Nam Phong Phantoms

Group of Marine F-4 Phantom fighter jets parked on ramp next to revetments in rugged jungle airbase of Nam Phong, Thailand -1973. McDonnell Douglas mach 2 F-4s were the mainstay of fighter jets in the late 60’s and beyond for the Airforce, Navy, and Marines, and were able to carry 9 tons of weapons. I imaging it was an extra challenge for maintenance crews to care for these aircraft in the red dirt coated environment of Nam Phong. A total of over 700 were lost in combat or accidents in the Vietnam war. They were manufactured until 1981 to be replaced by newer F14, F15, F-16, F-18 aircraft, although I think some F-4s still were used in the Gulf war.

Hanoi school boys

Photo taken out window of taxiing C-130 on historic flight into Gia Lam Airport, Hanoi, North Vietnam in 1973 … shortly after ceasefire. Pictured is large group of young boys along with two or three male adults (teachers?). Guessing that these were children attending school at the thatched roof building in photo, and they had come out to see unfamiliar US aircraft. Not long before this, intense US bombing and North Vietnam defense thereof was occurring in this Hanoi area. Seems odd that there would be a school (if in fact this is what we saw) in such close proximity to an obvious military target. Many in this group had raised arms; could not tell for sure if it was friendly waving, or angry fist pumping toward us … I suspect the latter.

Container Bearer

Man power in Southeast Asia - 1972. Would love to know what these metal containers were used for ... given their size they could not have been for anything of high weight. I'm guessing they were some kind of steamers for food?? But then why would they have the well fashioned harnesses for perhaps frequent transport. Any ideas out their? This photo from a 40 year old scanned 35mm slide was a bit funky so I intentionally applied a watercolor type effect to it in Photoshop.

Orange Mini Taxi Jakata

Eco-travel in Jakarta, Indonesia – 1973. These nimble little taxis were a cheap way to travel with enclosed cab providing some isolation from the noise and fumes although had be quite toasty inside … appears passenger was wiping head with handkerchief as vehicle zips past. I like the driver’s lid. I was unable to find out much about this “CANDRAMUS” on the web although the word is related to an Indian Moon God ... not sure if that was an advertisement or name of the vehicle maker. It looks like a common motor scooter with creative front end modifications. The words "3 ORANG" on front may mean 3 person capacity??? ... seems like a stretch to me. In any case this looks like a precursor to the orange Bajaj three-wheel taxis very common in 2011 Indonesia. Main difference is the Bajajs have middle wheel and driver in front with an enclosure added.

B-52 Stratofortress Utapao Thailand

On the ramp beyond the concertina wire is an eight-engined USAF B-52 Stratofortress bomber on the ramp at Utapao Airfield in southern Thailand, on Gulf of Siam with Cambodia to the east. This was a major facility from which staging operations took place for our C-130s as well bombing raids by the B-52s (nicknamed BUFFs as in Big Ugly Fat F****ers). These B-52s were joined by other bombers from as far away as Guam to raid targets including North Vietnam. Aerial refueling was required for many of these missions … the tail of a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker can be seen in right of photo. After this photo was taken, navigator Joe and myself decided to walk around the barbed wire and have a closer look at the B-52 … big mistake as we were quickly surrounded by a dozen security police. Size of B-52 evident in contrast to maintenance person barely visible standing on top of plane.

Ramp football Saigon

We carried around a football to pass time while waiting on cargo. Here a crewmember is about to catch a pass (football in upper right) with Capt Ed (Pilot Aircraft Commander) walking toward the C-130 in Saigon - 1972. Here is a good illustration of how the propellers were about head-high … they were almost invisible while turning, and thus one would need to be extremely cautious not to literally loose a head. The term “walking into a prop” was a phrase often used when someone did something stupid. One or more engines were often kept running on the ramp to provide ground power and easier restart of the other engines; having a choice, usually engines on right side were kept running since the forward crew entry door was on the left side of the aircraft. Another interesting detail are all the small motorcycles and mopeds parked is front of the operations building in the background … indicative of how many people got around on base.

Rose Garden at Nam Phong

Rugged facilities at a Marine Airbase in Nam Phong, Thailand – 1972. The airfield was carved out of the jungle by US Navy Seabees where it hosted a variety of Marine fighter and transport squadrons, and Marine security forces. Missions were flown out of here into nearby Laos and Cambodia, as well as Vietnam. Sarcastically called the “Rose Garden” the base was not long lived as most of the US personnel were sent home not long after. The red dust was everywhere including inside the 10-man tents that served the airfield in and around the aircraft parking area. The photo clearly shows this was not a pretty place to be, but well equipped with guard shacks, and plenty of concertina wire and barbed wire fences. Like all the inland bases in Thailand it was wicked, wicked hot. Fortunately we only flew in here once.

An Thoi POWs

Loading North Vietnamese POWs on C-130 at An Thoi on isolated island of Phu Quoc in the Gulf of Siam … west of South Vietnam and south of Cambodia. This was similar to other POW liberation missions we flew out of Con Son Island – 1973. Prisoners were flown north to a remote jungle airstrip near the DMZ for release. POWs are the ones with pajama-like outfits and white bandanas on their heads. Besides a POW camp, An Thoi was a base for South Vietnamese gunboats, and USN swift patrol boats.