Arguement @ Herbicide Agents sprayed on Base Interior ( Online)
and
disspelling the VARO Myth @ direct exposure
Do you know the difference between Direct Cause and Presumptive?
No? Follow the link here; "READ ME FIRST"
Direct Cause vs. Presumptive
Exposure!
Thailand (Exposed) (Photo Evidence Sheets)
(Acting) Under Secretary of V.A. Benefits P.W.Dunne
in coordination with Senator Danial K. Akaka,
Chairman for V.A. Committee
using unsubstantiated conclusions
deny Thailand Veterans direct exposure to Agent Orange
in Thailand ! - October 6, 2008 .. quietly (learned of 5/21/09)
Ironically, just before Memorial Day
and an appropriate reflection of betrayal by Congress and V.A.
.. and when you can't make'em quit
-- "Cut'em off at the knees"
see Thailand Exposure NOD
Brown Death - Grass Color 101
.. courtesy of Dow Chemical
Addendum:
History of the use of herbicies in S.E.A.
A correlation @ 'Nam and Thailand
Vegetation Control on and around bases
| |
"In light of these facts, the answer to vegetation control in the base interior as on the perimeter appeared to be herbicides.”
| |
VARO/ST PETERSBURG - FLORIDA MAKES ADMISSION
TO USE OF HERBICIDES IN THAILAND
@ USAF CHECO REPORT
AND JUSMAGTHAI MEMO!
AND, LIKE DOMINOES ..
ADMISSION OF
USE @ VARO/WACO - TEXAS TOO ...
"Base Defense in Thailand"
Why is this CHECO Report still classified???
Lima Site 85 - Hi-Tech Air Force Jocks
discharged from service to take top secret
positions, high on a Laotian mountain, guiding
air force pilots into Hanoi on bombing missions.
(Declassified from Top Secret)
.. guess we should count ourselves lucky to get an
extract
cause you know damn well the V.A. and DOD ain't gonna
assist us in discovery, ie,
"duty to assist???"
CHECO "Base Defense in Vietnam" (Declassified)
"Base Defense in Thailand" Classified
"SECRET"
JUSMAGTHAI/State Department Memos (Declassified)
.. declassified as recently as December, 2007
(See National Security Council for more.)
Answer to this question - hint:
=
+
(Liability)
|
Documents in Support of your Claim @ USAF CHECO Report
There are several components to the documents supporting your claim
from the fax to the DOD contractor on 11 Oct 07 notifying them of
this USAF CHECO report, the paper/email trail for the FOIA, the
complete original report, and two forms of report excerpts (a) with paragraph
notation and (b) without, key statements and clauses only.
DOD List Fax 11 Oct 07
Background:
VA Agent Orange Review and
Confrontation
Base Defense in Thailand
USAF CHECO Report Extract Release Declassified 21 Sep 07
Option 1 Excerpt Content Only
Option 2
Excerpt Explicit Only
SAF @ Congressman Evans
JUSMAGTHAI - Mission Policy on Base Defense
For Your File Purposes Only
The following print options are purely for your own personal needs -- not to be
submitted with your claim as above. The first print option is the
entire paper trail with the entire report extract.
Thailand Vets Extract in Support of Claim
(Entire Paper/Fax/Report)
Scope of Project CHECO Reports
Forward and Report Authors' Bio
Distribution List:
Table of Contents
Footnotes
If the V.A. can not obtain a copy of this report, they are retarded!
No excuse for either the Army or the DOD, yep -- in the
distribution, or
military schools or special distribution
to the Rand Corporation. You want evidence?
Written by a USAF officer and faculty member of the USAF Academy, law professor?
How about a special series of historical reports on the
Vietnam War, the CHECO SEA Project? Now, if you run into some
"wet back" V.A. staffer or worse, VSO .. VSO, give them a popsicle.
And, if they give you some jibberish about the "source being the Internet,"
politely (and diplomatically) as possible, tell them it is an official air force
historical report and is so darn important (to cover up,) the government has
attempted to keep in classified well after its normal life expectancy of 7 years...
Printing Tip
Please keep in mind that this USAF CHECO report, title "Base Defense in
Thailand" from 1968 to 1972 is an official air force report and you as a Thailand
veteran should be submitting copies of these documents to support your disability
claim under
38 U.S.C. § 1110 "Basic entitlement"
for "direct cause" of your
"Presumptive Diseases."
Browser Page Set Up
You can access the printer page set up from your browser often in the "Print Preview"
and direct in the "Print" option on the pull-down menu. This will allow
you to modify the print features.
Print without URL references
You may want to print the documents both ways: with URL references and
without. In any case, the URL reference is sometimes erroneously
interpretted as the "source of the document," ie, owner when it is only a source
of "finding an official document."
Title of Report and reference to the USAF CHECO Project Series
in the heading is always desireable:
The page no. and page count is very important when documents get separated.
Header and Footer Codes
Suggestion:
place the print codes found in the Header area
in the
Footer area. Most documents have this information in the
footer and the header area is blank. Your option.
