As the door of the aircraft opened, I was stunned by the bright sunlight and a blast-furnace wave of heat. I stretched and looked out the door. A small figure in a coolie hat was setting up a debarkation ladder. Beyond him, the nose of a Phantom fighter intruded into my first view of sunny Udorn Air Force Base, Thailand.
We filed out of the airplane and onto the tarmac. I squinted in the light and tried to take stock in my new surroundings. The terminal building, an aluminum prefab job, was about a hundred yards away, shimmering in the waves of heat radiating from the asphalt.
The walk over to the terminal was interrupted by some Phantoms as they came screaming back to the airbase from what I assumed must have been a training mission. An Air Force type came out of the operations hut nearby, pointing up at the third Phantom. A thin trail of white smoke streamed from the aircraft. Activity ceased while the airplane turned towards the runway, losing altitude at an alarming rate. Everyone was silent, holding their breath at the spectre of a crash so soon after our arrival.
Time took on a surreal quality, as the aircraft cleared the last trees across the road from the runway, and plopped down directly opposite us, continuing down the runway until it was lost in the haze at the far end.
“Holy shit!” muttered the sailor who had occupied the seat next to me on the flight, in a loud whisper. “I thought the fighting was over. At least that’s what they said on the news last week.”
“Somebody go tell that pilot,” countered a warrant officer, “before he gets in trouble for taking unauthorized enemy fire.”
I stood there, dumb, listening to the repartee and gazing down where, I hoped, the airplane had stopped in time. As a private pilot in civilian life, I had a strong feeling of empathy for the pilot of the stricken fighter, and hoped he was all right.
We gathered our bags and trooped the remaining distance to the terminal. Most of the crowd was composed of people who were already stationed here and knew where they were going. I stood out in the crowd, being the only soldier of the “army persuasion” on the plane and in the terminal. I had my orders, stating that I was proceeding on “Permanent Change of Station” from “Advanced Individual Training” at Ft. Gordon, GA to the 7th Radio Research Field Station, Ramasun, Thailand. The instructions in my orders stated that I was to call the Transportation officer at the 7th and arrange a ride to the unit.
The terminal emptied out in no time, and I was left to my own devices. I collected my luggage, and looked around for some means to communicate with my new unit. A phone on the wall had a placard reading “NEW ARRIVALS FOR 7TH RRFS USE THIS PHONE AND CALL 4318 FOR PICKUP.”
I was here to serve a one-year “hardship” tour. Tours of duty were assigned on a basis of relative closeness to civilization. A “long tour” was what you were likely to be assigned to in Europe. A “short” or “hardship” tour could be anywhere. Short tours were commonly referred to by GIs as a “hitch in Bumfuck, Egypt.”
I picked up the phone. No dial tone.
“Shit.” I picked up my bags and headed out towards the road. I had absolutely no idea as to where I was going or where I was, for that matter. One year ago, I was pumping gas in Indianapolis, and desperately looking for a way out of there.
If it was adventure I wanted, this was certainly a start. I was walking down towards the highway in the oppressive heat. I accosted an airman and asked him how to get to the 7th.
“Didn’t you see the phone?” he asked.
“The goddamned thing is broken. I don’t have the slightest idea where I am.” I was pissed off and soaking in my winter dress uniform. It was January in the United States when I had boarded the first of the series of airplanes that would bring me here, just a few degrees north
of the Equator.
“Shit. You didn’t get an arrival briefing or anything?” he inquired.
“Nope.”
“Well, the 7th is about five miles south of here, out Friendship Highway. You can’t miss it. There’s a huge antenna right next to the place.”
Well, now I had a destination. “Is there a bus or something I can use to get there?”
“Next one is in two hours,” he said, “but I’ll tell you what. Got a quarter?”
I dug into my pocket and handed him one. He, in turn handed me a nine sided coin that looked like it belonged in a kid’s play money set.
“That’s five Baht” he said. “What you need to do is go on down to the highway and cross over to the other side. They drive on the left side of the road here, and you’ll be on the right side to get to the 7th. Wait for a Layolayo truck and hold out your hand like this.” He demonstrated.
“What’s a Layolayo truck?” He pointed.
