westerby wrote:

Mr Natural wrote:Eligibility - If you have received a campaign medal for overseas service; have served 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days in Korea; or have ever received hostile fire or imminent danger pay, then you are eligible.

Are you eligible if you're a non-American but satisfy the criteria above, excepting Korea (Brits and ANZACS are always knocking about somewhere when the Yanks are kicking somebody's posterior)?

Must be a US citizen.

I'm going to the private party because I went last year and had a good time. I'll also be at the NM without a problem... one's at 2 PM and the other at 7 PM. I try to never miss an opportunity to have a beer with friends.

i can't start that early and go all day. did that last week, not good idea, next day is wasted for me. pace myself you say, nah, no will power. one beer every hour, that's too many for my liver to handle.

Aardvark wrote:The Brits and Aussies were in Korea ??

Oh yes!

let me say this the Australia served in every war except the revolutionary war side by side with the Americans as for Korea that was a U.N war and England and Australia as well as many other countries were involve in it side by side with the USA

British 1st Commonwealth Division

The British 1st Commonwealth Division was a formation that took part in the Korean War. It was formed in July 1951 from British, Australian, Canadian and other Commonwealth units involved in the conflict. It was deactivated in 1954 as part of the draw-down of forces in Korea in the aftermath of the war.

Commanding Officer
Major General James Cassels 28 July 1951-7 September 1952
Major General Michael Alson-Roberts-West 7 September 1952-1953

Divisional Artillery Commanding Officer
Brigadier William Pike July 1951-1952
Brigadier G Gregson 1952

Order of Battle
Headquarters and Headquarters Company 1st Commonwealth Division
1st Commonwealth Division Signals, July 1951-July 1953
45th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, July-November 1951
11th (Sphinx) Battery, Royal Artillery, July-November 1951
170th Light Battery, Royal Artillery, July-November 1951
14th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, November 1951-December 1952
120th Light AA Battery, Royal Artillery, October 1951-December 1952
42nd Light AA Battery, Royal Artillery, November 1951-February 1952
61st Light Field Regiment, January 1952-July 1953
20th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, December 1952-July 1953
16th Field Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery, July 1951-July 1953
2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, July 1951-May 1952
1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, May 1952-April 1953
81st Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, April 1953-July 1953
1903 Independent Air Observation Post Flight, Royal Artillery, July 1951-July 1953
28th Field Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, July 1951-July 1953
64th Field Park Squadron, Royal Engineers, July 1951-July 1953
8th individual's Royal Irish Hussars, July 1951-December 1951
C Squadron, 7th Royal Tank Regiment, July 1951-October 1951
5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, December 1951-December 1952
1st Royal Tank Regiment, December 1952-July 1953
25th Canadian Infantry Brigade
1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, April 1952-March 1953
2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, July 1951-April 1952
3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment
1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Oct 1951-Nov 1952
2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, July 1951-Nov 1952
3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, March 1953-July 1953
1st Battalion, Royal 22e Regiment, April 1952-April 1953
2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Regiment, July 1951-April 1952
3rd Battalion, Royal 22e Regiment, April 1953-July 1953
28th British Commonwealth Infantry Brigade
1st Battalion, an individual's Own Scottish Borderers, July 1951-August 1952
1st Battalion, an individual's Own Shropshire Light Infantry, July 1951-Sep 1952
1st Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers, August 1952-July 1953
1st Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, September 1952-July 1953
1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, March 1952-March 1953
2nd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, July 1951-March 1952
3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, March 1951-July 1953
29th British Infantry Brigade
1st Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, July 1951-October 1951
1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, July 1951-November 1951
1st Battalion, The Royal Ulster Rifles, July 1951-October 1951
1st Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment, October 1951-September 1952
1st Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment, October 1951-June 1952
1st Battalion, The Welch Regiment, November 1951-November 1952
1st Battalion, The Black Watch, June 1952-July 1953
1st Battalion, an individual's Regiment, September 1952-July 1953
1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, September 1952-July 1953
1st Battalion, The Royal Scots, July 1953


John

Funnily enough, there was a programme on UKTV history yesterday about VCs and a Private from the KOSB who won the medal in Korea for supporting another platoon by holding off the enemy with grenades and evacuating his wounded. There was also an Australian WO2 who won the VC for evacuating up to 40 of his Montagnards in Vietnam while he was wounded and receiving fire.

