Any 7th RRFS Ramasun Station alumnae on the forum??

[farlong68]

hello to all you army spooks im looking for an army type e5 from Algiers louisiana thats on the west bank of the miss. river from new Orleans he was married to a very thin thai lady and they had a little girl..they were my neighbors in the blue houses behind the vfw post on highway south of udorn on left headed south about 1 to 2 kilos from main gate at usaf base his name was jim worked transporting classified in van or armored car to and from ram. and afb his name was jim her name was noy know that thin but its all I got time frame 71-72 thanks in advance for any help..john l scoggins usaf udorn 1971-2 takili afb 1972-73 and others u don't even want to know about lol 293x tac radio mars radio etc...

[RockyRoc]

I was stationed at the 7th RRFS from 73-75 (18 months). Worked as a company clerk at B Company. Approx 10 years ago I became ill, diagnosed with aplastic anemia. I remembered that the site was constantly sprayed with ddt several days a week to eradicate the mosquito problem. My hematologist/oncologist came up with info that ddt maybe linked as a possible cause for the illness. I'm feeling fine now. What I was wondering has anyone else experienced a blood disease (i.e. aplastic anemia or leukemia) or know of anyone else who was stationed there that might have become ill. My interest is purely curiosity driven, not intended as a means to gather information for a lawsuit. Hell, it took many years and massive studies for agent orange to even be considered for the Viet Nam vets. Doubt seriously the army or VA would do the same for a small community of vets stationed at the 7th. Not cost effective and were dying off anyway. Just curious if anyone else may have encountered a problem.

[Stantheman]

Just to let you know, it would not be just a small amount of vets stationed with the 7th. Spraying for mosquitos using DDT and other poisons was wide spread throughout S.E. Asia. I can remember almost nightly spraying by mobile trucks for mosquitos in Vietnam, so problem would not be just related to one place. Best you can do is check with a veterans organization that has reps at many VA hospitals.

[Chambers2]

Hi, I am wondering if there is anyone on this site, that was stationed at Ramasun with my husband in 1973-74. His name was Glen Chambers. He passed away in 1992, of cancer. He loved it there, but we were not able to visit. If you know him, please email me at traudel@bellsouth.net

[cobraneck]

I just got back from Thailand. went to do some scuba diving in Phuket. At first I was elated to be back in Thailand after 45 years....but that soon wore off when the reality of that ----- hit me like a sack of potatoes. Thailand has not improved at all in 45 years, just the population has increased about 10x. It's now full of hustlers, very similar to today's Vietnam. The car and motorbike traffic is unreal, the motorbikes even jump on the sidewalks when the traffic slows down. Some motorbikes are even coming the other way, so you have to watch in front of you, and behind. Many stray dogs, most with rabies, just hang out sleeping in the gutters and sidewalks. You have to tiptoe around them and hope they don't wake up.

I had planned to stay for a month, maybe go up and visit the 7th...but soon I just changed my flights and headed back. What a depressing experience.

[FrazeeDK]

sorry for your bad experience Cobraneck... In fact, Thailand's population has only doubled and a bit more since the early 70's.. Nothing changed?? Nah, it has changed incredibly, from an undeveloped 3rd world nation to a developing one with all the amenities (and downsides) of a modern country...

[new2thailand]

I enlisted in 1976 on the DEP and initially was guaranteed Pacific Long Tour, Thailand on completion of AIT. But, by the time I started AIT at USAISD at Devens, my orders were recut to Long Tour Japan because Ramasun was closing. I ended up in USAFS Misawa for 18 months hacking dits.

Looking back, it seems that recruiters would promise anything when someone qualified for ASA. I am sure that, when I DEPed, Ramasun was on the closing list already but, since it was still open and functioning as a Field Station, orders could be cut.

But, while at Misawa, I grabbed a hop to Clark for a few days and wish I had gone there instead of Japan.

My roommate in Misawa had done a tour at Ramasun right after AIT. He left Thailand, did a year Embassy duty in Tehran, then to Misawa. His name was Ray Hiatt if anyone knows him. He was there in 74/75 time frame. I remember one if his stories about a woman they called "2 baht Annie". ring a bell with anyone?