Print Codes:
&w = webpage title area found in the actual website document for print.
&b = acts as a spacer or right justification
"Page" and "of" are self-explanatory.
&p and &P = calculated page no. based upon paper size and page count, again
a calculation the browser automatically does for you.
&u = URL source reference (optional for support documents)
&d = date documents printed from website (irrelevant to claim)
FOIA/ROE Follow-Up 20 Dec 07
This is only the beginning ..
Correspondence
Extract Release
From "Operations from Thailand"
ROE,
adjustments.
Addition: Paper on the perspective @ NKP
By Phil Carroll, a Security Police Sentry Dog Handler’s Perspective
Excerpt:
The point of all this history, at least for this little essay, is there was ample reason for the heavy security
at NKP. There was good reason for the Security Police and K-9 guards there to be just a little on edge.
Many, including the Captain quoted above, believe that the reason we weren’t attacked more often was
our obvious, in-depth defensive system. We had:
- a deep, totally herbicide-denuded perimeter with barbed wire fence, triple concertina razor wire,
tanglefoot, electronic pressure sensors, mines, more concertina, more barbed wire, and bright,
directional perimeter lighting;
- a series of high guard towers all around the perimeter;
- machine-gun bunkers backing up the towers;
- numerous security posts manned by the 300-man combat-trained Security Police Squadron with
M-16s and M-60s;
- nighttime K-9 patrols by 65 sentry dogs and handlers
(call sign “Nightfighter”), each with a CAR-15
and 10 magazines of 5.56;
- six to eight patrol dogs and handlers, similarly armed;
- 81 mm mortar teams, with pre-registered coordinates all over the base for flare missions;
- roving machine-gun armed truck patrols;
- M113A1 “Track” Heavy Weapons Teams;
- XM706E2 “Commando” armored car Quick Reaction Forces pre positioned and on call;
- an H-3 “Knife” helicopter patrol, all night every night, ready to probe the jungle
outside the wire
with an intensely bright searchlight;
- AC-119 “Stinger” gunship flare missions around
the perimeter whenever the intelligence guys asked for it, or in response to an alert by one of the
security or K-9 posts;
- A-1 Skyraider fighter/bombers, AC-119 Stinger gunships, well-armed OV-10
Broncos and CH-53 Super Jolly Green Giant helicopters that could get guns into the air as quickly as needed.
|
Objective is hearings before Congress Oversight Committees
in both the House and Senate for Veterans Affairs
National Disgrace
Lying to Congress
The V.A. for 40 years has attempted to cover-up the use of herbicides
in many Pacific regions in order to deny disability compensation to veterans
serving there. It is an atrocity that vets from Thailand affected
amounts to probably over 500,000 air force and army personnel.
Using the
"government line," herbicide test spraying in Thailand were conducted
only in 1964 and 1965 and in limited areas away from military installations
where American forces lived and worked. This, of course, was a lie
and until this Extract was released in September, 2007
from the official air force report, will be disclosed.
|
The dioxin in Agent Orange has a half life of one to three years in surface soil,
and up to 12 years in interior soil. Construction or other
activities in Vietnam may have exposed both our soldiers and Vietnamese civilians
to unknown levels of the hazardous chemical.
Courtesy of Brayton Purcell, Esq. Attorney at Law
For more information on Mr. Purcell and Vietnam Veterans,
visit his
websote.
More technical information on
herbicides aka agent orange.
Agent Orange Study findings "flawed"
.. $140 million study; to wit:
"Agent Orange and other herbicides sprayed in Vietnam to destroy enemy crops
and jungle cover contained cancer-causing dioxin. The U.S. Air Force,
however, is closing up shop on the study having found no increased incidence of a
serious illness other than diabetes.
More on the canceled study.
Yale University -
In Memoriam:
Arthur Galston,
Plant Biologist, Fought Use of Agent Orange
|
USE OF AGENT ORANGE FINALLY ENDED
Ended? Oh yeah, 1971 .. June 30 .. I guess that is why Thailand got a
great supply
of the shit .. it became politically correct to deny the use in Vietnam and hell, no one knew
what was going on in Thailand, so a perfect place to move the inventory to.
[possible] harmful effects on humans .. that politically correct statement, evidently, never
stopped them from using these herbicides in Thailand where the DOD emphatically denied same.
[The Air Force]
sought to keep that information from the public by managing news reports., ie,
classified "Secret"??? Click!
The Air Force Captain (and author of the CHECO report) may be a Law Professor
at the Air Force Academy, but the Air Force has far more experience in handling things, things "that never
happended."
Which way is it, Colonel??? Same response, different conclusions.
Source: SAF (Secretary of Air Force) response to
Congressman Evans (June 30, 2005 puppet.)
