Attractive Thai Nakon sterling silver cigarette case presented to Lieutenant General William P. Yarborough by Air Chief Marshal Dawee Chullasapya. The case, 6.25 x 3.75 x 1.5, opens to reveal an engraved plaque to the underside of the lid, which reads: “Presented to Lieutenant General William P. Yarborough, USA, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, US Army Pacific, With the compliments, Air Chief Marshal Dawee Chullasapya, Chief of Staff, Supreme Command, Bangkok, Thailand, 29th September 1969.” In fine condition, with some tarnishing and scratches, most prevalent to the base.
During the final years of his career, Yarborough was the Army's top intelligence officer at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. He assumed the command of I Corps in Korea in 1968, a position he held for a year. I Corps consisted of both conventional and nuclear weapons, two American divisions and three Korean Divisions, and a Korean Marine Corps Brigade, numbering approximately 100,000 men. In 1969, he was assigned as the Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander in Chief, U.S. Army Pacific, responsible for directing a wide variety of Army activities in the Pacific Rim, including planning joint training exercises, response to natural disasters, and monitoring intelligence operations. He retired from the Army in 1971.
Dawee Chullasapya was a Royal Thai Air Force officer and a member of the Seri Thai (1914-1996) who was widely considered a pillar of Thailand's sporting world. After a successful career in the military which saw him rise to Supreme Command chief of staff in 1961, he turned to politics and was appointed deputy defense minister in 1963. He later served as minister of transport and communications and of agriculture. Head of Thailand's National Olympic Committee for 22 years until his death, he was a member of the International Olympic Committee and a force behind the Southeast Asian Games.