[new2thailand]

I just got back from Thailand. went to do some scuba diving in Phuket. At first I was elated to be back in Thailand after 45 years....but that soon wore off when the reality of that ----- hit me like a sack of potatoes. Thailand has not improved at all in 45 years, just the population has increased about 10x. It's now full of hustlers, very similar to today's Vietnam. The car and motorbike traffic is unreal, the motorbikes even jump on the sidewalks when the traffic slows down. Some motorbikes are even coming the other way, so you have to watch in front of you, and behind. Many stray dogs, most with rabies, just hang out sleeping in the gutters and sidewalks. You have to tiptoe around them and hope they don't wake up.

I had planned to stay for a month, maybe go up and visit the 7th...but soon I just changed my flights and headed back. What a depressing experience.

does not sound like you had a good homecoming. I am from Washington DC area and I feel exactly the same when I go there. Of course, no stray dogs or heavy 2 wheeled traffic but, the traffic has become unreal, crime has gone up and, after 2 or 3 days, I am ready to leave.

When I was a lad, my dad was stationed in London and in Germany. I worked in both the UK and Germany 40 years later and it's not at all like a remembered as a lad. Traffic, hustlers, crime, etc, etc. I think it's hard to 'go back' anywhere.

[madden7177]

I was assigned to USA Peppergrinder Det but worked in the fin off on Ramasan 74-Oct 75

[FrazeeDK]

then you probably remember the entrance to the Peppergrinder where they had what looked like two curved elephant tusks (probably of painted concrete).. They're still there..!

[cobraneck]

I just got back from Thailand. went to do some scuba diving in Phuket. At first I was elated to be back in Thailand after 45 years....but that soon wore off when the reality of that ----- hit me like a sack of potatoes. Thailand has not improved at all in 45 years, just the population has increased about 10x. It's now full of hustlers, very similar to today's Vietnam. The car and motorbike traffic is unreal, the motorbikes even jump on the sidewalks when the traffic slows down. Some motorbikes are even coming the other way, so you have to watch in front of you, and behind. Many stray dogs, most with rabies, just hang out sleeping in the gutters and sidewalks. You have to tiptoe around them and hope they don't wake up.

I had planned to stay for a month, maybe go up and visit the 7th...but soon I just changed my flights and headed back. What a depressing experience.

*********************************************************************************

I went back again, this time for some diving in Ko Lanta in southern Thailand near Malaysia. It was great, totally the opposite of the chaos of Phuket. After about ten days, headed up to Udorn (Udon Thani) for a few days and visited the 7th. Udorn is much like Bangkok back in the day, nothing looked familiar, crowded and much larger...but basically still a -----. The airport uses the same runway as the old Udorn Airbase, saw the old airbase tower and aircraft flak shields while our plane taxied by.

After some major difficulty, I found the old 7th RRFS. Urban growth has spread from Udorn to Nong Soong, a four lane busy road now lined with various commerce and shoddy buildings...gone are the long stretches of rice paddies and klongs. What was once an army outpost in the middle of nowhere is now surrounded by that urban growth. I got on the post, and after filtering out all the changes, it came in loud and clear. The only building that the Thai army maintained is the HQ building, the barracks are still standing, but are mostly closed off. The rec building/area around the pool is gone, the pool has deteriorated, partially filled with old rain water. The NCO club is long gone, just bushes and trees where it once stood. Across you can see the old motor pool, the maintenance/engineering building, and the BOQ, didn't walk over there, so not sure if they were kept up or not. Their vehicles are parked at the motor pool. Was quiet without the old diesel generators blasting away, lots of old trees all around, much different from what I remember. No trees or anything back then. Didn't walk down to the old ops building, but understand it has deteriorated as has most of the post.

Was a mind bending experience walking around there, the barracks bay that I lived in near the old water tower seemed to be the only one that was not closed off. Was clean and ventilated, so I walked thru it...surreal remembering those that lived there in 1967-68, all my old rowdy drinking buddies are now dead...

Went up to Nong Khai where we used to go to eat and drink, stopped at some cafe and had lunch, bizarre seeing Laos across the Mekong again. Another mind bending experience for me.

Glad to leave, have no more plans to return to visit Thailand...or Asia. Thailand is still Thailand, was happy to leave long ago, happy to leave again.

Enjoy!