When it comes to the topic of the use of herbicides, as the above statement implies, you can
be sure that the commanders remained vague. Congressman Evans requested the information
in 2005, and via the FOIA, we were able to uncover the most explicit document anywhere as to the use
of herbicides in Thailand during the period 1968 thru 1972.
|
"There is also irrefutable evidence that the veteran served in
Thailand for an extended period, based on entries in service
medical records, and it is noted that he offers credible
testimony that
he was involved in the transport, as well as
the loading of trucks and aircraft, with tanks of defoliants
and was assigned the duty to spray a defoliant in areas
surrounding his barracks at his base camp in Thailand. Such
is not inconsistent with his documented military occupational
specialty of vehicle operator and dispatcher."
Source Claim No. 0301935
Vegetation problem? No -
K9 Cemetery @ 2002!
|
During the escalation of the Vietnam war, my job was company clerk in an army engineer unit
that was involved in counterinsurgency and construction of military installations and support
of the air force for POL tanks in bases in Thailand. Specifically, our special
unit laid pipelines for petrol and sewage in camps. We have laid a 50-mile
pipeline for the 1st Air Cavalry in Anh Khe, Vietnam in 1967.
My two-year tour in Thailand saw the extreme conditions for "vegetation" or jungles and
the overall seasonal monsoon conditions that made it literally a war to maintain defense
perimeter clearings for the various bases in Thailand. Until now, such
testimony went without credit to the veteran, but with the official air force reports
that were released (Extract Only) just last month (2007;) just obtained, we have evidence of the continuous
use of herbicides in Thailand.
This official air force report has been reviewed now over 4 times since creation in 1973
and remains for the most part, classified "Secret." Why? It is
a disgrace that an action of FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) is what it took to find out
the truth.
It is rather ironic how many veterans' claims for exposure to herbicides based upon
same in Thailand versus Vietnam have been denied, died of cancer or complications of
diabetes. The famlies of these veterans having their lives cut short
denied survivor benefits like second class citizens.
How could the government deny such claims? The government has many
departments that provide scientific and military resources that would tell them
the obvious: the conditions in Thailand were no different than in Vietnam.
The army has been uncovered to be the most abusive with disclosures
in the United States in Alaska and Hawaii and then Canada as well as other Pacific
regions such as Guam and Okinawa. If it wasn't for these reports,
Thailand veterans would be sacrificed as an expendable item of war.
We are now ready to correct this wrong. So, let's get started with
the official military documents that disclose the use of herbicides in Thailand
and hopefully, hearings before Congress to correct the compensation for those
that have already died as well as retro pay for all surviving veterans from
1972.
See also:
Trilogy of Hypocrisy and
Affidavits of Thailand Vets
re: USAF CHECO * Report "Base Defense in Thailand"
'
The USAF CHECO Report "Base Defense in Thailand,"
an extract, was declassified and released on 21 Sep 07
using the Freedom of Information Act.
the JUSMAGTHAI "Mission Policy on Base Defense" Memo (Declassified 12/07)
.. a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication
National Disgrace
The U.S. Government, DOD and V.A. have collectively
denied the access to necessary foundation information to
prove their claims of exposure to herbicides
in "Other locations" because they classified the records.
"Fox guarding the hen house.."
And, because I reported this "discrepancy" to the proper authority
that manages the DOD List,
doesn't make it right.
When filing your claim ..
Provide this CHECO Report Extract @ 21 Sep 2007
Indicate service in Vietnam or not, ie, Thailand only
Assert your rights to disability compensation for
exposure to herbicides in Thailand!
Claim Supporting Documents - Lesson Three
|
Kurt served in 1972 at U-Tapao RTAFB as a security policeman and dog handler.
Kurt recognized that many of the dogs were dieing from some form
of cancer evidently a result of their exposure to the herbicides in Thailand
(in Thailand.) Later, I will attempt to tie in a security police
website that identifies both the handlers and dogs assigned them and their
"disposition." After all, they were dogs .. expendable.
I think the government became so calous to such treatment that they thought that
they could get away with abusing the veterans that served too.
* Contemporary Historical Examination of Current Operations
([PROJECT] CHECO)
See Section 115
Herbicide Operations in Southeast Asia, Jul 61 - Jun 67 11 Oct 67
re: CHECO Report Cover Letter to Kurt
Footnotes
Table of Contents
"Releaseable Extract of
Base Defense
in Thailand"
21 Sep 2007 AFDO
U.S. Air Force Publications:
Vietnam War Bibliography
CHECO Report
"USAF Operations from Thailand"
(TOP SECRET)
Point in Fact
The Army moved in 1962 and began construction projects all over Thailand from
Thai military support, bases, camps, and Friendship Highway to link the Deep Water
Port in Satahip (bypass Bangkok) and feed the Air Force installations in Korat, Udorn
and NKP (1972.)
Most of these camps are active, turned over to the Thai counterpart.
If anyone thinks that the USAF CHECO report marks the only years (1968-72)
that our government employed the use of herbicides, you don't know how well our
government/army covered up this liability issue.
Today, the VA denies disability compensation to veterans that served in support
of the Vietnam War; in the Pacific theatre and have made beggers out of most of
them until they die. It truly is a national disgrade.