Down at the highway, I saw a small pickup truck with a colorful canopy.
“One of those” he said. “Just get in and tell the driver ‘Bai Nongsoong, kop.’”
“Bai Nongsoong kop” I repeated, trying to capture the sound.
“You got it. Good luck.”
“Thanks, man.”
I picked up my gear and trudged down to the highway. “Bai Nongsoong, kop”. I repeated it over and over. As I got nearer the highway, I began to see the sights and smell the smells of Thailand. Peddlers with colorful pushcarts, little food stands that emanated strange odors, Buddhist monks in orange robes, and wizened elders were among the kaleidoscope of images that overlapped each other. I reached the highway.
Traffic of all shapes and descriptions roared by. It was a two-lane blacktop road with clay shoulders about twenty feet wide. I made several false starts, trying to get across. Finally, after a close brush with what appeared to be a taxicab, I made it. I began to look for a Layolayo truck. Several passed me by, but finally, one stopped at my somewhat tentative signal. I tossed my gear in the back. Opening the door, I slid in on the left hand side. The driver looked at me expectantly. I opened my mouth, but no sound issued forth.
I panicked. I couldn’t remember the words! Oh shit. What now?
“Kop ow bai Nongsoong?” The driver furnished the missing words. I felt a flood of relief. Of course! I was in uniform, and the 7th was the only Army outfit in this neck of the woods. I nodded, glad that this smiling little man was on the ball.
I was physically exhausted; three days and five airplanes had taken their toll. Nevertheless, I was not sleepy. The excitement of being in a foreign land for the first time and seeing all the things I had only read about in high school had driven all thoughts of sleep from my mind. I watched the passing countryside with fascination. Water buffalo and rice paddies lined the road, punctuated by the occasional small bungalow built up on stilts.
We had been on the road only about ten minutes when I saw something that had me rubbing my eyes. An arc of steel was peeking above the trees perhaps a mile and a half away. As we got closer, it became apparent that the apparition was of enormous scale.
It resolved itself into an antenna array of monstrous proportions, at least a quarter-mile in diameter and 250 feet tall. The feeling of unreality was compounded when this monster was contrasted with the primitive surroundings. The guy at the airbase was right: No way anyone could miss this thing.
The driver grinned and pointed at the antenna, and said “Kop work elephant box?” I nodded, still amazed. The driver pulled up at the guard shack just outside the fence. I handed him the coin the airman had given me, and pulled my bags out of the back. He drove off in a cloud of black smoke.
I walked up to the MP on duty and presented my orders. He studied them, and picked up the phone. “Hey, Sarge. I gotta new guy here. Where do you want him?”After a short conversation, he pointed me towards a small whitewashed building down the road.
I trudged down the road, the fatigue getting to me at last. I walked in and signed the incoming register, and got a barracks assignment. Fortunately, my assigned building was right across the road. I made it up the steps and opened the door.
It was like walking into a deep freeze. For a “hardship” tour of duty, the place was air conditioned to within a half a degree of frostbite. I stood in shock. The cold, however, was not the only reason. Walking towards me was the single most beautiful girl I had ever seen.
“Sawadee, kah.” She smiled. I melted, despite the air conditioning. She took my hand and led me to an empty bunk and said “You stay here, OK?” I was too stunned to argue. With swift efficiency, she took my linens and made the bunk, and then produced a clean towel. I took the hint, and grabbed my kit, setting out in search of the shower.
After cleaning twelve thousand miles of sweat and dirt off of my body, I explored the barracks. I found a central room where three Thai women were busily ironing uniforms and other articles of clothing. Maids? I was still under the impression that the reason that this was a short tour was that conditions were so unbearable here. If this is what the Army considers unbearable, I want to go to Hell, Army style.
I headed back to my new bunk, hoping to find my angel still there. She was, and had finished unpacking my clothes and hanging my uniforms in the locker. She turned down the sheets on the bunk and said “You sleep now?” The trip had totally exhausted me, but that certainly didn’t stop my imagination from running a little wild at that moment.
I sat down and looked at her. “What’s your name?” I asked. “My name Ling Saam” she chimed. “I be your Number One housegirl, OK?”
