home during that escapade was conspicuously convenient, just a coincidence, or was someone looking out for me? All my rides seemed to be in place and waiting. There were no major lay overs, maybe an hour (or so) the longest, and that was at Dover AFB, Delaware. I was home in just a little over 24 hours. Getting back was all together another matter. I believed my best shot would be from Wright/Patterson in Dayton, Ohio, one of the busiest air bases east of the Mississippi. Rode a Greyhound from the Steubenville Terminal, both of us going through the agony of those goodbyes once more. Ill see you again in six months. It was never easy! If only she wouldnt cry, then I might have been brave too, her tears always hurting my heart so much. We would hug tightly, kiss just once more. That first hop, quick enough....a flight to Shepherd Air Force, Texas, and then, a short skip into Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City. From there, I would get bogged down. Stayed there with Tom Gunion and his family for 2 days, New Years Eve, and into January 1st, 1967. The most uncomfortable flight ever from Oklahoma City to El Toro Marine Air Base in San Diego, Ca. An early World War II, C-47, DC-3, twin engine prop, a passenger aircraft, so dinky and old looking, I was half afraid to get on it. I had no choice. It would hold 17 total. There were 5 of us.....two marines, one air force, me and one other army guy. Seven and one half hours, lumbering across the Southwestern United States, that tin can so drafty and cold....we nearly froze our donkeys off. :-) I had my big, heavy army issued overcoat handy, covering myself like a blanket. Stayed at El Toro just long enough to see Disneyland, hitting it just right, once a week GIs in uniform were admitted FREE, 50% reduction on rides! I recall so little of that experience, only to remember....Kay was jealous. (grin) I called home often during that time, my daily progress report. Another slow moving ride.....a C-130 Hercules, a quad (turbo) propeller, cargo/passenger (convertible) style, and a huge airplane, nicknamed Fat Albert. (Youll see why!) Its camouflaged, equipped as a gun ship, labeled US MARINES, and would be my home in the sky for the rest of the trip. Im on my way to Hawaii now....just before leaving, my final phone call home. Several more tough moments. Ill see you in mid-June Babe.....maybe in time for your 22nd birthday? I heard her sigh....then, I love you, please be safe! Darn....if writing and remembering doesnt make my heart hurt still. :-( Three days in Hawaii! No, not as you might visualize, it wasnt a vacation, no equipment for the beach, only one evening into town, a couple (beers this time) with a buddy. I would lose him on the next stop....The Philippines. Alone again now, the far end of my excursion is coming to an end. Got to stop, take a look at Saigon one more time, once again....not my choice! I would brace myself for the dive. It didnt happen this time, a lull....so they said. Tan Son Nhut airbase, what a [community]. Signs of war everywhere.....it was just awful. Have some photos. Several hours, I stayed inside the terminal, if one could stretch it a bit, calling it that, so hot and muggy. Would have made her terribly nervous, knowing where I was right then. Bangkok took no time at all.....the landing, a big sigh of relief. Another helicopter ride, I was there.....feeling so down, I walked slowly into camp, my duffel bag over my shoulder, just 300-400 yards. I was 9 days late, so worried about it, was I AWOL? Theres Yaussy! We didnt expect you back, a compassionate re-assignment or something. My first sergeant smiling at me, a good sign....How did it go? he would ask. Heavenly, I replied.....he smiled again. Ive been on the road for almost two weeks, am I OK? Youre fine he said.....they will charge you with additional leave time, thats all. Sat right down wrote Kay a quick letter. Made it safely, all is well.....but it still stinks here. She knew what I meant, in more ways than one. Part 4 Took, perhaps, a week to adjust again, but settle in I did. I knew my job and did it well, as tiring as it sometimes became, especially midnight shift. Soldiers rotating constantly, new bodies arriving while others, their 12 month tour over, were heading home to The World....meaning, back to the good ol U.S.A. I would get so excited for them, while, at the same time....envious, always wishing it was me! Counting the days now, each letter to Kay would include the count at the top of the page....133-132-131. I was Specialist E-4, no more climbing the ladder into those guard towers. That was mainly for the new arrivals, all of us, at one time or another getting that feel....what it was like in a potentially hazardous zone, three magazine clips of 15 rounds each, and an M-16 rifle. Believe me, bumps in the night took on a whole new meaning! Each guard post equipped with an alarm system and radio set, assured that help would arrive quickly should any red flag warrant a response. So close to hostile borders, we were always in a war posture. Sand bagging common, frequently on the firing range, protective bunkers provided should the worst scenario develop. Even during sporting events, or times of relaxation, military police presence and infantry type troops, in full gear, were always on the prowl, 24-7. Never once felt as though I was in any danger, though my imagination could play dirty tricks! :-) Security was tight, we were well protected, our particular mission....Communications, and the reason everyone else was there, in support of us. Only 3 trips into downtown Korat in the year I was there, my little camera.....and sufficient escort. I stayed within the confines of the safe and familiar, much of my leisure time spent on the Air Force side, the biggest and best of everything....movie theatre, PX, swimming pool, barracks, everything! They had been there much longer, probably twice the population too. more to come....still writing. My work is never done! :-) bob
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 00:14:15 +0000
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