American soldier (GI) looking for lost lover

Udon Thani - 10th December 2009

Mr.Steve Duane Brooks, a 64 years old American GI veteran, and his friend visited the nationchannel reporters asking for help. He said he is looking for his lover that he lost contact with 40 years ago. In 1969 he was an GI working in Udon Thani. He worked in rescue section called 40 ARRS in Jerry Green plane. He met Miss Oraphan or Amphan Poekum when she was 25-26 years old. Her nickname was Aw. They lived together for a year at Chaimongkol bangalow at Phosi road. In 1970 he was sent back to USA. He asked her to go with him but she refused.

He always wanted to return to visit her but he had no money at the time. Now he has moved back to Udon to retire and he would love to meet up with her again. Its been more than 40 years already so he does not expect to find her. He just wanted to see her face and help her if needed.

Please contact: http://www.nationchannel.com if you have any informaton

Ing_udon wrote:He worked in rescue section called 40 ARRS in Jerry Green plane.

Rescue -- Jolly Green HH-3 heli?

Ing
A very romantic and touching story. I really hope that you find this lady and she is charmed by your goodself.
Best of British. Oh sorry of course you don't say that in The States
Anyway
Goodluck

was Aw from Udon central, or out of town..what did her parents do?.did she go to any specific temple. if so take the pic there and ask the older monks..my ex's papa worked at the base back then, and knows afew names..I will run it by him...anymore pics of her??

you could run the name past the land registry office, maybe a brother of hers own land in Udon, or try the thai phonebook of Udon, perhaps the family name is there somewheres..

This is a great story, and I hope that he finds her. I've met a few people who are luk kreung, and their ages are probably 40 something. I often wonder about their fathers, but of course, I don't mention it to them.
Interesting note. Two times recently, older Thai woman have stopped in their tracks and stared at me.
I'm an American of Vietnem war era age and I can only imagine that these women were thinking of long ago love affairs. They cetainly weren't looking at me because of my good looks. As we age, I believe that we think more of the past than of the future.

C'mon, e-man. The reason they are looking at you is they thought you had died on 16 August 1977

lol. No, I only smell like I did..
Maybe I should change my moniker to "bradpittman" to be more accurate.

most folks who I know who were GI's in Udon during the Vietnam war years never came back.. In my conversations with them, they live vicariously in their memories of wild youthful times.. It's no wonder this fellow is trying to track down what to him is a wonderful memory.. Unfortunately, you can't change the past, and many things we remember fondly are probably distorted in our own minds with any bad things left out.. None the less, it indeed would be a touching story if this guy actually found "Miss Oraphan" and got back together with her...

I would think that if she's moved on, she probably has a family and would not dare contact him for fear of upsetting the balance in her life - if that is the case. Maybe he still wants to believe in the "I wait you. Not forget me. Nah?" fantasy...

Yes, yes...I too can remember with fondness my first girlfriend in Thailand. The soul-mate I was missing up to that time. I really, really believed, but the family sent her away to Switzerland on the urging of her evil older sister who balked at the idea of us together without even knowing me. Weeks later, she called me crying that she missed me "too mut". I hopped on the next flight and found her, with only the return address on an envelope to go by, in the countryside of Bern. It was a BIG happy surprise when she opened her sister's door and saw me there with roses in hand. With her being the only one home at the time, we escaped from her evil sister for a few amazing and wonderful days in Bern, but then I had to leave for work and never heard from her again (because of the evil sister, no doubt). Yes, yes...she was magical...the happy times...the crazy times...the plans that never came true...

*sigh* I hope this guy finds her.

KHONDAHM wrote:I would think that if she's moved on, she probably has a family and would not dare contact him for fear of upsetting the balance in her life - if that is the case. Maybe he still wants to believe in the "I wait you. Not forget me. Nah?" fantasy...

Yes, yes...I too can remember with fondness my first girlfriend in Thailand. The soul-mate I was missing up to that time. I really, really believed, but the family sent her away to Switzerland on the urging of her evil older sister who balked at the idea of us together without even knowing me. Weeks later, she called me crying that she missed me "too mut". I hopped on the next flight and found her, with only the return address on an envelope to go by, in the countryside of Bern. It was a BIG happy surprise when she opened her sister's door and saw me there with roses in hand. With her being the only one home at the time, we escaped from her evil sister for a few amazing and wonderful days in Bern, but then I had to leave for work and never heard from her again (because of the evil sister, no doubt). Yes, yes...she was magical...the happy times...the crazy times...the plans that never came true...

*sigh* I hope this guy finds her.

You old softy

Aardvark wrote:You old softy

LoL! The epilogue is that I happened to be passing through Buriram a few years back. I decided to see if I could remember the way to her house (a tiny plot off a tiny soi with a tiny tattered wood shack back when we were together). Surprisingly, I found it. They were constructing a basic cinder block home and her family were all excited to see me again. They'd heard about my little visit 2-3 years prior and tried to call her while I was there without success. Anyway, her evil sister made her marry a Swede and she was working alongside her sister in a cheese factory. The money she earned was paying for the house being built.

Having learned to speak decent enough Thai by then, I also learned that there was a big problem about a ceremony at the house when I came to visit her at home the first time. I asked my TGF what was going on, and she just said I needed to "give money for Buddha". Ok, so I figured THB 500 was a generous offering. Well...unbeknown to ME, it was a wedding ceremony and I was the groom! I had offered THB 500 for sin sot! (D'oh!). And that is when things started falling apart within her family and without me knowing anything about it. Had I known I was getting married, I am sure things would have turned out a lot different. True story. *sigh*

I left my contact information, but never heard anything back.

I thought about trying to find the place again just to see how things turned out for her and let her know how I have been doing, but not sure if that would be a good thing for her. My wife would certainly go apeshtt if she knew, so maybe it is better to let it be.

Anyway, this thread is not about me. It's about this guy and his search. I wish him luck!

KHONDAHM wrote:I left my contact information, but never heard anything back.

Had I known I was getting married, I am sure things would have turned out a lot different.

- khondahm

Right. Always try and keep on the ball as marriage is a rather pivotal moment in one's life. 55555

this thread is not about me. It's about this guy and his search

- khondahm

Right. But we discovered a lot about you in this thread, didn't we? But it was interesting and fun. 55555