See Army Disgrace. |
| Army/Air Force Military Installation Proximity Chart |
| Area | AF Base | Army Base
"Vintage 1967"
Testimony
|
| Satahip | U-Tapao |
Camp Samae San, Deep Water Port, Vayama
Map |
| Kanchanaburi | Royal Thai Army |
Dick Okland Vietnam/Thai Vet
Korat TDY |
| Central | Takhli | Lop Buri Special Forces |
| Central |
Korat RTAFB |
JTF116;
Camp Friendship,
USARTHAI |
| Northeast | Udorn
(CIA)
NKP - 1972 |
Camp Ruam Chit Chai, Sakon Nakon,
Camp Sinthope Sarakham,
7th RRFS ASA * |
| *
Udorn RTAFB would have been a source of
supplies and BX for the 7th RRFS (20 km south.) |
| Cambodia | Ubon | ASA, eg,
Camp Mukdahan |
Chapter III. Physical Defenses and Limitations -
Page 57
Chapter III. Physical Defenses and Limitations (Continued) -
Page 58
ROE = Rules of Engagement
Limitations - Page 64, Page 66, and
Page 67
Korat RTAFB - Page 68,
POL Tanks (near town) Page 74
Pp 74-75 and
Overall - Pp 69-78
Thailand veterans - Legal Discovery Updates
JUSMAGTHAI - Mission Policy on Base Defense
Note: Declassified 3 Dec 07, a 1 Nov 69 Directive
Who knew what and when .. National Security Council
Memo to ..
Memo
Continued
s/Henry Kissinger .. 37 years ago (Declassified 2/13/07)
"Herbicides were used for all defense perimeters
on military installations in S.E.A."
Hand-held chemical tanks and helicopters fitted with spray bars were the common
delivery system other than the air force defoliation missions in the jungles of S.E.A.
The following memo from Henry Kissinger (National Security Council) to both the
Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense speaks of the Vietnamization issues
as they apply to a regular supply channel for the acquisition of the herbicides
for such perimeter defenses.
NSDM 141
Memo to ..
Memo dtd 14 Feb 72; declassified 14 Feb 07 (35 year anniversary)
NSDM 35
The Term Chemical and Biological Warfare (CBW) will no longer be used.
"Reflection of the Times" - November, 1969 Note: Classified "Top Secret"
Memo to ..
Pg-2
Pg-3 25 Nov 69; declassified 13 Feb 07
NSDM 112
U.S. Post-Vietnam Policy on use of Riot Control Agents and Herbicides in War - "Secret/Eyes Only"
Memo to ..
Pg-2 7 Jan 71; declassified 8 Feb 07
1 Dec 71 Memo from White House, re: NSDM 112; Geneva Convention
Memo to ..
Pg-2
Pg-3
DOD Study on Military Utility of Herbicides
Pg-5
DOD Study on Riot Control Agents
Pg-7
Pg-8
Pg-9
Pg-10
Military Application of RCA
Selected Examples of RCA Use in Southeast Asia
Pg-13
Pg-14
Pg-15
What else does our government not want us to know?
|
Drums with stripes on'em
|
| Agent Orange |
Agent [b&w photo???] .. herbicides
|
Drums were recycled by the Army;
used for .. water storage???
.. the 'perimeter theory' and monsoon season, ie, water contamination
9th Logistics Command (Task Force)
Where there was
Brown, there is death ..."
Camp #44 (USARTHAI)
Please note that all photos were taken at army camps, see
Army Disgrace.
How did that shit get moved??? Courtesy of the
United States Army, of course.
Manual spraying??? Hell no!
.. when there are
choppers.
.. things that spout up along the camp perimeter -- our hospital!
.. and, places we all ate at, the mess hall -- no MacDonald's (Hardship Tour.)
FYI, the only thing "green" in that photo is the palm or coconut trees
in front of the mess hall. In the backdrop of the photo,
you see clouds causing a shadow on the ground in the forefront, not "green."
.. wrapping up work on Camp Samae San in Satahip in 1969 .. no "vegetation" issues here
.. and, I bet you didn't know the Camp Chapel was a "sensitive area," ie, JUSMAG Policy
"Sensitive areas," "on" base .. how about the POL farm @ 697th Pipeline
built for the Air Force @ Udorn RTAFB ..
NKP, Korat RTAFBs are an example of two more POL farms
built by the 697th Engineer Company (Pipeline)
Note: (most) photos were taken during the
construction period where the ground appears
cleared.
It was (cleared,) and later sprayed (or showered) for the sensitivity of fighter aircraft fuel supply.
Here is a Thai Local National and an army engineer in the background.
44th Engineer Group Unit Roster
(28 Aug 67)
Not yet defoliated; concentina wire @
perimeter army camp (buffalos extra)
The road from Korat; Camp USARTHAI to
Korat RTABF
and the perimeter
access road around the flightline.
The same road that the
public bus transportation *
takes; exposed? .. right.
* Photo taken at the Camp USARTHAI gate, heading for Korat RTAFB.
