Post
by Felgerkarb » Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:20 am
MREs for Site 2, part 2
Bob B was an old, ex Vietnam vet. He was like a real life Captain Willard, Special Forces, probably Phoenix Command type guy who had his leg below he knee blown off sometime running sneaky shit along the tri border area, close to Hamburger Hill...whats that, Doc Tho I think? He was one of those vets who never really went home...the epitome of the cliche. After getting patched up, he came back to Thailand and had a bar, a scuba business, a few Thai ex wives....lived off his Veterans pension, much as I do now. Anyway, I was introduced to Bob a couple years before my Site 2 days by the guy I was essentially replacing, another Vietnam vet who spoke Khmer from the 1970 days of our little....jaunt. He was about to retire from the Army, and had served with Bob back in the Nam. He introduced me to Bob because Bob knew everything shady going on along the border area. Bob reminded me of Sam Elliot from Road House, which I saw after meeting Bob and I swear somebody must have known him in Hollywood. It was uncanny. Anyway, Bob took a liking to me after he gave me a lot of shit and I took it in stride. One night on a drunken rampage he grabbed me in his steel like grip and said, I like you, Felger, you're not too full of shit. I told him I wasn't old enough to be full of it...yet. He laughed his ass off and from then on we stayed friends until his death, too soon thereafter. RIP brother Bob.
Anyway, Bob was my....unofficial...source of everything....intel, booze, drugs, specialty chicks, whatever I needed or....craved, Bob could arrange. He would play a major part in the drama and without him, I could never have carried this off.
Cobra Gold is a yearly joint exersize held between the US military and the Thais – I don't know if they do this anymore. Thousands of US servicemen descend on Thailand for a few weeks to practice Jungle Ops...and, of course....jungle love. The Thais commit a large segment of their forces and attention to this operation...both military and special LBFM forces. Lots of equipment is shipped in for the operation and a lot of junk is left behind, extra stuff that the Thais suck up and keep, sell, whatever. It was and probably still is, one fucking huge boondogle.
There was a push at the time in Command for some hearts and minds type stuff along the Cambodian border. If we wanted into Cambodia in the future, we had to leave a good impression upon the refugees who would eventually return home and maybe remember friendly Americans. Ya, we all know that worked so well in Nam. I suggested that when Cobra Gold went off, to piggy back some aid on those flights, MREs, water, medicines and give it to Site 2. The brass in charge liked the idea, as it used a system already in place and they had the extra funds that year to ship over a bunch of extras along with what was needed for Cobra Gold. Some fuckwit Major was put in charge of the delivery of the goods to a staging area, but the movement and deliver to Site 2 was my game. I kept telling the Major, who was a huge stick in my ass, to keep as much of it on the downlow as possible...but he was drinking buddies with some Thai liaison guys...so I knew we were boned already. The Thais knew about the shipment, and that was confirmed when I went to see Jim at Site 2 to brief him up on the incoming stuff; he already knew about it. Fucking bamboo telegraph in action. The greedy fuck Thais, KPNLF, and criminal goons in the camp were salvating about the surge. Jim said it was unlikely that the aid would ever even make it to the camp, as the Thais would just drive it off somewhere and sell it to whomever. I told Jim that if I could get the aid to the gate without the Thai army, KPNLF and goons knowing about it, could he get it to the people? He told me we could try and see what happened.
The gear was flown in for Cobra Gold, along with my shipment. Over ten thousand MREs, pallets of fresh bottled water, and some basic medical stuff. The Thai army delievered the stuff to a warehouse near the old airport in Bangkok and with the Major, we made arrangements for the Thai military to truck it up to Site 2 within three or four days, but it wasn't certain as Cobra Gold would be tying up most of the Thai military. Of course, I thought, perfect time for shit to walk off and never be seen again...fucking Thais...or...wait.....
I met with Brother Bob at our usual watering hole and asked him if he could arrange some trucks to haul off a few tonnes of cargo and deliver it up to Site 2. Sure, no problem brother. Could he do it in the middle of the night. Sure, no problem brother. Can you help me steal it before the Thai army does and ship it up at zero dark thirty? FUCK YA, BROTHER!!! So, I took a bunch of my TDY cash I had and put a couple grand in Bob's hand and asked him to make it happen in two days. I would have just blown the cash on booze and boobs anyway...
