Warbird Information Exchange

Randy, Bob, Jeff... wow, all great info on this almost lost era. I had forgotten a lot of those things so it is good to have a reminder for those who were around at the time or for those who this is their first exposure to this part of our history. I got to wondering about NKP, the town, and what it might be like today. Found this video of a walk down what appears to be one of the market main streets. Occasionally, the camera pans across the Mekong River and you can see the Karst over in Laos in the distance. Maybe Randy and Bob will recognize some of the buildings along the way, but it sure looks different as far as the people, cars, goods in the market, etc. Thanks everybody for supporting our efforts to have Kay back in her rightful place! Happy Thanksgiving!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfb0dYwdebo

Larry and Tim have found a new use for "firesleeve" it appears. But here's to everybody from our Special K team!! Happy Thanksgiving!! And Go Aggies!!! Too bad we aren't playing those T-Sippers in Austin as we traditionally have done, but LSU should be a better opponent! Always tough. Our Hawkeye is attending a tail gate party in College Station so we'll get first hand reports tonight. JR

///////// I got to wondering about NKP, the town, and what it might be like today

Get Bob Denard to post some pics of his trip over there. Sure not the same NKP I knew, save for the HoChi Minh Clock in that video! And the karsts across the river, don't think there was a GI that went downtown that didn't take a pic of those, and a ot of them from the same spot on the river. I've seen several pics over the years that look identical to the ones I took! I always thought they were some nasty looking mountains. Lots of the street vendors look the same though. I remember one shoe shop where you would go in, pick a shoe you liked, and the guy would trace your foot outline on a paper, make some notes, and come back in a couple days and you could get a custom fit shoe.

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

Those karst across the river haven't moved lately... and like Randy said, other than the Ho Chi Minh clock tower, there's nothing left of what we remember of NKP... the town or the base. Instead of posting just a few pics here, I'm giving you the link to the series of posts I made on "The Great Adventure" back to NKP. There are lots of pics in these posts.

By the way... I've cleaned up everything for public consumption so when you get to the parts where I'm saying, "Holy Smoke"... that isn't exactly what I was saying.

There are 16 parts to the whole story of the trip. On the top right of each post there is a "previous -next" link so you can go to the next posting. Just click on "next" to move on. In the later posts I started putting a link at the bottom of the post. Here's the link to the first post:

http://www.kokomoman.com/wordpress1/?p=176

If you want to skip the stuff on planning and getting there through Bangkok, Chiang Mai, etc, here's a link that will take you directly to "Holy Smoke - Part 1":
http://www.kokomoman.com/wordpress1/?p=212

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Bob
Memories of Naked Fanny
More Memories of Naked Fanny (Nov 2013)
609th Nimrod, Bomb loader, Gun Plumber, '68 - '69

Bob, that was such an awesome trip back to NKP. It is shocking sometimes how we have this picture in our minds of the old places and when we go back... nothing there. I had that recently when I went back to a little town in Oklahoma where I went to first and second grade. Our house was just across the street from the school. Well, there is a vacant lot where the school used to be and now there is some sort of mechanic's shop where the house used to be. All gone. I went and stood where I knew the front door to the school used to be and imagined all my friends and teachers coming in. Then I went to a class reunion and saw how all those little kids had grown up. My best friend back then showed up and we hadn't seen each other since the early 60's. Wow, what a reunion, catching up on stories and grandkids. It is really unfortunate that you didn't get the opportunity to go into Laos. I have some pictures of that side of the border back in the day and now. May see if I can find them and post a few. But many thanks for your story of NKP. The town seems to be booming. What supports the economy now? With all those car dealers, must be something that wasn't there back in the day. Keep the stories coming! For those who live in the Ft Worth area, while momma is shopping, this would be a good day to come to the Vintage Flying Museum at Meacham Airport to see K, the B-29 and B-24. The kids would love it. Cheers, JR

..........Then I went to a class reunion and saw how all those little kids had grown up.

---------I went to our high school 50th reunion in September, and there was a bunch of old, gray haired people there claiming to be my old classmates!!!!!!

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

Randy, I just had the same experience not long ago, so I am with you on "who are they and where did all these old people come from?" Well, Kay is having her 70th birthday before long. She has it made though because there are no others like her and we can't have a reunion.....oh wait, uh oh, when we have a reunion of the guys who used to fly, maintain and arm her, I wonder if she will feel the same way???? Wow! BTW, I don't think I have mentioned this before, but when Kay went to England in WWII, she was assigned to the 8th AF which is highly unusual for the time. Most were assigned to the 9th AF if based in the UK. 8th AF used A-26's in the last of the "Carpetbagger" missions to drop secret agents in France and Germany. Her tail number does not appear on the completed mission list but she could have been there ready to go when the war ended or perhaps the list was incomplete due to being classified. This is just another lead we need to track down. Her number back then was 44-36198. When I got the card from the AF which showed assignment to the 8th AF, I thought maybe it was an administrative error or it was just a holding assignment until it could be moved to the 9th AF. Then the "Carpetbagger" mission was brought up recently as a possibility. Maybe somebody can track down this new clue. Hope everybody's clothes still fit after Turkey Day!! Cheers, JR