Perspective: Camp USARTHAAI gate, looking towards
Korat; note the "vegetation" on the right. **
** Yes, that's the camp perimeter to the left (of the samlor,) .. gee, I feel like
a security guard already .. you know, exposed!
|
Drums @ Kanchanaburi
@ Camp Foster
(Two)
(Agent) Orange Stripes
Herbicides
|
Drums .. b&w ..
Korat Storage Facility
See all more about Korat.
|
Got some photos?!
Give'em
to me! Now!
|
(.. promises, promises.) | |
Presumptions of service connection for diseases
associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents; presumption
of exposure for veterans who served * in [Vietnam]
38 U.S.C. § 1116 Presumptions of service connection
for presumptive exposure diseases Chart
* Also for those that visited Vietnam, ie, intransit
|
|
|
|
|
From POL tanks to base perimeter "defoliation" control
Note the access road with vegetation not cut back
versus the 3rd row perimeter photos
Top right-hand corner: defines "jungle"
|
| |
Under construction, Camp Samae San
.. vintage '69 .. a formidable desert; 2003 .. foliated again.
U-Tapao thru the years ...
1966
1967
1968
1971
1973
1976
2002 -
K9 Cemetery
NKP (1966)
1963 - Navy Engineers clear the jungle
Sorties out of NKP & Takhli ..
From May 1966 thru July 1966 , I was TDY from Clark AFB to Nakon Phanom.
We were Radio Relay tech/s with the 5th Tactical Control Group setting up equipment
and preparing for take over by permanent party.
Recently , I was diagnosed with type II diabetes,and so I went to the VA to register
and see if I could get some help. Believe it or not the people at
Hines Hospital were very helpful and gave me the papers for application for
compensation. I have contacted the local rep from the state of Illinois
and he, too, was of great assistance. He took me through the process
and filed my application for me.
As I began my research, it seems as though my chances of compensation are slim,
but I know I must make every attempt to gain the aide and compensation that we
served for. I saw your note on the TVVET website and as per our
subsequent phone conversation, here are several photos that I took during
my assignment in May, June, and July of 1966. The pictures show
the area around our barracks and work areas. It appears obvious
now that there is nothing growing in what was a jungle.
Al Infante
4512 Black Partridge Ln
Lisle,Il 60532
630 292-5691
Kennels Area
Base Perimeter
Ops Center
End Runway
Aerial
"Brown" was in,
and I am not talking about
the airman's spify tan.
A nostalgia look at Udorn RTAFB will show anyone with a decent computer
that things were "brown."
No need to adjust your set.
SEA Airbases Map
Runway Photos:
Final Approach
Photo #1
Photo #2
Photo #3
Photo #4
Cockpit on Approach
Aerial/Perimeter Photos:
Aerial
Perimeter
Other Aerial:
Compound Area
"Brown"
Clouds
Living in a "World of Brown," tropics, rain (and women) wasn't so bad
.. as long as you were ignorant of your final fate years after service.
Ubon RTAFB - Ranch Hand Sorties
Defense!
AC-130 Spectre
Lived and
played in it.
Worked in it;
all around us.
Visit the A2 Pad.
Bomb Dump
Aerial
Even the civilian Red Buses started to look "brown."
The
Monsoons didn't have much affect either.
Now, downtown looked a lot better, but you knew that was the case already,
green.
From the rooftops, you could see for miles around, nothing but green:
green #1;
green #2.
Takhli RTAFB Perimeter
No .. that brownish-red is not rust.
(It's death waiting to happen.)
Army Aviation - Korat
Flight Line Operations
"What did I tell'ya about storing
those 55-gallon drums here?"
Korat RTAFB - 2nd only to U-Tapao RTAFB in
Satahip
Korat was a staging area on the great plateau of Thailand
with the home of the air force fighter wing, a fall-back area for 2nd level hospital
care from Udorn and staging area of an American army division, the 25th "Tropical Lighting"
from Hawaii. Red Horse, or the 556th CES was stationed in Satahip at U-Tapao RTAFB,
but had five detachments at the other major air force installations.
Army/Air Force intertwined in Korat much like operations in Satahip, but Red Horse did not
have the expertise to build the POL Tank Farm just off the main road to town and walking
distance from this area was my home, home of the 44th Engineer Group (Construction,) a
2-batalion subordinates as well as several engineer specialization outfits including "Pipeline."
The 697th Pipeline went all over Thailand to perform tasks for the air force and
even went TDY to Korea for a pipeline and earlier a pipeline for the army to An Khe from the
coast to supply fuel for the 1st Air Cavalry.
I bring that up because the CHECO report authors either made an observation or interviewed those
"in the know" that the strategic location of the POL Tank Farm was very poorly situated for sapper
attacks. In fact, there was hardly any perimeter defense to rely upon and it was
like an "arm" outside the main area of the airbase. In 1968 while we were based in
Korat, everything was going well, but I guess things started to "pop" in 1969 which compounded
the problem because of its proximity to civilian residential area and using herbicides with such
deadly toxic levels must have caused a lot of liability.