“OK.” I fell back into the freshly made bed and thought that if I had known that this was duty with the ASA, I would have accepted the Colonel’s offer immediately, instead of waiting and dithering as I had on the occasion of our first meeting.
ENJOYED YOUR STORY.
I AM FROM INDIANA AND WAS AT RAMASUN FROM NOV 72 THRU JUL 74.
Well, we were clearly there for an overlapping period of time. What was your MOS? I worked in the Comm Center.
Hi Phil,
You forgot to mention that the Comm Center barracks were also just off of the “golf course” (watch for cobras). I was in the Comm Center as well, but we may have just missed each other, I arrived in January of 75, I had been at FS Korea for a year and the 313th ASA at Ft. Bragg before going to the 7th, I was a 72E40 (converted from 72B) I was the A/ on Alpha Trick (A2) from Jan 75 to Jan 76. I remember the placard at Udorn, but the phone was working the day I arrived.
Ha, I forgot that… I lived off post a lot of the time though. I was on D trick most of my time there. I left in May of 1975, so we indeed overlapped time there. I was a 31J20B3 TTY mech back in the cryppie shop fixing the high-speed teletypes. Remember the AMASS?
I do remember AMASS, from school at Grodon, they had shut down the CRS at Ramasun by the time I got there and the AMASS was gone.
Hi, fellows — my husband is Stephen D. Anderson. He was at Ramasun from July 72-Sep 73, married a Thai woman. We were in Udorn last year for his son’s wedding to the Thai daughter of long-time family friends. Steve went over as a Russian language specialist, ended up a graphic artist when Col McFadden found out he had an art degree. He created the updated Cobra patch in 73. We have a collection of Ramasun and Udorn websites and photos, if anyone is interested.
Randy Rouch, did you work in headquarters building? Steve is pretty sure he remembers you.
Heheh. Hardship duty? The air-conditioning gave it away. Udorn and the 7th RRFs was the best kept secret in the army. All the advantages of Bangkok without the traffic. I had a great time, both partying and learning the language and culture. Taught for awhile at the local HS and Teacher’s College as well.
Dennis
Phil,
I first got to the 7th in 67 when they were just opening up the new barracks. Left for Japan and found that Thailand had spoiled me so I jumped on a levy back to Thailand in 69 and left in 70 and brought a Thai wife back with me. I live in Madison Indiana.
Keith
I was at the 7th from June 74 to June75. After After a C-130 ride from the Philapines, we were taken by open duce and a half truck from Udorn to the 7Th through downtown Udorn. O’Boy the smells of the food venders and the bungalows and klongs/canals on the road to Nong Soon. Where the hell am I ?,and then the base. 1200 troups with 1600 Thais doing all the work. Never forget when I watched 25 Thais get off the toyota base shutle van which would hold 6 Americans. What a hardship, I suffered.
I was stationed at the 7th from May 74 and extended for six months through November 75. I was an MP and your story brought back so many fond and similar memories. I had such a blast during my time at the 7th that after I rotated back to Arlington Hall I was willing to re-enlist to get back the 7th but unfortunately we were in the process of closing it up by then. I often wonder what the place looks like today. I may have an opportunity to go back to Thailand this May but probably won’t have time to go up north.
Really enjoyed the people, food and Singhai beer!
…USASA MOS 72B…Ramasun Mar70-Mar71…still trying to remember all the names or faces of people that were there after all the years…the units were so small that every station you went to you saw someone from previous stations…even met people from home…or people that knew someone you might have know…Jackson Aug69-Oct69…Gordon Oct69-Mar’70…Udorn Mar70-Mar-71…Hood Mar71-TDY Meade Nov71-Feb72 back to Hood till Aug-72 where ETS Aug-72…would like to hear from people that were at those places within those dates or close…Jennings Holt…
Phil, Did you work with Mike Haley and Bowie Fields?
I was a 32D Tech Controller from 74-75. everyone called me Bowies Little Brother.
Larry Fields
Yes, I remember those names. Wasn’t Bowie a big guy from Minnesota or Wisconsin?
