bebel
Active Member
I just found these informations in a Red River Valley Fighter Pilots book about Maharajah Clothiers.
"Amarjit Singh Vasir, Bro, was born Dec.4, 1931 in Manawalabar, Sheikhupura District, in what is now Pakistan. He is the oldest three children.
After graduation from University, he entered the Indian Civil Service as a government auditor, working in Dehli through the early 1950s. In India, in 1957, he married a Thai National of Indian and Thai parentage, whose father has been the first indian immigrant to the Udorn Thani aera of Thailand, in the early years of the century.
In 1964, on a trip to Thailand with his wife, Amarjit chose to remain in Thailand where he worked the next three years for his father-in-law, a wealthy wholesale cloth merchant in Udorn Thani.
His first contact with "the men who gave me a new life" came on Independance Day, July 4, 1966, when USAF captains Norm Liggett, Frank Kelley, Hubie King and Lee Minnick brought Brother Amarjit to the "Sandy Box", a watering hole for A1-E pilots stationed at Udorn RTAFB.
In 1966 Udorn RTAFB became the HQ for USAF in Thailand. Based on a design from Col. Victor N. Cabas, Wing Commander, 432nd TRW, Brother Amarjit produced the first prototype "party suit", which was hung in the Officers Club at Udorn. On Nov. 18, 1967, at the suggestions of Col. Cabas ("the man who made me stand on my own two feet"), Amarjit Singh Vasir opened Maharajah Clothiers in a newly built shop located in front of Udorn RTAFB.
The "party suit" design proved so popular that Brother Amarjit soon had work for more than 80 seamstresses working full-time to meet the continuing demand. It is rumored that USAF pilots assigned to Udorn came first to Maharajah Clothiers to be measuried for they party suit before reporting to the base billeting office. As the war continued, the daily T-39 "Scatback" shuttle flight to bases throughout Southeast Asia became affectionately known as "Maharajah Airlines".
His continuing association with, and devotion to American pilots flying and fighting thoughout Southeast Asia, led to Brother Amarjit being awarded the honorary rank of six-stars general in the USAF in recognition of his services. A friend of officers and enlisted men alike, he also holds the honorary rank of chief master sergeant of USAF bestowed upon him in 1973 by Richard D. Kisling, CMSGT to the USAF.
In July of 1976, Brother Amarjut moved Maharajah Clothiers from Udorn Thani to its present location at Soi 5, Siam Square, Bangkok, where he operates a tailor shop, an export business and a travel agency. In 1987, the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok awarded him the American international Trophy, as top garment exporter to the USA in 1986.
Amarjit Singh has four childrens, two sons and two daughters, all now resident in the U.S.
As long as the USAF is still in Thailand, or the memory of its presence remains, Brother Amarjit will always be known by diplomats, officers and enlisted men as supreme commander, ambassador of good will, and eternal friend of the U.S. of America."
From the biography published in "Red River Valley Fighter Pilots" (vol. 2), Turner Publishing Company, 1993
"Amarjit Singh Vasir, Bro, was born Dec.4, 1931 in Manawalabar, Sheikhupura District, in what is now Pakistan. He is the oldest three children.
After graduation from University, he entered the Indian Civil Service as a government auditor, working in Dehli through the early 1950s. In India, in 1957, he married a Thai National of Indian and Thai parentage, whose father has been the first indian immigrant to the Udorn Thani aera of Thailand, in the early years of the century.
In 1964, on a trip to Thailand with his wife, Amarjit chose to remain in Thailand where he worked the next three years for his father-in-law, a wealthy wholesale cloth merchant in Udorn Thani.
His first contact with "the men who gave me a new life" came on Independance Day, July 4, 1966, when USAF captains Norm Liggett, Frank Kelley, Hubie King and Lee Minnick brought Brother Amarjit to the "Sandy Box", a watering hole for A1-E pilots stationed at Udorn RTAFB.
In 1966 Udorn RTAFB became the HQ for USAF in Thailand. Based on a design from Col. Victor N. Cabas, Wing Commander, 432nd TRW, Brother Amarjit produced the first prototype "party suit", which was hung in the Officers Club at Udorn. On Nov. 18, 1967, at the suggestions of Col. Cabas ("the man who made me stand on my own two feet"), Amarjit Singh Vasir opened Maharajah Clothiers in a newly built shop located in front of Udorn RTAFB.
The "party suit" design proved so popular that Brother Amarjit soon had work for more than 80 seamstresses working full-time to meet the continuing demand. It is rumored that USAF pilots assigned to Udorn came first to Maharajah Clothiers to be measuried for they party suit before reporting to the base billeting office. As the war continued, the daily T-39 "Scatback" shuttle flight to bases throughout Southeast Asia became affectionately known as "Maharajah Airlines".
His continuing association with, and devotion to American pilots flying and fighting thoughout Southeast Asia, led to Brother Amarjit being awarded the honorary rank of six-stars general in the USAF in recognition of his services. A friend of officers and enlisted men alike, he also holds the honorary rank of chief master sergeant of USAF bestowed upon him in 1973 by Richard D. Kisling, CMSGT to the USAF.
In July of 1976, Brother Amarjut moved Maharajah Clothiers from Udorn Thani to its present location at Soi 5, Siam Square, Bangkok, where he operates a tailor shop, an export business and a travel agency. In 1987, the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok awarded him the American international Trophy, as top garment exporter to the USA in 1986.
Amarjit Singh has four childrens, two sons and two daughters, all now resident in the U.S.
As long as the USAF is still in Thailand, or the memory of its presence remains, Brother Amarjit will always be known by diplomats, officers and enlisted men as supreme commander, ambassador of good will, and eternal friend of the U.S. of America."
From the biography published in "Red River Valley Fighter Pilots" (vol. 2), Turner Publishing Company, 1993