Paul might remember this: there used to be a memorial to those Commonwealth killed in Korea at the C of E church at RAF Sek Kong, Hong Kong. The People's Liberation Army have that camp now, I wonder if the memorial is still there?

The VFW will move its meeting place to the Belle Italia restaurant in front of Robinson's effective 14 Jan and will continue to be the 2nd Wed of each month. Meeting time is 1000 -1200 or the conclusion of business.

I'm planning on coming back to udon in december.I was told that maybe someone in the VFW could help me on getting on the old udorn royal thai air force base.is this possible?Let me know.

Nice to have this Thread

Nobi,
understand many things

The meeting time for the VFW meeting has been changed to 1030 hrs from 1000 hrs. The meeting place is still the Belle Italia Restaurant the 2nd Wed of each month.

Greetings! Just where is the Belle Italia Restaurant in Udon-town? I will hopefully be in the Isaan for the November meeting, if it is still the second Wednesday of each month. I am a Life-member of Post 10249.

The Bella Italia is located in front of Robinsons and connected to the Chareonsri Grand Hotel. Yes, we still meet at 1030 the 2nd Wed of the month. Welcome back.

Thank you for the quick response. We hope to arrive at Udon Thani airport on November 6th and will stay for the month in Sawang Daen Din, Sakhon Nakhon, with visits to Udon Thani during the month. Again, thanks.

May 27, 2010

My name is Helene Parenteau. I am looking for information on my brother Ronald E. Parenteau who was living in Udon Thani with his wife Kommei. He served in the military 1972-1975. I have just learned that perhaps he had died. His family was not notified back in the United States. It appears he might have died in April of 2007.

Does anyone know how I can find out if indeed he is dead and how he died. His wife does not speak English.

Helene Parenteau

Helene

If you have your brother's social ecurity number you can go tothisweb site to see if it's still active: www.ssnvalidator.com . If you do not have his SSN then I would suggest you contact the US Embassy America Citizens Section in Bangkok to see if they have received a notification of death.

I hope this helps.
Good luck

Helene,
Ron died on 7 April 2007. I'm not certain of the cause of death. He was very overweight and had a hard time getting around before he died. His ashes are interred at St Mary's Cemetery in Udon. On 31 May, the VFW has a memorial day ceremony and will place flowers at the grave and be sure all is in good order.

1.Ronald Emile Parenteau
21 Apr 54 – 7 Apr 07
(?not VFW member?)
Probably died from heart attack, very overweight

May 27, 2010

Dear Parrot,

Thank you very much for your reply. Did you know him personally. I know he was very overweight -- his medications did awful things to his metabolic system. He did not like taking certain medications because the side effects (weight gain, insomnia) were usually worst than the disease.

Did you know Kommei his wife? Do you know how I can get a bi-ligual person in Udon Thani to go to their home and find out from Kommei more details about his death? I know he was a member of St. Mary's Church in Udon Thani. Is there any one there I could contact?

Thank you again for your consideration to this issue,

Helene Parenteau

For future reference, if you're trying to find out the status of an American, a useful tool is the Social Security Death Index.

http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi

This is a listing of all deaths which have been reported to the Social Security Administration. All you need is the name and you will get a list of all people with that name, including their SSN. date of birth and death, place of application, and last residence. It is extremely useful to us expats who may have lost contact with family and acquaintances from long ago, at least it will tell you if they are still alive.

I'll talk to some of the folks who knew him at the Memorial Day ceremony and pm you back.