U-Tapao Munitions - Part 1

[@CliftonHull]

I was at vayama 68-69 at 53rd trans co. We took the munitions to utspao.

[@Rooskovich]

Was an Ammo Troop there (TDY from Japan) in April '67. Saw the first BUFF at UT land. The first bombs were not from the deep water port, but were delivered onto the beach at the end of the runway. Amphibious vehicles went out and off loaded them from a ship. They then drove them right up onto the beach where we took them to the new bomb dump. The first bomb revetments were made from sandbags.

[@ronaldlee8457]

I was station at the Deep Water Port, my job was to assign all the munitions that came on the ship to all the assign bases in Thailand and the safety of the unloading of the munitions. I was there for 18 months starting Aug 1967

[@Snailmailtrucker]

I was the Base Photographer on U-Tapao Aug. 1967/68 601 Photo Squadron Det. 10 !

[@sarunekzn]

เคยทำงานที่ท่าเรือจุกเสม็ด

[@mikeklaene4359]

Video from Camp Vayama and the DeLong pier. I was stationed there with the US Army for most of 1968. 233 TC TS. First video I had seen that was made there.

[@huberthill9327]

WE NEVER HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT CAMP VAYAMA, US Army Camp. They were there as far back as 1966 o earlier, What did they do and what were their Mission?

[@mikeklaene4359]

@@huberthill9327 Camp Vayama was the location of the munitions port in Thailand. When I was there in 1968, it was quite common to have three WW2 era Victory ships pier side and being unloaded. I was a SP/4 E4 while there.

[@semco72057]

I remember those convoys of bomb hauling trucks coming into the base and on one of those convoy's two terrorists came in under one or two of those trucks carrying hand grenades, and sachet charges along with hand guns. One was caught and shot immediately, and the other one made it down into the area where the B-52's was parked and placed some of them in the engines, but only one went off, and the terrorist was shot by security police.

[@MTBXCSKI65]

What nationality were the terrorists? Communist Lao or Thai people who didn't want us there? Because killing Vietnamese civilians is why both the North and the South Vietnamese people hated us and wanted us out.

[@copout1405]

Hey jbg43, we may all have thoughts about how to do things better. All 20-20 in hindsight. Glad to have these videos to refresh my memory. This was a huge thing to be a part of in 67-68.

[@burtvincent1278]

Bomb Nav Weenie 70 - 71.👍

[@jordibrasser2513]

🇹🇭🇹🇭TH🇹🇭🇹🇭 👇👇👇👇👇 👍👍👍👍👍

[@MiguelRamirez-rw5hz]

I was there in 68-69,I worked 12 hours a day 7 days a week to save the lives of the guys in the field. I was exposed to agent orange and been sick ever since. I have never been recognized as a Vietnam veteran and have never received any compensation for my sickness, life for the past 45 years has been hell for me . The VA treated us like a bunch of drug addicts and gave little or no care,I had to pay for my own care ,that's why I'm still alive with many ailments .I know there's a lot of guys out there that were exposed also ,let it be known how were screwed.

[@Raymond62100]

I too was at U-Tapao between 1969 and 70. Lots of operations and cancer. Raymond McConnell

[@MiguelRamirez-rw5hz]

Was

[@MiguelRamirez-rw5hz]

After 50 years they finally accepted I was there but now they are saying that only air police and their dogs were exposed. I'm asking any one out there who was at Red Horse compound in Utapao in 1969 to please help me verify that the compound was located on the perimeter of the base and that agent orange spraying was done inside the compound .We were never notified before the spraying ,I know there were a lot of guys that also got sick because they had the same condition I had.Please come forward and verify what I'm saying.Help me end this night mare.

[@Raymond62100]

@@MiguelRamirez-rw5hz Not familiar with Red Horse Compound.

[@brewpa]

Miguel Ramirez -I worked in bomb dump 69-70 and just yesterday received word that VA finally admitted that I was indeed exposed to herbicides (this has been a 10 year battle) and on to next step. Have to do your research and look for herbicide drift maps and cases of other Utapao vets receiving agent orange compensation. Just start googling and searching

[@FoardFow]

I haven't seen this one before...But they had to come from some- where to get loaded on the BUFF. David 307th AMS Sq. 69-70

[@verononparker7327]

I was there from October 1971- 1972 / 42 MMS 307th bomb wing.

