A thirty-year roundtrip to Thailand

  • Published
  • By By Capt. Erika Yepsen
  • PACAF Public Affairs
KORAT, Thailand --  The drive from Nong Pai Lom, Thailand, to the Ban Pong Dang Namcha Samakkhi School only takes about 30 minutes, but it took Master Sgt. Siamrad Maher more than 30 years to make the trip, completing the journey March 17. 

Born in Nong Pai Lom, Siamrad Maher would likely have grown up to be a farmer, herding buffaloes like his father before him, but he and his younger sister's lives changed in 1976 when his aunt married an enlisted American Airman. Soon after, his aunt and her new husband adopted then six-year-old Siamrad and his younger sister and moved with them to the United States. 

"I understand why my parents did it now looking back," said Sergeant Maher, now a public health technician in the Air Force. "They wanted us to have a better life. But at the time, being a kid, I didn't appreciate it. I was six years old and I didn't speak any English." 

More than 30 years later, Sergeant Maher has returned to Thailand as part of Cope Tiger 2009, an annual, multinational, large force aerial exercise which includes multiple humanitarian outreach events occurring in both Korat and Udon Thani, Thailand. 

Since leaving Thailand as a child, Sergeant Maher's decision to follow in his adoptive father's footsteps has returned him to his home country repeatedly to conduct medical outreach programs for operations and exercises such as Cope Tiger and Cobra Gold. 

"It's always a good warm feeling coming back here to help the Thai people," said Sergeant Maher. "I see how much we take for granted in the United States." 

During the second week of the two-week exercise, U.S., Thai and Singaporean military medical personnel focused their outreach efforts at schools near Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base. Their outreach took them to the Ban Pong Dang Namcha Samakkhi School March 17. Working as both translator and noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the U.S. medical personnel, Sergeant Maher walked through the school, pausing to chat with both Thai and U.S. personnel, moving easily between the two groups. 

He took a break inside the preschool room turned dental clinic to share a snack with two Thai women. They are the preschool teachers at this school, he explained as he sat down to chat with them for a few minutes before continuing on. As he made his rounds, he checked on both the U.S. personnel and local Thai hosts at various stations including optometry, a pharmacy and a children's art class. 

"He's been very valuable here both as a translator and an NCOIC," said Capt. Greg Richert, Sergeant Maher's supervisor and team leader for the medical mission of Cope Tiger 2009. "There's a double benefit of him being from this area which helps a lot. He doesn't just speak the language, he understands the culture, so he's been able to tell us what's going on some of the time when we weren't sure what was happening." 

We always try to find someone fluent in the language of the area we're going to, said Captain Richert. Captain Richert plans medical outreach events throughout the Pacific area of responsibility. 

U.S. personnel aren't the only ones who benefit from having Sergeant Maher along for the mission. His Thai counterparts and local Thai patients at the medical clinics benefit as well, said Thai Air Force Wing Commander Niyom Homchuay. 

"We're very grateful he's on the American team. It's good because he can talk directly with the people," Wing Commander Homchuay said. "We're very happy to see a Thai in the U.S. uniform." 

But when asked whether the Thai in the U.S. uniform was American or Thai, Wing Commander Homchuay and Sergeant Maher himself agreed. 

"It's not important. He's here to help the villagers and bring them happiness," said Wing Commander Homchuay. 

"At the end of the day, what's important is another successful mission," Sergeant Maher said. 

Judging by the smiles on the children's faces at the Ban Pong Dang Namcha Samakkhi school, the visit that day was a successful mission.