Korat Photos
"Vintage 1967"
Kennels;
Handlers
More Photos
Perimeter,
State-side Living;
aerial shot gives you an idea f theiv of army/air force encampment,
and of course, your "basic brown" around the runways:
#1,
#2,
#3, and
#4.
|
This should really be common sense,
but when it comes to the VA, and the DOD, all bets are off.
Re: Early 60's Construction Phase .. carving out of jungles
NKP RTAFB (1962-63)
Naval MCB 3 (Mobile Construction Battalion 3)
Camp Friendship (for Thai Army in 1964-65) 9th Logistics Command and 44th Engineer Group
Korat (where 50,000 55-gal drum storage unit
project planned)
Camp Samae San (for Thai Army in 1966-67) 44th Engineer Group thru 1969
Satahip Cantonement Area Complex
in Satahip
When?
1961-62.
No .. you mean, all that early 60's construction of bases in the Far East
occurred with the "aid" of herbicides?! I'm shocked.
Next, you are going to tell me there is a "Secret" USAF CHECO Report that talks
about the base perimeter defenses being secured with the use of herbicides. Ha!
Gee, what a joke .. if you are skeptical, visit the DOD List -- that's should
prove absolutely nothing ...
// END OF REPORT -- I REST MY CASE //
Beyond this report -
Cronological Order of Events
Report to Congress: Inequities in Treatment
of Vietnam (Era) Veterans
- the Exclusion of Thailand Veterans
Complete Report
 Cover Sheet
Testimony
Veteran Testimony (Accounts)
The V.A. denied over 200 Thailand Veterans appeals and no one knows
how many other claims where the veteran just gave up on initial denial.
Kanchanaburi
Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 10:12 AM
Subject: Checo Report and Thailand
SA WA DEE! Hello!
My name is Richard Okland and I was stationed north of the famed Bridge over the River Kwai
with the 556th LMC. We trained and supported
the Royal Thai Army Black Panther Division which was later sent to Vietnam
in early 1969. We lived at tent city for 3 months before our permanent
cantonment area was completed. We lived in tents from 7 Feb 1968 thru the
end of April 1968 and then we moved to Camp Kanchanaburi just up the road from tent city.
We stayed there until 1 July 1969 when Camp Kanchanaburi was turned over to the
Royal Thai Army for thier use. We used herbicides extensively for base defense.
Agent Orange was the only chemical know that would deter Jungle growth.
I see the Checo report has quite a few pages missing. Isn't that ironic
after all these years. BUT, what they gave you is very interesting.
Thanks for sharing. I got this info sent to me from Marilyn Oliver.
Take care! God Bless! - Dick Okland
Part II of Testimony
Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 4:18 PM
Subject: Re: Checo Report and Thailand
Hi Franco! Its good to hear from you! Well, I was stationed at Camp Samae San from Dec 1972 when we
closed our field team office at MACV HQ in Saigon and moved it to Camp Samae San. I flew back and forth
from Thailand until March of 1973 when I went back to Thailand and out and went back to the states and
was stationed at fort Riley, KS (Bloody Red One) I have other folks who I believe would give you testimony as well.
One is Rex Huesties who transported a lot of chemicals from Sattahip Port to various camps in Thailand.
He is in real bad shape with fighting for his life because of his exposure. Another one is
Jose Miller, a PFC back then who rode on a dump truck when the engineers were constructing out airfield at
Camp Kanchanaburi and he did actually spray Agent Orange on the bare before the PSP was laid down and then afterwards
as well. He retired as a Major. The only time I was in Korat, or I should the many times
I was there, was when we used to take 2 5-ton tractor and trailers and go from Kanchanaburi to the depot at Korat for
supplies and repair parts for the Tech Supply I was in charge of at Camp Kanchanaburi. After driving
for about 3 months, I finally got some help and turned over the runs to those soldiers.
I went back to
Thailand in April 2005 for 2 weeks and was a guest of the 9th Inf Div of the Royal Thai Army for a day and had the
opportunity to visit our old camp site which is still being used to this day. It was certainly memorable
when I had the opportunity to go to the airfield and walked thru the same hangar. WOW, that was something.
Also walked inside one of the 3 hootches that still remain in use to this day. I also visited
with Thida Loha, (Kulchaya Somprasong is her real name now) as Thida was a teenage girl helping out her father and mother
at the Bridge over the River Kwai Restaurant, which is still in existence to this day. Thida Loha owns
the restaurant now and runs it. I have made 3 DVD Editions of the 556th LMC from our teip crom
Fort Bragg, NC to Thailand. If you are interested, I can send them to you. Take care! God Bless!
- Dick Okland
Korat RTAFB
(Photo w/Camp Friendship)
John Powell
- "The bomb dump inside and the perimeter when sprayed
with something as grass never grew there."
Michael Balash
- "In the entire 19 months * I was there, no vegetation grew back in these area that I patrolled."
* Sure does beat 2 hours at Ton Son Knut under the "presumptive exposure" provision.