[@gk10002000]

so did those ammo ships transit the pacific from the USA? Or were they stocked up somewhere in asia after the ammo was airlifted in?

[@mikeklaene4359]

They came from the USA - some of the ships did stop in Subic Bay before heading to Thailand or the 'Nam from what I was told.

[@jbg43]

WTF?? 4 years and nocomments???? Thanks for posting this. I personally dropped 7000+ of those items in SVN. As I approach my eighth decade I wonder if we could have been more productive sending more useful things to the SEA.

[@dirtytrk]

was this a 24 hr aday operation? Was TDY there in 1994 on a return trip for a support mission up North as a firefighter in the USAF, Was assign to McChord AFB. It was asuper deployment. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[@mikeklaene4359]

As long as there were ships in port at Vayama it was working. Thai contract workers were the primary winch operators and working in the holds. GIs performed ancillary functions like filling out the TCMDs, etc.

[@cliffworks4321]

I'm with you in thinking we could have delivered more useful things to S and N VN, I was there in 72 from Saigon up to the DMZ and all over doing USO shows, just returned to Tokyo from Satahip this evening, that road the US built is still holding up beautifully.

[@nonovyerbusiness9517]

Did any of these local drivers ever get "lost" and make off with a truckload of high-grade whoop-ass? I hope they are all wearing steel toed sandals!

[@copout1405]

Hey John, Hope you're still with us as you near your eighth decade. That adds up to 64+ missions. Congrats. Good thoughts about the more useful things, but you know it really amounts to "You were called and you went". On the other hand, some were called and they looked the other way. Shame on them. Nam's probably a safe place for Americans to travel these days, unlike some other places in the world.

[@MTBXCSKI65]

I call bull shit Nick. You can have your own opinion on "...they looked the other way," But time has shown that the Vietnam War was a horrible endeavor for the US. 60,000 wasted lives and many many more from PTSD. Some were friends of mine from my hometown. All for a civil war between North and South Vietnam. Civilians on both sides didn't want us there. Ken Burns documentary tells us what was REALLY happening over there. Protesters back home were correct. Everyone needs to check it out. You'r missing a lot of history without it. I spent 2 TDY's at Kadena, summers of '68 & '69. I was a sheetmetal repairman on a variety of KC135's, B52's, & 2 varietys of RC135's. I thoroughly enjoyed my job, the variety of aircraft at Kadena, the camaraderie, and the Okinawans. Beautiful people! When our 8 hour shift was over, some of us swam, & snorkeled on the beautiful beaches of the island. We visited islands and castles on USO Tours & got to see the beauty that was Okinawa. Like visiting a tropical island! And at night we could hit the clubs and bars in Koza. I also went on 2 typhoon evacs to Anderson Air Base on Guam &, the above, Utapao. Utapao was another beautiful place. And while I experienced all of this, soldiers "in country" suffered mentally...were scared beyond belief, and were being slaughtered or horribly wounded...for another country's CIVIL WAR. Sometimes we would see the wounded as they passed through Kadena Air Base. I loved Thailand & Okinawa but I'm embarrassed for being a part of the war effort. No Nick, I believe that those who "...looked the other way," were the morally correct ones. By the way Bill Miller, I really enjoy your videos. They bring back lots of memories.

[@MrHeyki0086]

สนามบินอู่ตะเภา

[@leahkful]

looking for someone from east side hydrant's1969 ...1970 have lost touch with them SSgt. Thomas J Kurtz also remember the Klong we had on our hats

[@วิปจิตติมาร-ฉ3พ]

ระเบิดที่เห็น ขนๆกันนั้นไปทิ้งเวียดนามนะนั้น เวียดนามแค้นไทยเพราะเรื่องนี้

[@kittshausman6191]

วิปจิตติ มาร แล้วงัย? อยากให้ มันแค้น หรือ อยาก ให้ มัน ยึด. อันไหนดีกว่ากัน???

[@lkl1182]

Good video - would appreciate if anybody could tell me who´s playing ?