By Harmeet Kaur, CNN
Updated 11:01 AM ET, Tue June 14, 2022
Most Americans learn something about the Vietnam War at school. Fewer learn about the shadow war that was being fought alongside it.
From 1964 to 1973, the US dropped more than 2 million tons of bombs on Laos — about as many as there were people in the tiny Southeast Asian nation. More bombs were dropped on Laos during the Vietnam War than on Germany and Japan combined during World War II. It made Laos — per capita — the most heavily bombed country in history.
The clandestine nature of the war was by design. The CIA, in its effort to destroy communist supply lines between Laos and Vietnam, conducted the bombing in secret. Though the “secret war” in Laos eventually came to light through a 1971 congressional hearing and subsequent media reports, its sheer scale and devastation remain invisible to much of the American public.
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“It was called America’s secret war for a reason,” said Aleena Inthaly, chief of staff for the advocacy organization Legacies of War. “I talk to people who grew up in the US, and they have no idea.”
That lack of public awareness was the impetus behind Legacies of War’s newly launched virtual library. Staff members and trustees of the organization combed through a vast array of materials to curate a collection of books, films, documents and other resources that, taken together, help present a more complete picture of what transpired in Laos.
In making the history of the secret war in Laos more accessible, the organization hopes not only to raise awareness about the bombing, but also to bring attention to the damage that has yet to be repaired.
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