Franco Picchione - Company Clerk
- "In my two year tour in Thailand, whether an air force base or army camp,
they all had one thin in common: dead, brown grass that created dust condition;
early 1969, left Camp Friendship taking the new Friendship Highway to Satahip
on our motorcycle (advanced party) and from the road dust caked on my front
enjoyed a marvelous shower to rid my clothes and face of herbicides, etc."
Bob Davies
- "I was at Korat Air Base 4/65 to 4/66."
Mukdahan Radar Site
James Harrod
- "[herbicides] were used, on a continuing basis, to control and kill vegetation
growing throughout the site."
James Hopkins
- "I observed spraying of herbicides to control vegetation at "perimeter]"
Robert Baker
- "I remember that herbicides were sprayed around the perimeter and around the bunkers
of the camp on a regular basis to kill the foliage.
NKP RTAFB
David Wharton
- "I witnessed Defoliation Spraying Activities around the perimeter at NKP [airbase]"
Robert Lappin
- "[many] times I flew missions over defoliated areas."
Romeo Singleton
- "What I can remember seeing while stationed at NKP RTAFB,
was the outlying area of the base was defoliated like it had been sprayed."
Richwell Iso
- "I was stationed TDY at NKP and Ubon Thailand"
Tom Bjork - NKP Report
- "I was at Camp Ruam Chit Chai .."
Timothy Sturges
- "I served at NKP 72/73"
Sakon Nakon (Army)
Sidney Chancellor
- "We used a chemical spray during road construction to clear [foliage]"
Takhli RTAFB
Dale Everson
- "It struck me as strange that these bases were in a [jungle area]"
James Trapp
- "[assigned] duties in a base warehouse processing equipment and supplies.
We had I received an item of equipment that was [classified]"
Ubon RTAFB
James Ziats
- "I never saw anything growing in the perimeter fenc line."
Marty McCauley
- "Around the Bomb Dump and the Base Perimeter there were many areas
that vegetation did not grow.
[At] the CE compound they stored pallets with 55 gal drums with orange stripes on them.
Just before we closed the base these barrels disappeared."
Roger Fausey
- "There was no vegetation growing anywhere on the [base]"
Timothy Potter
- "After a sapper attack in July 1969, all foliage around the base,
in front of the perimeter and behind the perimeter, was either cut or sprayed."
Udorn RTAFB
Stephen Pippenger
Part II
Part III
Part IV
- "When we landed we thought it was a desert.
No sign of grean and the ground looked like it was dead." - Dog Handlers
U-Tapao RTNAB
John Kammer
- "During my year as a sentry dog handler 1969/1970,
much of the defenses along the perimeter road area was upgraded."
Joseph Provost
Part II
- "In an area, between the Baracks and the Barbed Wire fence line and the fence line
and the jungle was just a barren dirt area, very unusual."
Jimmy Welch
- "I had a brief spell in Satahip, Thailand"
Conclusion
I find it very ironic under the circumstances that the court and V.A.
would deny benefits to Thailand veterans when their testimony
corroborated each others stories.
Furthermore, who is to deny those Thailand veterans
that served in the "early years" from
1961-1967
when these bases were under construction and herbicides used?
Logical .. common sense ...
re:
Korat - Bob Davies
- "I was at Korat Air Base 4/65 to 4/66."
Doesn't a court judge use the rule of common sense
where a party lies once, nothing more is considered.
At least, without evidence ...
The DOD has lied for four decades and no one knows to what extent.
Our (beautiful) government wouldn't allow such dioxins/toxins to be used
if they willing knew of the medical problems it would cause our soldiers.
No? See
Criminal Investigation of Monsanto Corporation
- Cover-up of Dioxin Contamination in Products
- Falsification of Dioxin Health Studies
More on the history of the Army Engineers
that
served in Thailand.
p.s. If you are thinking that that is the only period of counterinsurgency "exercises," you are
(widely) mistaken. On file @ 1 Aug 69 - 31 Oct 69 ..
I just love how naive citizens of this country are.
Thailand: anatomy of a counterinsurgency victory
From: Military Review | Date: 1/1/2007 | Author: Marks, Thomas A.
Quarterly Classified Report Document
To be continued ..
.. please email your contributions. Thank you.
Perimeter of Camp Friendship
Map
Central - Korat Motif "brown"
Aerial
Camp Friendship Mess Hall
Cutting a camp out of the jungles
Camp Samae San (Satahip)
Map
NKP Flight Line (Northeast)
7th RRFS *
(Classified Army Site - defoliated)
CIA Lima Jumgle Landing Strip - Laos
* ASA (Army Security Agency)
Post
defoliated Compound Area
(Deactivated)
Seebees can take credit for constructing NKP; Red Horse for maintaining runway
After Action Engineer Reports -
Storage Farm - Korat
Plumber's Helper **
561st Engr Co (DT) - Army Engineers provided the dump trucks.
Base Photo Gallery
"Vintage 1967"
** What to do with hundreds of 55-gallon (empty) drums.
Groundwater Contamination
"Herbicides were used in Thailand from 1961-62 to Closing (1975)" - Franco (That's a fact/Jack)
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Until you have experience the jungles of Southeast Asia (SEA,) you really can not
get a feel for how thick it is. And, for good reason.
