The Royal Thai Air Base Nam Phong in Nam Phong district, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand in June of 1972 became a base of operations for Marine Air Operations by elements of MAG-15, 1st MAW. Elements of squadrons that had previously been located in Da Nang, RVN were moved to Namphong starting in June of 1972. The advance party that first arrived landed to find basically an airfield in the middle of the jungle. At that time the base consisted of a runway, parking apron and a couple of wooden buildings. A naval Seabee battalion was soon clearing the jungle and some 10 man tents were hastily erected to sleep and work in. Since the conditions were rugged even for Marines the base soon came to be called "The Rose Garden" after the song by Miss Lynn Anderson and the Marine recruiting campaign based on it saying "We never promised you a Rose Garden", depicting a scary Marine Drill Instructor addressing a mortified recruit. The squadrons soon in residence included H&MS-15, MABS-15, VMFA-232 with F-4J Phantom IIs, VMFA-115 with F-4B Phantom IIs, VMA(AW)-533 with A-6 Intruders, VMGR-152, Det "D" with KC-130 Hercules, and H&MS-36, Det "D" with CH-46 Sea Knights.
This group soon was joined by 3rd Battalion 9th Marines who served as the security element. The force occupying "The Rose Garden" was designated Task Force Delta. The base was made up of Marines, Sailors (Medical & Construction staff), Air Force (mostly cargo handing & GCA), and Thai military elements. The base was in existence until September 1973 when all the units returned to their home bases.
During Operations the base was used to fly air operations against targets in Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos.
Thanks to the efforts of one of the Marines stationed there, Michael (Mike) Koehnen, who started a web page, a group of these men were reunited on Memorial Day in 2004 for a reunion in Angel Fire, NM. Miss Lynn Anderson was their honored hostess for a weekend of fun and remeniscing. This was the first time in over 31 years most of them had ever gathered. Even though most had not known each other while in Namphong a bond was obvious to all in attendance. They would like to make the reunion a regular event and would like to reach more of the men who served there.
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