I played dumb with the Major for two days and kept asking when I could arrange the shipment to Site 2, etc.. He kept stalling and saying Cobra Gold was the priority now, blah blah. I kept an eye on the stuff, going to the warehouse, counting shit, making sure everything was still there...and also making myself known to the Thai military police there as the guy that was in charge of the stuff. I even went in at night just to make it look less...suspicious.
I met Bob at the warehouse around 10pm on the appointed night. He pulled up in several Thai miliary looking deuce and a halfs. Where the fuck did you get those? He just winked at me. The guys driving the trucks were all low ranking Thai police guys. I had no idea how or where he found them, and I didn't push it == I chalked it up to the rivalry between the cops and military in Thailand.. Anyway, I trusted Bob so figured it was cool enough. The guard at the gate let us through and we pulled up to the warehouse. I pulled out my keys and....they didn't fit. Mother fucker....they changed the locks or the shit was gone. One of the drivers came out with a small baby sledge, the type you find in big military truck tool boxes and bashed the lock off. We got inside and....everytihng was still there. Whew. I figured I was fucked now, as the lock had been changed, but I was committed, Bob was there....tally fucking ho....let's do it.
We spent a few hours loading up the shit, lucky for me I could drive a forklift from my days working for my dad in his warehouse....sloppy, but I got the shit on the trucks and secured. We pulled out around 2am, a small convoy of trucks full of aid destined for Site 2, aid that we had to steal back from the Thai army so we could get it to where it was needed. Fucking epic.
We drove all night to the Camp, through checkpoints, etc. The shit roads near the camp made me glad we had the old deuce and a halfs (bless you Bob), and my paperwork for my work up there got us through to the camp mid to late morning. I had Bob stop back a click from the gates and I got out and walked to the camp to find Jim. I told him to let the word out that once the trucks pulled into the camp, we were not going to drop the stuff in the collection and storage area but we would drive right to the edge of tent, plastic and metal sheet city and dump it.
I went back to Bob, who was waiting, and we drove the convoy into the camp. Thousands upon thousands of people were surging forward as soon as we pulled in, and we had to stop a bit short as the throng was so huge and we didn't want to crush anybody. We basically just stopped, jumped out, opened the back threw cases of shit out. People flailing and running, grabbing. Not a very efficient system, but we got it in and to a few. I am sure some was snatched up and seized by the fucking goons, but Jim later told me most just vanished into the camp and was eaten almost immediately, or buried in their hovels, so they wouldn't be confiscated. Jim took the medical supplies directly to his aid house, which shall remain nameless. He and I continued to do things over the years outside the system. Small victories.
A certain KPNLF commander, who shall remain nameless as he now is still active in the RCAF, was fucking furious. He shouted so many invectives at me, that I lost track. He claimed I upset the harmony and security of the camp, did things out of order, blah blah. Fuck you, greaseball, I thought, as I smiled at him. Just delivering the promised aid, sirrah! I waved.
Later that night, Bob drove us back to Bangkok and I got rip roaring drunk as I figured I was done in Thailand and maybe the military for my little....stunt. It was worth it. I stopped caring long ago about protocall, that's the way things are done here boy, shit like that. People get hurt because of that bullshit....
I went into the office, hung over as shit, and....nothing....silence. I went about my routine, getting ready for my next trip up to the Site. I wrote a report outlining the aid mission, leaving out Bob and the breakin, and just made it sound all so....normal. I submitted the report and went out again, got tore up with Bob, and we laughed our asses off.
The next day....shitstorm. I was called to the Military Liaison office by Major fuckwit. What the hell is this SHIT?!!! Waving my report around. The Colonel was not in, as he was down with Cobra Gold. Well, sir, I delieverd the goods as planned sir. Mission accomplished. But I didn't sign off, the warehouse was secured and all that jazz he blathered on in his button down West Point cadence. I pointed out I was in charge of the movement and figured that there had been some sort of mistake on the warehouse locks. It was my gear, I signed for it, so I made sure I kept track of it. Anyway, everyone was so busy with Cobra Gold, the refugees couldn't wait, so I made it happen. He pointed his finger in my face and said I was done in Thailand, smartass, etc.. Ya, ya...
I was forced to stay away from Site 2 a week until Cobra Gold died down and the Colonel returned. When I finally did step in front of the man, he just said, good job, the ambassador was pleased...don't fucking do that again. Get outta here, Felgerkarb.
Yes sir!
Last edited by
Felgerkarb on Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Why are the gods such vicious cunts?
Where is the god of tits and wine?