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I thought Udorn was built by the United States military in the 1960's to be used during the Vietnam War. There is not much in writing about Thailand's assistance of the Japanese in WW2, and Thailand's brief skirmishes with the Vichy French in Indochina in the 1940's.
The original shorrt airfield, (the one used by Air America during war in Laos and Vietnam) I believe was built by the Japanese during WWII. They built many airfields in SEA, especially in Thailand and Laos.
In the late 50's, the US, under Eisenhower, built a 10,000 foot runway there, in case bomber strikes against China were called for. I believe this airstrip lay dormant until about 1963-64 when the first Air Force troops began filtering in.
I remember rummaging through an old hanger which was a bit removed from the flightline there, maybe 300 yards away, in 1966. and finding several signs with Japanese writing on them. Wish I had kept one. I wonder if anyone has any history of the original field which was built by the Japanese during WWII? Any information appreciated. Maybe some Air America types know a little bit more about the original strip. I was there 1966-67, working on Electronic Countermeasures.
What else can I help you with?
When was Udorn Duangdecha born?
Udorn Duangdecha was born on 1970-10-18.
When was Udorn Pimpak born?
Udorn Pimpak was born on 1982-02-07.
When were AC-119K gunships stationed at NKP?
I was on the second wave of AC-119K to Vietnam (Nov 1969). I later was stationed at Udorn Thani in the spring of 1970. I was part of the move from Udorn to NKP. This was late in my hitch, so it was sometime late summer/early fall 1970. I left SEA November of 1970 never to return. Can't say how long they were stationed there.
What bugs do they eat in Thailand?
When I was there in 1967 - 68 at Udorn Air Force Base, Thailand, we had Native Thai workers in our Bomb Dump. During the breeding season we would light up all our search lights and the light would attract what the Thia's called a RICE BUG. They netted them with Fish Sean nets and boxed them in old ammo crates to take to the street market next day. In US coin they got at least a nickel a single bug, fresh uncooked. To us GI's they looked like a giant cockroach. But some of worker strung wires over the exhaust manifolds of the generators and strung the wire through the bug and roasted them nice and crisp for immediate pleasure like us and pop corn. Another thing the worker ate were tree nested caterpillar's. They took down the gossamer like nest and wrapped it, caterpillar's and all, into a wide green leaf. Then ate that whole thing raw like a hot dog on a bun. S J DiNaro Jr Msgt USAF, Ret 1954-74
Who was the youngest soldier from Australia to serve in Vietnam?
Complications (legends, rumors, etc.) and time have clouded the truth about a 15 year US Marine KIA during the war. 5 sixteen year olds, 12 seventeen year olds, 120 foreign born, 25,000 men under the age of 20, 17,000 married men, and one 62 year old man died in the Vietnam War. 997 men died on their first day in country and 1,448 men died on their last day in Vietnam.
