Airman returns home to Thailand

  • Published
  • By 2nd. Lt. Ben Sakrisson
  • U.S. Forces Japan Public Affairs
KORAT, Thailand (AFPN) --  Military exercises like Cope Tiger 2005 -- involving the United States, Thailand and Singapore -- serve to highlight close relationships between countries, but for some servicemembers involved, the link hits even closer to home.

Tech. Sgt. Siamrad Maher, a public health technician and translator is such a person.

Born in Korat in 1969, Sergeant Maher’s adoptive father was a U.S. Air Force supply superintendent serving at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base during the 1970s. While tending water buffalos here as a child and playing Soldier at the air base, young Sergeant Maher said he never dreamed that he would one day return as an Airman in the U.S. Air Force.

Returning to Korat on a mission of medical good will as a member of the 18th Medical Group from Kadena Air Base, Japan, Sergeant Maher said, “I think it was part of my destiny to come here and help people; the night before I came, I could not sleep because I was so excited.”

The mission to deliver ocular and dental aid to Thais during Cope Tiger 2005 struck Sergeant Maher on a personal level.

“I was one of the people who did not have anything; I could have been one of these kids lining up for the medical care that we are giving here,” he said. “My grandmother was like some of the villagers that we will see -- they have never seen medical care in their whole lives. I know to them this is a big event.”

Sergeant Maher and his younger sister were adopted in 1976 and brought to live in the United States by a man whom he describes as a Texas cowboy living in Thailand. After nearly a quarter-century absence, Sergeant Maher returned to Thailand in 2000 to visit his ill grandmother.

“When I came back, I couldn’t speak Thai, and I certainly couldn’t read and write (Thai),” he said. “I was frustrated that I could not speak with my family members.”

Intense self-study, motivated by a desire to speak to his family, resulted in a level of fluency enough to qualify for language proficiency pay.

“I always feel grateful to my dad and mom for adopting me and bringing me to the states,” Sergeant Maher said.

Though he was never pressured to join the Air Force, he said his parents jumped for joy when he enlisted. Now, close to his family in Korat, Sergeant Maher said that they are really proud of him serving in the U.S. military.

“My family is happy. To them, I am really successful,” he said.

The mixed heritage of being both Thai and American suits Sergeant Maher well, he said.

“I love Thailand, but I want to travel around, and the Air Force lets me do that,” he said. “The Thais scrutinize me as an American, (and), on the other hand, the Americans look at me as a Thai and assume that what I do is what Thais do. Hopefully, I will represent both sides well.”