Takhli Memory Joggers
Below are links to further pages with photos of Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Takhli City and environs. Hopefully these will help take you back to a time when we worked hard and we partied hard. All contributions are gratefully accepted, and a big thanks to all who have donated thus far. Each of us will see the same photo and have different memories, I hope you enjoy them all!
- Larry was with the 601st Photo Sq., Jun '67 - Jun '68. He also has a videotape available of the 1967 Bob Hope show. You may contact him at Presfor@aol.com for details. - Mike was an air traffic controller with the 1980th Communications Sq., Aug '69 -Aug '70. His window on the war was one floor in the tower above mine. - Arlis' tour as a weatherman was Apr '67 - Apr '68, almost the same as mine. We were a pair, what one didn't dream up, the other did. But always there to pull each other's bacon out of the fire. The line in the movie "Stripes" could apply to us - "Convicted? No,... never convicted..." - This is an intended departure from the 355th days. Arv was at Takhli as an armament specialist on an exercise (Commando West) deployment in Oct 1984. These shots are intended to show what became of the place we knew. - Jerry was a Crew Chief on the F-105s, arriving in Oct '66 and leaving in Nov '67. He hung his "Go-To-H" hat at the 354th TFS. - Neil's photos are from a trip in an HH-43 Husky he was flying from Takhli to Bangkok in 1965. Although they are not of Takhli itself, he was there TDY, and many of us visited Ayutthya. RAY "WOODY" WOOD Folio - Woody is sharing his photos from his tour as an F-105 Crew Chief with the 357th TFS. They are from the Oct '67 - Nov '68 timeframe and cover both the base and downtown.
KAMPANART VORAMANUCHAI Folio (In Memory Of) - The owner of the Chum Long Luck Photolab in Takhli graciously offered photos for our enjoyment. Unfortunately he was killed in an auto accident on 29 Nov 99. This folio is to honor his wishes and his family. They were taken in the early 1970's by his father, whom I knew.
FRANK VENTERS Folio - Frank was a firefighter, Oct '65 - Oct '66. His year was spent in the flightline fire station next door to me in the tower. He has contributed a number of great shots, including ones of some nice sized fire station "pets". His aerial photo of the fire station will give you an idea of where those pets lived. Good flightline photos also.
FRANK WILKINS Folio - Frank was the Supervisor of the Base Communications Center, 1980th Comm Squadron. Tour of duty - Jul '68 - Jul '69.
CLARENCE DICK Folio - Clarence worked on the Electronic Countermeasure Pods for the F-105s and EB-66s - 355th AEMS, Dec '66 - Dec '67. Yet his slides look as though they were shot yesterday. He was concerned his slides weren't interesting enough. His contrib spans several pages, I think he may have been too humble.
ART McANINCH Folio - Art was a pilot with the 42nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (TEWS). His time at Takhli was Jul '67 - Jul '68. He has some great photos of the EB-66s which provided electronic jamming and masking for the F-105s. He also has some other aircraft photos which will prove extremely interesting to those of us at Takhli.
TOM HELBING Folio - Tom was a "hoser" as we refer to them today, a mobile refueler, during his long tour at Takhli. He was there from Jul '67 to Oct '68. He has a great mix of photos I hope all will enjoy.
ROLAND HEATLEY Folio - Roland has provided photos from the '70 time frame. His assignment was to the 355th Field Maintenance Squadron in the Electrical Shop. His pix include some of Col Bottomly, the Wing Commander during that period, and Roland's fellow "Spark Chasers".
WILLIAM DAVIDSON Folio - William was a pneudraulic specialist during his time at Takhli. He was there first with the 562d TFS in Nov '65, returned again in Jan '66 and stayed until Sep '66 and finally came back in time to see the last sortie land In 73, finishing that tour at Nakhon Phanom RTAFB. In between he managed a year as well at Ubon RTAFB. William's contrib includes base photos and some mighty shiny airplanes.
DARRYL PETERSEN Folio - Darryl's tour from Jan '66 to Jan '67 as a bomb handler and transporter provide us with a look inside the "deliverables" area at Takhli. The motto of the 355th TFW was "Our Might Always". We have some looks at one form in which that might was carried to the enemy. He also has a wide variety of other pictures as well. Our friend Darryl passed away June 8, 2004. We honor his memory.
BEN SHUPPERT Folio - Ben was a Maintenance Control Officer for the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing. His time at Takhli was the entire year of '66, from Jan to Dec. His contribution includes great aerial photo overviews from the Pedro rescue helicopter, aircraft damage, and some around the base.
JACK BLAIR Folio - Jack served as the 355CSG Chief of Personnel Quality Control from 1967 to '68. His duty location was in the "old" HQ Bldg 600/1 and some of his shots are from there. Also great shots of the '67 Bob Hope show, the arrival of the F-111s in Mar '68, a 100 mission party and the flightline and base will be in his folio.
VARIOUS CONTRIBUTORS Folio - This section is for those who have photos to share, but not enough to make a full page. It will be added to continuously, and will present the photos as they are received, with no particular theme. As enough are received to create a page with a single theme, they will be moved there.
My own shots - I have a fairly large collection, but don't want this site to be just my point of view. Current plan is to rotate my photos from time to time.