Shadows of Shelly

Brit - The Battles Part 15a

FIFTEEN-a

Brit – The Battles

The Thai Air Rescue Command had expanded from nine ten-man units, and it incorporates expert fighters from several nations and service branches. We were a collection of misfits and professional military.

It has grown to three group commands. One resided in Thailand, the next was stationed in the Philippines and the third came from South Korea. Each group had three squadrons.

My squadron had the least Air Force personnel. It was based in Chiang Mai. The operation of the unit was in a large cave on the side of a mountain near the Thai/Burma border. I spent Mondays through Wednesdays at the cave, except when I was needed for a mission. Major Pudd Fi was in charge when my duties required me to be in Chiang Mai.

The runway could accommodate C-130JX8s. and smaller aircraft. Most of the planes were C-47s. There was a company of U.S. Marine helicopters that shared the same cave and runway. They had two platoons that worked with us. Their commander and I coordinated our activities. The Marine unit was helpful in navigating thick jungle as well as mountainous areas.

Our group made regular runs to Vietnam and various locations near the Thai border where infiltrators had been known to ravage small villages. If we reached the village within a day or two the damage was minimized, and we could redeem them with very little harm.

Secret missions were completed in remote areas of countries surrounding our primary objectives. These areas came to be discovered by Royal Thai Intelligence. If the raid on the settlement went unnoticed for a week or more, the men of the village were likely slaughtered, and the women were tortured, harshly molested and sold as slaves. The little towns where both the men and women were kidnapped is where the entire village was forced to labor as slaves. Those that were too old to toil or too defiant lost their lives.

The enemy thought that it was their divine right to enslave or kill innocent people. If I did not have my family, Shelly, and Son of Dog it would be easy to become cruel and savage. My men rotated four days on and two days off. The off days would be spent in Chiang Mai.

A small community formed for those who had wives and children within our compound. There were jobs for teachers, laundry workers, house keepers, translators, child care, cooks, cafeteria workers and office help.

Part of my responsibility was to manage the community and keep it safe. Disputes were a headache. I alternated daily responsibility with Major Pudd Fi and the seven officers on my staff, but main rifts came to me.

The third month on the job the Royal Thai Intelligence Agency reported a massive Prisoner of War (POW) internment center. It was a top-secret location in a communist controlled area. It was secured by North Vietnamese, Chinese and Russian forces.

Recon reported that the North Vietnamese controlled the Eastern segment where the POWs resided in cages. The Chinese division had amassed a large contingency of local villagers in the center of the compound who were used as slave labor. The Russian portion sported ten massive helicopters and fourteen smaller ones on the Western side. Evidently the facility had been there several years, but in a very remote part of thick jungle terrain.

It would be easier to eliminate the Russian section with personal rocket launchers. The other areas would be more difficult because of the captives. We did not want to kill the internees.

Our one hundred-thirty men landed about two miles from the facility. We closed in where we could observe the complex. The rocket launcher flight (platoon) had calculated the coordinates to eliminate the helicopters. All four flights had positioned themselves armed with M-16 Rifles using night scopes and silencers. The officers were issued 1964 quiet handguns.

As night approached we knew where the security stations were placed. We knew that the captives would be locked in cages or pens. As a result, anyone walking the multiplex was shot.

Everything seemed to be going as planned. Our marksmen eliminated about fifty of their soldiers. As the missiles exploded, men began to erupt from bunkers. We shot out any lights. Thus, the return fire could not be aimed at any of our fighters. However, several of our team were wounded.

The night scopes gave us a clear view of our targets. Only thirteen communist Chinese survived. Twelve of them were teenagers. They appeared frightened, hungry and raggedly clothed. I felt sorry for them. Their sergeants were tyrants and beat them often. The treatment that they received was not much better than the villagers.

Colonel Peetee (ปิติ - Delight) from the department of the Royal Thai Intelligence Agency said these are candidates for conversion to the Front-Line Guard (FLG) program. We will feed, clothe, give them a warm bed to sleep in and pay them on a regular basis. It will be like they have won the lottery.