I was an unauthorized dependant and lived off post from ’73 to Spring of ’74. My ex was a 33S (Glen Chambers). I had a regular tourist visa so had to leave the country every 60 days to renew. Of course the closest place to leave Thailand was Laos…very interesting! I absolutely loved Thailand, the people, the food, everything! I’ve been back 4-5 times but have never made it back to the Udorn area. But I think I’d rather remember it from the 70′s!
Hiya Deb. Where off post did you live? My (now ex) wife was in the same boat as you, and had to go take the boat every 2 months to Vientiane.
phil
i was ASA mos 05Hawg–
arrived in bangkok in cargo bay of C-130–went north to udorn same way–
the arrival at Udorn RTAFB was similar to the one you described, but the war was still very much in active status–was lucky enough to have transport waiting to get to the 7th–they needed bodies badly those days i suppose–
couldn’t believe my good fortune–what a duty station(this was sept. ’67–just into barracks and out of tents)–the thai people were wonderful–spent my year pickin’ dits (among “other” pursuits) and then;
south to Bangkok on another C-130, and out of country in the cargo belly of a C-141 headed to the PI–
couldn’t see much reason to change horses in mid stream(had come to udorn from okinawa) so did an ITT to chitose, where i ended my “career” of 4 years–ETS, oakland march ’70–
really enjoyed your style of writing–truly ASA in it’s makeup–is there more somewhere relating to your ASA time?
REs
jerry
Well, here there are a couple of scribbles about Berlin in the late 70′s:
Part One:
http://www.philjern.net/?p=139
and Part two:
http://www.philjern.net/?p=141
thailand june 73 thru feb 76 as a 05D20 & 05H20
with time spent in chaing mai & ubon
Thought I was assigned to Bangkok, after Kagnew Station. Arrived in 1966 and drove up to Udorn in a Truck. Lived in a tent until the air-conditioned barracks were built, Made E-5, Sgt so I had my own room. Loved it. House girls were Ratri and Dhea (spelling?). Lucked out with assignments to Kagnew, Udorn, and Vint Hill Farms as a 72B40. Great four years and the GI bill got me through law school. Not a bad deal!!
Best to all —-
Arrived in Bangkok (83rd RRSOU) in late August of ’66 and in early Sept. rode in a deuce and a half with a Thai driver up the Friendship Highway to the 7th. I lived in a fourteen-man tent except for the last month or two when we moved into the refrigerated barracks. I was a cryppie but worked TA since there wasn’t any work for us 98Bs. We worked in air-conditioned trailers. I spent most of my year there living off-post in Udorn. Much better than those tents. I see from photos that the place really exploded after I left in Aug. of ’67. I have great memories of Udorn and the 7th in the early days as well as of the wonderful Thai people. Went on to spend a couple of years at the 14th USASAFS in Japan…another great tour.
Greetings to all who were there–
Stationed there from Sep 73 through Nov 74. I was a regular MP from the Presidio of San Francisco and sent to ASA. I tried to get out of it, until I arrived there. MP’s picked me up at Udorn Air Base and drove me by jeep to the 7th. I thought I had been sent to heaven after a couple of days. I worked with Sean Doherty, who had replied on here back on Feb 2008. May have known some of the guys on this sight. I played on the Army softball team (center field) that went TDY to Hawaii in the summer of 74. Most of the team was from the 7th. Had a couple of guys from Peppergrinder and Bankok, but the rest were from Ramasun. Oh yea, we snuck a pitcher onto our tean from the Air Force. I only worked the box gate a couple of times because I was usually on patrols, main gate or acting as the desk sgt. at the PMO(they found out I coould type).
Hi Phil
I enjoyed your story. You are a good writer. I too am from Indy, and I too was stationed at Ramasun Station at sunny Nongsoong, arriving Udorn RTAFB Dec 1, 1967 aboard the C-130 klong hopper. This was only a few months after they had completed the new barracks at Ramasun with the A/C! Prior to that I hear they had been living in tents. Like you I was flabbergasted to find such a facility out in the “boonies.” I thought I had died and gone to heaven! The Army sure knew how to treat its troops, I thought. It was without a doubt the best tour of duty of my four year Air Force hitch. I was a Mandarin Linguist and shift supervisor in the voice intercept section, Dec, ’67 through Oct, ’68.