[thai_pilot]

then you probably remember the entrance to the Peppergrinder where they had what looked like two curved elephant tusks (probably of painted concrete).. They're still there..!

Hey Dave I'm heading up to Udon sometime in the next three weeks and was wondering if I can get in contact with you for a few beers and talk about the RRFS. Call me a Luddite but I couldn't figure out how to privately message you on these forums.

benja_henderson@hotmail.com

Regards,

Ben H.

[wieland62$$]

I was on a military clothing site looking for anything to do with Thailand hats, patches, ect. I decided to type in the 7RRFS and to my surprise there are freaking websites. One post mentioned who this person hung out with and I recognized the stoy boys were mentioned. I was with those guys and a lot of the other guys from Vinthill farms and went to Thailand in May 74 and ets'd 7 June 1975. The first guy I met was a guy named Rick from California and he introduced me to TS. I belonged to a group of six that called ourselves The Committee for Gooder Leadership. I worked in the Air Force Bay from 2-10..got ducked taped and displayed and then thrown in the duck pond out front. Tom the redhead from Iowa was a good friend and oh god so many names I don't remember. We lived next to the Stoy boys behind the bar and messed up his monkey......They called me Jew Boy, Rabbi, had a jungle hat with Jew Power, Thai Stick is ass kicking ----, keep on truckin.....still have the hat..... Let me know what up

[FrazeeDK]

Wieland.. If you worked the Zoomie bay you worked near me.. I worked the Weather and you may have been in the undersea world of ZKB?? Got a few old Ramasun guys married to Thais who live here in Udon, five including me that I know of, probably more hiding out somewhere.. A few more down in Bangkok.. Facebook has a 7th Radio Research Field Station and a Ramasun Station page, one with about 130 members and the other with 200.. Yeah, you crazy guys from VHFS.. Coming in with an "old guy" attitude.. The Stoys, Steve Lippert,, who was the short guy, was that you??

[wieland62$$]

I might have been the short guy.....I copied airports out of NV......hang out with Bob Pudelka from NJ.....Stoy boys were on day shift if I remember right....send me your email...I am going to try a put a picture up to help some of you guys remember ......40 years later....memory not all there......hell sometimes I don't know if I ate lunch.....then I look down and I see mustard.....I remember Lippert....Lynn from Seattle (?) was one of my buds

[wieland62$$]

send me a email at vso@wayne.nacone.org and I will send you some pictures.....didn't think I was that short...just everybody else was a little taller

[redwolf]

I retrieved the links for the Facebook pages FrazeeDK mentioned, great stuff in there:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/RamasunStation/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2772219 ... ?ref=br_tf

RW

[parrot]

On one of many Udon Facebook pages, there's a discussion of the recent US Senate report on CIA Torture.......and conjecture in the press and on-line about whether the black site in Thailand was at either the Voice of America station in Ban Dung or the RTA site at Ramasun Station. The article concludes by discussing recent US policy changes concerning the future of the VOA site.

Nice overhead photo back in the days for those who were at Ramasun.

https://www.facebook.com/udon.today.news

[FrazeeDK]

In Googling various combinations of "Rendtion Flights and "Thailand" I came up with a string of stories from 2002 onwards and about six referenced Udon... After some cogitation I'll say that there is a possibility that Udon AB was the site... In thinking back, since our house is in the landing path of Udon Airport I doe remember occasionally seeing some Learjet type aircraft with "N" (U.S.) tail markings landing at Udon back in those years. It actually makes no sense for either VOA or the old Ramasun station to be the sites since it would require an additional van ride to those locations.. VOA, being in Bandung is a long ride over rural roads.. For those of you who've been around here a while you might remember the North Koreans trying to do a "rendition" of Nork refugees they'd grabbed in Bangkok via van to Laos. An accident had the "refugees" fleeing to the Thai police with the attendant bad press for the Nork government and embassy.. It just makes more sense to have a place where the aircraft could fly in, drop off the prisoner and secure them on the AB.. Any travel off the transit base is just asking for more public observation and potential accidents. Looking at a database of rendition flights into Thailand shows most were to Don Muang and one to Trat which supposedly took Hambali out of Thailand. Of course, hopping up from Don Muang to Udon could have been done without any flight plans..

[wieland62$$]

bradley K. Wieland