49th TFW patch 366th TFW

There we were, comfortable in our little patch of heaven in the New Mexico desert one day and sweating in hootches and tents in the middle of Thailand the next. The 49th TFW was dual-based with NATO; once a year the lion's share of the wing would pack up and spend a month at a base in Germany. An inconvenience, yes, but one we could deal with with some ease. However, because we were so combat-ready, when the North Vietnamese decided to pay (another) one of their famous visits (uninvited, or course) to their neighbors to the south on Easter 1972, who ya gonna call? Yup...Southeast Asia, 1; NATO, 0. (And add this one to the encyclopedia of military lunacy: our mobility kits included winter coats...just the thing we needed as a NATO force in SEA!)

Several weeks into our sojourn we were joined by "The Gunfighters" from Da Nang, RVN, as part of the drawdown of US forces in South Vietnam. They crowded us in our shop, we were moved into tents so they could take over our hootches (see below), and if that wasn't the worst of it, we had to listen to their war stories! Patches courtesy Baytown Bert Marshall, supply sarge. Bert now has his own Thailand page up and running; you can check it out HERE.

	The hootches we lived in upon arriving at Takhli. The base had been shut down for many months and required a little 'urban renewal' to make it liveable. (All griping and kidding aside, the civil engineers and many other people -- including my first shirt, Richard Brodie -- worked extremely hard to make the base bearable.)
	Takhli's tent city. We spent the Monsoon season in these wonderful structures. (And some of the guys spent the season with their tents collapsed on top of them.)
	This beautiful, ornate structure is a Spirit House. About the size of a large doll-house, they run the gamut from ornate to extremely ornate. The Thais, as Buddhists, believe that when you build a house on a site, you displace the spirits who lived there. So, to appease them, you must build a house they can occupy in its place. Daily devotions of incense and candles and flowers are the norm; note the figurine (below) who resides inside the house to keep the spirits company.
	One of the figurines who occupies a spirit house.
	Growing up in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, I wasn't prepared for that first trip outside the Takhli gate. This is the first thing I saw: a village of wooden shacks built upon stilts! In the Thai heirarchy, this would be the equivalent of a middle-class apartment complex.
	A study in contrasts. Abject poverty in the shadow of a beautiful, ornate temple. Photographed in Takhli City in 1972.
	Barracks at Korat. The buildings in the foreground (right) were ventilated by flow-through air, but the ones in the back (left) were the luxury hotels -- air conditioned! I lived in the latter, number 604.
	Bar Alley at Korat. After hours, this is where the action was. There was a place like this by every base.
	The center of Korat, the Lady Mo Square. Lady Mo was a heroine who rallied the women into defeating the occupying Burmese army about a hundred years ago. She is revered by all citizens of Korat.
	This is one of my most precious pictures. At the Loy Katong festival, you build a float of styrofoam in the shape of a lily flower and place incense and candles on it. You place it in the river; if it goes a long way, you'll have a good year in your business and/or love life...but if it sinks before it goes far...! These children are getting ready to place their floats in the water. Immediately before doing so, they offer up a prayer. (American children should show such reverence and faith!)
	One humid night at Korat, my roommate pushed this thing out from under my bed at the end of a yardstick -- the dreaded rice bug! (I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto!) When not waiting to scare the daylights out of unsuspecting GIs, they would fly past our heads while we were working on the flightline, attempting to kill themselves by careening towards a light-all at top-speed. WARNING: This photo is NOT for the squeamish!

Bangkok

Takhli was a small town with very little for us to do, except get medicated at one of the many watering holes that sprang up as soon as we arrived. (It made Alamogordo seem like Disneyland!) We were given the opportunity to get some R&R in Thailand's capital city of Bangkok. It's an international city with much to see and do. (And if you got homesick for Takhli, there were still a few watering holes!)

	Taken on the road to Bangkok, on a "Friendship Highway" built with the assistance of the United States. The water buffalo is the family tractor and pet and, according to GI legend (which gets better with each telling), dinner.
	Bangkok's "floating market." Each day, farmers would load their wares on small skiffs and float down the "klong" (river) to buy, sell, and trade. Being accustomed to McDonald's and high-school food, the odors were quite unfamiliar and will not be soon forgotten.

	WAT TRIMITR (Temple of The Solid Gold Buddha) The Gold Buddha, which is the most valuable sacred object (and largest gold statue of Buddha) in the world, dates back to the 15th century. It weighs approximately 5.5 tons and stands 10 feet (or 15 feet, depending on the source) high. It was encased in stucco in the 18th century to prevent its plunder by the invading Burmese army. When Bangkok was built, the statue was moved there and left in a deserted temple. As it was being moved in 1954, a workman chipped the stucco and uncovered its true content.

	WAT PHRA KAEO (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) These fearsome warriors guard the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Thailand's most sacred shrine. Carved out of a solid block of jade ("emerald" merely means "green colored" in Thai), the statuette is 30 inches high by 17 inches wide. Its origin is uncertain, believed to be more than a thousand years old or five hundred years old (depending on whose account you subscribe to). Like the Gold Buddha, it was encased in stucco. In 1432, lightning struck a monestary in northern Thailand, where it was housed. The next day, a monk noticed that a piece of stucco had flaked off the nose, revealing the green gemstone underneath. Photography of the Emerald Buddha is prohibited. Like the Gold Buddha and other sacred sites, you must remove your shoes upon entering the temple. Three times a year, the King of Thailand changes the clothes of the Emerald Buddha to mark the change of seasons.

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