America's North Shore Journal

Staff Sgt. Siri­porn Nakphin­phat, admin­is­tra­tions chief for Marine Corps Base Camp S.D. But­ler, stands beside a fruit ven­dor in Pat­taya, Thai­land, Jan. 3, as she holds rambu­tan fruit, which hap­pens to be her favorite fruit. She came to Thai­land in sup­port of Exer­cise Cobra Gold 2009

After liv­ing in the United States for 19 years, 15 of which she has worn the uni­form of a U.S. Marine, Staff Sgt. Siri­porn Nakphin­phat returned to Thai­land in sup­port of Exer­cise Cobra Gold 2009.

Cobra Gold is a reg­u­larly sched­uled joint/coalition multi­na­tional exer­cise hosted annu­ally by the King­dom of Thai­land, and it is focused on improv­ing military-to-military rela­tion­ships among its participants.

Nakphin­phat was born in Ratchuburi Thai­land, but her grand­mother, Suon Soiouwan, and grand­fa­ther, Lean Wongyai, raised her in a mod­est coastal fish­ing vil­lage con­sist­ing of about 300 fam­i­lies, called Bangkunsai.

At age 16, she moved to the United States to live in Kansas City, Mo., where she joined some of her fam­ily who were already resid­ing there.

While in Kansas City, she attended four years of high school and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps shortly thereafter.

Nakphin­phat decided to join the Marine Corps because she came from a mil­i­tary fam­ily, hav­ing one uncle in the Royal Thai Navy and another uncle in the Thai Army, both of whom she always held in high regard.

A Marine Corps recruiter called Nakphin­phat one day, and she imme­di­ately went to the recruit­ing sta­tion after the con­ver­sa­tion. Upon arrival, all she asked was “how soon do I leave?” When she told her mother, Mayuree New­land, that she joined the Corps, the only thing her mother asked was, “why not the Navy?”

Nakphinphat's mother was very proud of her brother who was in the Royal Thai Navy, and she had hopes that one of her chil­dren would fol­low in his footsteps.

Nakphinphat’s answer to her mother was ele­gant in its sim­plic­ity, “I don’t like white uni­forms.” But she also added, “I joined for my future and for you.”

At 19 years old, Nakphin­phat set off for U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Train­ing. Although only her mother and one of her cousins believed she could last, she said recruit train­ing was eas­ier for her than most peo­ple. "The way I was raised was like boot camp. You just do what you are ordered to do," Nakphin­phat said.

“I have matured and learned a lot by [serv­ing] in the Marine Corps, and I love it,” said Nakphin­phat. Nakphin­phat is cur­rently serv­ing as the admin­is­tra­tion chief for Marine Corps Base Camp S. D. But­ler in Oki­nawa, Japan.

She is very thank­ful that she had the oppor­tu­nity to return to Thai­land for Cobra Gold this year. “I know for sure that with my lan­guage back­ground, I can con­tribute to this exer­cise,” Nakphin­phat said.

Nakphin­phat sees Cobra Gold as a "demon­stra­tion of friend­ship between the U.S. and Thai­land" – the two coun­tries she calls home.

Nakphin­phat plans to retire from the Marine Corps after a full career and return to her fam­ily in Kansas City, and she may even­tu­ally move back to Thailand.

DVIDS
Story by Lance Cpl. Daniel A. Flynn