The soil conditions for vegetation growth is far superior to most other areas of
the world because of the heavy rain (monsoon) conditions annually.
Here I am on a trail visiting Nong Khai along the Mekong River in Northeast Thailand
in 1995, little monks. My next trip in 2003 included
a trip to the Satahip Cantonment Area where I literally rode my scooter passed Camp Samae San three times
before stopping to inquire. The jungles had grown back in 30 years and it no longer had a
motif like Las Vegas ... Photos to follow.
Chaing Mai/Mekong (1984)
Mark Olson sent me some photos of Camp Friendship and my response was that as a young
soldier, you didn't give much thought about the feeding or care of the terrain in the
base camp because you have yet to enjoy the feeding and care of your own home yard,
cutting the grass on a weekly basis, etc. You may have thought what a
lousy job they did because they not only cut the grass, but killed the damn stuff as
it was burned brown and not a nice textured burmuda turf that you would be proud of.
You further acknowledged the rainy season and the daily "liquid sunshine"
in the late afternoon just about on a daily basis and thought they need some real help
or expertise in maintaining grass. Just think for a moment, if it does
that to vegetation (visually,) what it does to our body organs internally, and the water
table below that was the source for the water we drank. Exposure, I'd say
so.
Camp Friendship (Korat):
wide angle 1;
close up.
Pipeline trench:
wide angle 2;
close up.
Do you get my drift on describing same as "Las Vegas motif"???
In this early photo of the entrance to Camp Friendship, 9th Logistics Command unit patch, predecessor
to the 44th Engineer Group (Construction) and U.S. Army Support Thailand (USARSUPTHAI,) you can get a
feel for the soil alongside the roadway. If you have ever visited Hawaii and seen the
rich red soil that would grow anything .. this is after the task force engineers has come in and
cleared the base camp for construction. We didn't leave anything -- not even a coconut tree.
Northeast Thailand - 809th Engineers Country
(and home of the USAF NKP RTAFB)
Here is a photo of the road between Camp Raum Chit Chi and Camp Friendship in 1969 from a army helicopter,
mountains.
Photo credits: Local Nationals and U.S. Personnel,
Mark Olson and plumber's assistant 3;
Art Woodward and helper, Tong.
Conclusion
As you can see from these photos, whether you are a "city boy" or grew up on a farm, it isn't "rocket science"
to see that something strange had been going on in Thailand and that the only way vegetation and jungles were
tempered was deadly toxins, toxins that caused more grief to U.S. personnel as well as decades with the
people 4 we were there supposedly there to help.
Footnotes
1 South Road on Camp Friendship. (L-R) the Outdoor Theater, Football
Field, the Indoor Sports Recretion Center being build, and the 31st Field Hosiptal.
2 Hand dug trench for a sewer line for a new HQ on the South Side of Camp Friendship
along the perimeter.
3 Tong, as a skilled plumber's assistant earned $1.60 a day while the other man $80 cents a day.
4
Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign -
[Today] that name inspires fear, but Hai was oblivious to the forces bearing down from the sky as he worked and essentially lived along the Ho Chi Minh trail until 1969. During that time, he and his fellow conscripts drank water and ate fish from local streams. “Many times while we were having our meals, planes came over us dropping the chemical spray,” he said. “Many comrades had diarrhea and respiratory problems.”
After the war, Hai returned to his home village and married a woman who had worked as an army communication assistant along the trail. Their first two attempts to have children ended in miscarriages; the third time around they had a baby girl. “We thought we’d finally be able to have some happiness,” Hai said. The girl died of cancer at the age of five.
See also Agent Orange and Peripheral Neuropathy ;
Agent Orange and Soft Tissue Sarcomas.
Pictured here in Vietnam is Dr. Barry Krupkin, Supreme National Commander of United Veterans of America (Notice the nice chemical drums). Dr. Barry Krupkin, SNC, Ph.D is an honored member of The Veterans News Hour Daily Advisory Board. His input and guidance is invaluable to the success of this Web Site. Thank you, Barry!
Thailand (Exposed)
Camp Friendship (Korat)
Army Aviation (Flight Line) *
Note: 55-gallon drums (on left) .. herbicides .. toxins .. cool aide
See Storage Farm Project * After Action Reports
See Plumber's account .. in Korat, Thailand (Camp Friendship)
* DOD Party Line on Herbicides in Thailand: [only] some early tests [and, of course] nothng around
"U.S. personnel." Right. See above CHECO Report.
Trivia Question for those VA Staffers that got hefty bonuses: **
When was the last day of spraying in Vietnam and Thailand? <beep> Times up!
Vietnam - 7 Jan 71; Thailand some 18 months later, ie, mid-1972.
** We know you guys are worth every cent of it (bonuses.) In fact, when we reform the agency and
have to let you go, we won't have to provide you with any severance package because you have already been overpaid!
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disability compensation ..
Army Disgrace
"Buk" Frank
"707 Freedom Bird"
Enlisted Suite