WAS AT THE 7TH FROM NOV 72 THRU JUL 74.
AM INTERESTED IN ANY PICTURES ANYONE HAS THAT SHOW THE PLACE,
WOULD LIKE TO COLLECT EVERYTHING I CAN ABOUT THE PLACE BEFORE WE ARE ALL DEAD.
I was at the 7th from 71 to 72. Left in April 72. Married a Thai girl. 37 years later we are still together. I was and O5H. I visited Udorn in September of 2007. We were there when Thaksin was overthrown in a coup. Left Bangkok the morning of the coup and did not know anything had happened until we got to Chiang Mai that night.
Udorn has grown dramatically, they now have a bypass around Udorn!!!. I spent 5 days there lost in a maze. Much more modern than when we left, mall and everything. But the Thai people have not changed. Still acceting us for what we are.
Planning to return in 2 years permanently.
There are are recent videos on UTube you should check them out.
Very much enjoyed all of the remarks. I was assigned to Ramasun November 1975. My first assignment. Man what a place. I was eighteen and dumb. Assigned to H&S Co., a 76V, worked in the warehouse area on southside of station. A CW4 Ketz ran the place. A Sgt David Storm was my supervisor. When they announced the end of SOFA, the NSA tried to keep us there in civilian cloths as technicians but the Thais said no. So in Feb or so of 76 we started closing down. Col Howard saw a bunch of us including me off in March. Got back to the states and ended up at Ft Dix. Went from heaven to arm pit Dix. Would love to go back to Thailand any time. Saw photos of the 7th couple years back. Ops building in ruins, Flr9 mostly gone. Station turned over to Thai Army. They gutted most barracks and turned them into a large mushroom farm. WHAT A SHAME. I kinda feel I left my heart in Thailand.If I hadn’t been married at the time, I’d married a Thai girl, but I did get a divorce because of Thailand (oh well, it was worth it)But Married in 79 to a Jersey Girl. Retired in 95 after 20 yrs. I became a widower in 07. Give me a plane ticket and a months worth of pain meds, I”ll endure the pain to go back to Thai heaven. Until then, I’ll just dream of the tealocks. Anybody remember Dave Storm(Stormy).
…found your article interesting, since I was ASA MOS 72B CommCenter…Ramasun Station, Mar’70-Mar’71…entered service in Aug’69, D-8-2 Jackson, Gordon Teletype school, Udorn, Hood, NSA Meade, and ETS Hood Aug’72…always looking for other people in ASA too…
I enjoyed reading all of the entries. I was a 72B
Comm Center tech from Aug 69 to Aug 70 and from
Jan 71 to April 72.Great duty.
For Randy, the guy that was looking for pictures, there are a lot at this site: http://www.83rdrrsou.org/7thrrfs_pictures/pictures.htm
I posted most of the old 35mm slides that I scanned a few years ago there.
Very much enjoyed all of the remarks. I was a MP at the 7th from August 75 to April 76. Phil I loved your story. I remember the trip well. Most of my MP duty’s were with the MPI section all two of us and the main gate. I remember Sean Doherty he really help me understand how to deal with the Thai Police.
I have a large box of color slide from that tour that I need to copy onto computer.
Enjoyed the story Phil. I remember that ride in August of 1975. My duties at the 7th RRFS was as a MP and MPI between August 75 to April 76. I remember Sean Doherty. He help me get settled in the MP station and Ramasum area. I need to get all of my Slide onto the computer to share. My tour ended the day that the operation center closed and left in early April on the night train to Bangkok. Nice to see Sean Doherty is still around. Phil I enjoyed the comment and the story.
Hi,
I was a 98C at the 7th from Aug 71 to Jul 75, what a fantastic 4 years they were, best commander for me was Col J J McFadden, I was his command briefer, he was quite a guy to work for.
Anyone remember Fred Kravits who used to run the theatre there? Great memories indeed!
Jim Busbin
I was lucky and pulled two tours at the 7th. The first one was 1971 – 1072, the second 1974 – 1975. I was a 98G. In 74, I got forced into boxing. My first match I got knocked out. I guess it didn’t help being smashed on thai wiskey.