Moving back to the States this time we experienced the worst culture shock ever; nothing like going from the States to Thailand. For one, when I came home from work the first evening and asked Linda “Hi, honey, what’s for supper?” she answered “Nothing, YOU fired the cook.” Secondly, although I was soon promoted to GS-12 my paycheck was effectively reduced by 40% or more as I no longer received a housing allowance that paid for rent and utilities, a 25% cost of living allowance that reflected the extra cost of living at U.S. standards in Thailand, and hardship pay for working in a remote dangerous place. Meanwhile, the cost of living in the Washington, DC metropolitan area was much higher than Thailand. So we even had to budget for the laundromat. We rented a one ... read more

Missionary friends of ours living in Chiang Mai were planning to visit the churches in Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar) over Christmas week. They asked if we wanted to come along. We thought that would be great to visit this closed country with someone who knew where to go. We both applied for visas, but theirs were denied, perhaps because of their occupation. They encouraged us to go, and we could take some things to the church that they were going to take. So we did. 24 December 1974 Tuesday. We flew from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and then from Bangkok to Rangoon, arriving about 8 pm. While waiting for our bags, we noted that all the shops and money exchangers were closed. There was a strict prohibition against using foreign currency in Burma, so we ... read more

As you will recall from a previous blog from 1967 (see ) in my senior year of high school I was a member of the topographical survey crew that surveyed the top of Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. Seven years later I was assigned as the construction manager for the construction of the radar station on top of the mountain. My immediate boss was a 62 year old American civil engineer who had his vocal cords removed due to throat cancer which required him to carry a note pad around to give instructions. The contractor kept all his notes for a future contract claim. He was responsible for the road construction and for the radar station on the two days I had off (Sunday and Monday). He knew that this was his last job ... read more

Uncle Wayne and Aunt Minnie were living in Vientiane, Laos. They invited my parents and us for Thanksgiving. We took the night express train to Nong Khai and the ferry across the Mekong River to their home. Uncle Wayne, Dad, and I then drove to a Hmong village many hours north of Vientiane. We stayed that night in a thatched house on stilts. We ate very basic tribal food, and put the bones and leftovers through the gaps between the floor boards to the waiting pigs and other animals below. The next morning, Mom and Linda flew to our village in a small Cessna. On the way, the pilot made a mail drop to a village in a narrow valley. The mountains surrounding the valley were occupied by communist Pratet Lao soldiers who might shoot at ... read more

I graduated from college in June 1972, then worked in Norfolk VA for five months while arrangements were made to move to Thailand. During this time I got engaged, was married to my college sweetheart Linda, and spent our honeymoon getting shots and applying for passports and visas. On February 1, 1973 we flew from Pittsburgh to San Francisco, and took a bus to Travis AFB where we caught a Military Airlift Command chartered flight to Bangkok. Our first stop was Hickham AFB, Hawaii, and then on to Anderson AFB, Guam. We were supposed to be there long enough to offload passengers and cargo, but the forklift punctured the side of the aircraft, which took about 8 hours to patch. Then we were off to Clark AFB, the Philippines, and on to Ton Son Nhut Air ... read more