The Vietnam War, the Hmong and the Secret War in Laos and Cambodia

Vietnam is mainly hills and densely forested mountains. Tropical forests cover much of the
landscape. The climate is tropicalhumid, wet and warm. The population is 80% rural and
20% urban. At the time of the Vietnam War, Vietnam was divided in the Communist North and
a US supported dictatorship in the South. The Vietcong are Communist in the South fighting to
reunite the country under Communist rule. They were supported by the North Vietnamese, who
were also called the Viet Minh. The climate, landscape and geography of Vietnam proved an
excellent battleground for guerrilla warfare tactics. The US responded these tactics with
bombing and search and destroy missions. Much of the fighting and bombing took place in
Laos, Vietnams neighbor. This was because North Vietnam sent supplies and war materials to
the Vietcong via the Ho Chi Minh trail.

The Ho Chi Minh trail was North Vietnams supply line to the Vietcong rebels in the South.
The Ho Chi Minh trail ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam, but most of the trail was
actually located in the country of Laos, which bordered Vietnam. The United States began a
massive bombing campaign to disrupt the North Vietnam supply chain. This bombing campaign
became known as the Secret War and it included massive bombing campaigns in Laos and
Cambodia. The U.S. dropped more than 2 million bombs on Laos during its Secret War which
lasted from 1961-1973. Thats more than Germany and Japan together during WWII.

The Secret War, however, entailed more than just bombing. North Vietnam repeatedly invaded
Laos and supported Lao Communist rebels who wished to overthrow the government of Laos.
The United States needed soldiers who knew the terrain. As a result, United States recruited
Hmong soldiers in Laos to oppose these Communists and to help them disrupt supply lines on
the Ho Chi Minh trail. Many young Hmong men served as soldiers, fighting against
Communism in Laos under the leadership of a Hmong officer, General Vang Pao.

The Hmong were an ethnic minority living in villages in the highlands of Laos as well as
Vietnam, China, and Thailand. The Hmong were known to be a fiercely independent people.
The Hmong allied themselves with the United States because they wanted to maintain their
independence from the North Vietnamese Communist and the Pathet Lao. The Pathet Lao were
the Communist rebels that were trying to overthrow the government of Laos with the help of the
North Vietnamese.

The CIA began to recruit Hmong soldiers to fight against the North Vietnamese Communists and
the Pathet Lao starting in the early 1960s. Thousands of Hmong men fought with the United
States against the North Vietnamese and the Pathet Lao. Hmong soldiers primary responsibility
was to block supplies from the Ho Chi Minh trail. Hmong soldiers attacked North Vietnamese
supply convoys. They also defended US outposts in Laos and rescued downed American pilots.
The Hmong were led by General Vang Pao. Many people are unaware of the Hmong
involvement in Vietnam because this war was mainly kept secret from the American public
during the war.
 Impact on the Hmong

Hmong soldiers suffered heavy losses during the war. By one estimate, 17,000 Hmong soldiers
were killed. To make up the difference, children were recruited and trained in strategy and
tactics and sent into combat. Charlie Moua, a former child soldier remembers On May 7, 1963,
I was trained to fire an M-14 rifle. I was only 11 years old, when I put it on my shoulder the
other end was dragging on the ground. Any boy who was able to hold a gun was drafted, he
said. At night we were more afraid of ghosts than we were of the enemy. (2013)

Starting in 1973, the United States withdrew troops from Vietnam and Laos. South Vietnam fell
to the Communist in 1975. In that same year, the Pathet Lao took control of Laos. The United
States airlifted some Hmong officers and their families from Laos and allowed them to resettle
in the United States. However, most Hmong soldiers and their families were left behind. The
new Communist government immediately launched a campaign against the Hmong to punish
them for their support of the United States. As one Hmong soldier remembered, The Americans
gave us weapons and told us to shoot the enemy. Then they left us and we have been slowly
dying here ever sinceWhen the Lao army kills one of our men, they feel as though they have
killed an American in revenge for us helping them during the war. (Chor Her) Hmong villages
were burned and the people were massacred. It estimated that 100,000 Hmong civilians were
killed during the war and its aftermath. Persecution of the Hmong continued for years. Even
today, there are still small bands of Hmong hiding from the government of Laos, most of them
the children and grandchildren of soldiers from the Vietnam war, hiding in the mountains and
jungles of Laos.

Approximately 100, 000 Hmong fled from Laos to Thailand. These refugees made a long
difficult journey through the jungles of Laos where they hid from government soldiers and
finally escaped by crossing the Mekong River to Thailand. Many refugees drowned in the river
or were shot by government soldiers. Once in Thailand the Hmong were resettled in refugee
camps where many stayed for 10 years or more. Finally, most of these refugees were resettled in
the United States, particularly in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and California. There are roughly
200,000 Hmong living in the United States today.

Check Your Understanding

1. What was the Secret War?

2. Why did the US recruit Hmong soldiers?

3. What responsibilities did Hmong soldiers carry out?

4. What happened to the Hmong after the war?

 Discussion Questions

1. After the United States pulled out of Vietnam, North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam and
reunited it under Communist rule. Laos and Cambodia were also overthrown by Communist
insurgents. Was the Domino theory correct? Why or why not

2. Many people believe the reason the United States lost in Vietnam was because we did not use the
full power of our military might due to concerns of drawing China or even the USSR into the
war. Other people feel that we should never have gotten involved in Vietnam in the first place
and that we should have left Vietnam and Southeast Asia to their own affairs.
a. What is your opinion, should we have stayed out of Vietnam entirely or should we have stayed in
Vietnam and fought the war more effectively?

b. Many people consider our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq to be similar to Vietnam In what
ways are they similar? In what ways are their different? Based on what you have learned about
Vietnam, do you think President Obamas policy to draw down troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
is/will be effective? If you were his advisor, what would you suggest he do?

3. After the Vietnam war, people who had supported the US in Vietnam and Laos suffered terribly.
US supporters who werent killed out right were imprisoned or sent to work camps where many
died. In Laos, Hmong men, women and children were massacred and villages were burned,
whether they served as soldiers or not. How might the United States have helped our allies
better? Should we have stayed in Vietnam until we had won the war? Should we have had an
escape plan for our hundreds of thousands of allies in the region. Explain your ideas.