This coming Saturday, the team will be working as usual on K, but on Sunday, Buba is having a birthday party. Buba was delivered to the AAF in Dec 1944 about a month or two before K. Anyway, the CAF Invader Sqdn is having cake and ice cream to celebrate Buba on Sunday, Dec 7 and to remember Pearl Harbor. It starts in the Briefing room (warm) at the Vintage Flying Museum hangar in Ft Worth at 1 pm and runs until 4 pm. Come on by and say howdy! JR
PS The drawing for the aviation themed handmade quilt will be held on Sunday as well. There will be time to buy tickets Saturday and Sunday at $5 each before the drawing at 4 pm. Help support Kay and put her back in her rightful place!!

I'm dreamin'-n-schemin' on completing the Laos portion of my "Great Adventure". It feels like a quest unfulfilled. I learned a lot of lessons on the first trip and would do a lot of stuff differently. I still have everything so it's just a matter of deciding that I really want to go back one more time. I really want to stand on the banks of the Mekong... on the Laos side and look back at Nakhon Phanom. And as always, I want to see what is left of "The Trail" for myself. If I do go back it wouldn't be till the dry season begins again about a year from now.

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Bob
Memories of Naked Fanny
More Memories of Naked Fanny (Nov 2013)
609th Nimrod, Bomb loader, Gun Plumber, '68 - '69

Well, clear your schedule for a bit, hit the head, grab a drink and a snack and take a tour...

http://www.laosgpsmap.com/ho-chi-minh-trail-laos/

C2j

C2j... wow, I had seen some of your pics just searching by google, but your collection is fantastic. Must have been a grand adventure. Our Nimrod A-26 folks who were based at NKP would be very interested in seeing these because they made many of those bomb craters and wrecked trucks. I am wondering though just how friendly the natives are now. Back in the day, there was nothing worse than getting shot down in Laos. Between the Pathet Lao and the NVA, it was a toss up as to which would kill a downed pilot quicker. Maybe time has settled much of the territory, but what about pirates or leftover bad guys? Is it safe to go very deep into the mountains now? What is the situation now for the Hmong? Thanks for the post! JR

JR,

Not my website or adventure. A little TOO adventureous (strenuous) for me! I have been fortunate enough to travel Vietnam from the Chinese border down to the Gulf of Thailand. Not much recogniseable left in the south except the concrete, reinforced bunkers and the 6X6 trucks! Everything else is GONE. My overall impression is that a) it's a new generation that remembers little or nothing about the war and b) it's all about surviving and finding ways to make money. Tourists are a great source of this. LOL !!

My oldest brother flew out of NKP 1968-69 timeframe as a FAC/nav on C-123's with the Candlesticks. He was awarded the DFC for one mission.

It is interesting to note that when "K" is returned to flight, It will be possible to have flying examples of all the Air Force fixed wing types that were stationed at NKP in that timeframe - A-26A, C-123K, C-47, A1, OV-10, and O-2 - gather and /or fly together again. I don't think that is possible from anywhere else ?!?

I have really enjoyed this thread, following from the beginning. Thanks to all of you for your efforts!

C2j

Looking through those pics, I couldn't help but wonder how much of that ordnance was still "live". It was obvious that some of it had been dearmed, but others, like the pineapples and some of the ammunition didn't show any signs I could see of having been made safe.
Thanks for posting that site. That was some of the best pics I've seen of the place.

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

I know where to get all to fly together except C-123K.....just take some planning and a few bucks

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When I was planning my original trip I was often in contact with the guy that did all the exploring for LAOSGPSMAP.com. I bought his GPS "plug-in" for my Garmin and planned my route around his GPS map. He has tracks showing most of the HCM Trail. He probably has explored more of the trail than anyone on earth... including those that walked/drove it back in the day.

UXO is still a massive problem in Laos. I know it's hard to believe considering WWII, but Laos is the most bombed country in the world. As a result, there is still a lot of UXO in areas of the trail and the Plane of Jars (PDJ). I got warnings from several people in the area not to venture very far off the "Trail" because of the UXO.

I have met (online) several people that have been to Laos in recent years. There doesn't seem to be any great danger to Western visitors. Well... except for the leaches, snakes, and other critters of the jungle. Just the same, I wasn't going to wear any American flags on my back-pack while I explore the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

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Bob
Memories of Naked Fanny
More Memories of Naked Fanny (Nov 2013)
609th Nimrod, Bomb loader, Gun Plumber, '68 - '69