Terry's Journey in Retirement
Chapter 651
8/7/2023
Vang Pao's War
so many layers in a war
Recently cousin Bob passed away. Although technically stationed in Guam & Okinawa he was actually flying all across Vietnam and running missions out of the Ubon Royal Thai Air Base and up across Laos. He flew cessnas, T37, T38, B52 and C130's.
Some of his C-130's were blacked out for special ops for the CIA and General Vang Pao in Long Tieng, Laos. General Vang Pao was an ethnic Hmong and perhaps the most important military leader outside of the immediate Vietnam airspace. He gave this lighter to Bob for his work with the CIA on covert Blind Bat missions that were flown at night. The insignia indicates the dropping of parachutes with illumination flares to light up targets for attack air craft.
The Thai were a big part of the military operations for the Vietnam War. Recent declassified documents shed more light on the operations of the FAGS , the Thai Forward Air Guides involved in the largest and longest battle of the whole Vietnam war, Skyline Ridge. These spotters were doing a similar job of the Airforce FAC's, Forward Air Controllers like Bob's missions on the C130 flare ships. The Ravens were americans doing FAC work in Thailand and Laos from light aircraft. Backbone of the U.S. communication system shown linking Saigon to Thailand.
Brother Dale chapter 255 maintained communications equipment for the Signal Corps in 1964 at the Royal Thai Air Base in Korat, Thailand as part of the Vietnam communications network. A microwave repeater antenna above, but he was involved with the long range tropospheric scatter propagation program as well.
We all just follow orders to do our jobs, like pawns in their game. Unfortunately Laos was caught in the crossfire and it became the most bombed country in world history with a residual cluster bomb problem will continue for a hundred years.
Additional Blind Bat references