Sidney Alford King

King explained how he found out John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. Soon after this Lyndon B. Johnson took his first oath of office and would serve as president for the next 5 years. Throughout the interview, King describes the views people held about LBJ. King explained that many people held an ill opinion of LBJ due to his decision to escalate the war.

Sidney King graduated from French High School in 1967 and went to Lamar University the following fall. However, he left college after that semester. King realized that his chances of being drafted into the war were steadily increasing, so he decided to join the military. On February 26, 1968, King enlisted into the Air Force, rode on a bus to Houston, and arrived the day after, on Tuesday. The day after that, on Wednesday, his mom called him saying that his draft letter had come in.

King was trained and stationed on multiple different Air Force Bases before he was sent to Thailand. The first of which was the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio in February of 1969. King trained here for six weeks in Squadron 126 and described the difficulties of being a trainee. He was assigned and trained as an air traffic controller. Around April 29th, 1969, the Air Force transferred him to the Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. King explained even though he was still technically a trainee, he had more freedom in Biloxi and had many positive experiences with his comrades. Next, he received orders to go to Minot, North Dakota. King vividly remembers the freezing temperatures and how different this was from his previous stations. King continued to meet new people and truly began to experience the “nuts and bolts” of being in the Air Force. During his time in Minot, they moved him out of air traffic control and trained him in firefighting and crash rescue. Then the Air Force temporarily transferred him to Hamilton Army Airfield, near San Fransico, California, before flying him to U-Tapao, in Thailand.

The United States and Thailand had developed a close relationship post-WWII, as the U.S. aided Thailand in its journey to becoming a developed nation and one of the first southeastern nations to join the UN. Although aid temporarily decreased after the 1950s, the deteriorating state of Vietnam in 1965 led Thailand and the United States to change their perceptions of the situation in Southeast Asia: the U.S. now feared the spread of communism, and Thailand feared for its security. With this, the U.S. nearly doubled its economic and military aid to Thailand (Muscat, 149). The U.S. also obtained a better military standing in Southeast Asia because they reached an agreement with Thailand to operate and improve bases in conjunction with the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) and to station bombers and necessary personnel.

In July of 1969, King landed at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok. From there he rode to U-Tapao (oo-tu-pow) Royal Thai Navy Airfield and continued to serve in crash rescue and fire extinguishing maintenance. King explains in the interview that they were “more support than anything.” While he was focusing on the larger role of the U.S. Air Force in this statement, the idea of being the “support” can be applied to many parts of King’s experiences. One could see how U-Tapao Airfield served as a support for the larger war in Vietnam, or how King himself served as a support through crash rescue operations. He was stationed at U-Tapao until 1971.

The development and use of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress was essential in the Vietnam War. LBJ authorized the systematic bombing of locations that were important to the North Vietnamese. This tactic, also named Operation Arc Light, was an attempt to both obstruct Hanoi’s access to vital resources and to break the spirits of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the National Liberation Front (NLF). This then evolved into the years-long Operation Rolling Thunder. The B-25s were essential in this strategy, so the US continued to look for a place to station them in Southeast Asia. They looked to places like Japan, Guam, and Thailand. In 1967 an agreement was reached between the US and Thailand in which American B-52s could be stationed on and deployed from Thai bases. Jefferey D. Glasser’s journal, “The Secret Vietnam War,” explains that “by 1969, about 65 percent of all Arc Light sorites would originate from Thailand” (p. 101).

King recalled another bad B-52 crash in Thailand on July 19, 1969. In this crash, he explained that a B-52 blew up at the end of the runway. The crash was carrying multiple 750 lbs and 500 lbs bombs. He and the other crash rescuers were on the way to put out the fire, but it was emitting red smoke. This meant that the fire had already penetrated the walls of the bombs and would soon explode. Knowing it was now beyond saving, they drove the fire truck as far as they could get, got out, and ducked behind the truck. Seven of the bombs detonated and blew a Kaman HH-43B Huskie air chopper out of the sky.

While there was rapid economic growth in all of Thailand following large US investments, Bangkok experienced a disproportionate urban development in the 1950s-60s. Much like Saigon in Vietnam, the rapid development of Bangkok and fear of the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT), caused a mass migration from rural areas into the city. However, there would come to be major income inequalities during the 1960s, as the increase in population decreased the availability of jobs and occupations. Another growing issue was the bureaucratic centralization of Thailand’s government in Bangkok (Muscat, 152, 280). So, while Bangkok was a developing city with many alluring aspects, the rampant poverty and political corruption forced many residents to turn to a life of crime to support themselves. Parallels can be drawn between the socioeconomic states of Bangkok and Saigon.

In 1971, King returned to the US with one more year in the Air Force. The Air Force stationed him at England Air Force Base near Alexandria, Louisiana. Sidney King married his first wife Pam Parker King moved here. He finished his service on February 26, 1972. He continued to work in the Air Force Reserves, going to Eglin Air Base in Houston, Texas for two weeks a year. King has a commemorative service medal from the U.S. Air Force, displaying his unit and his period of service. It reads, “Technical Sergeant Sydney A. King, Strategic Air Command, 307th Bomb Wing, 4750th A Support Group, The 3rd Air Division, United States Air Force.” The medal also indicates his service from February 27, 1968, to February 26, 1972.

Sidney King went back to Beaumont and studied at Lamar University. He then went down a path of many occupations throughout his life including a firefighter, a scheduler/planner for a chemical plant, and a floor contractor. King also settled in many places such as Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida. He currently lives in Florida with his wife Jean Anne.

King also frequently mentioned the similarities between the responses to and tactics of the Vietnam War to that of the present-day wars in the Middle East. King explained that the US Air Force in Thailand was the support for many other units in the Vietnam War. He then compared this to the US Air Force Bases in Saudi Arabia that supported US forces during the Iraq War. King also drew parallels between the past protests that opposed the US’s involvement in Southeast Asia and the current protests opposing its involvement in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. He also mentioned a larger continuity in the history of the United States: the country’s empathy and its responsibility to provide aid and freedom to the countries that need it.