Thai Navy SEALs received a hero’s welcome as they returned to their Sattahip base after the successful rescue of a youth football team from a cave near Chiang Rai.
Adm. Rangsalit Sattayakul joined sailors, civil servants and residents July 12 in welcoming back the divers who helped bring out the 12 boys and their coach from the flooded Tham Luang cave.
The massive crowd praised the heroes and shouted the SEALs trademark “hooyah” slogan.
The navy dispatched 159 personnel to Tham Luang, including 127 SEAL team members, with the rest being medical and support officers. They were active for 15 days and saw one of their former enlisted comrades die in the rescue effort.
The admiral thanked all the team members individually and praised them as heroes. They were brave, strong and saw things to the end, with a successful result in helping all of the trapped safely.
