‘An American and a Thai man came into my school and I was taken away to military training,’ says Bou Than, a former Hmong soldier. Still only 13 years-old, the war was raging around him in the Laotian jungle. He was poached from a classroom and shipped straight off for military training.
‘I saw many of my school friends die in those jungles to help American forces,’ he says. ‘Kids as young as eight were being used.’
It’s rumored that at one point, Vang Pao said he wanted to cease all military operations with the CIA over concerns that the enormous loss of life could ultimately lead to the Hmong communities being wiped out altogether. Regardless of his intentions, though, the Hmong involvement continued—as did the casualties.
Soaring heroin sales were perhaps one thing that persuaded him to keep going. Before the Americans arrived, opium smoking was a cultural norm in the region and was prevalent throughout the Hmong highlands. US planes gave the Hmong the opportunity to do something they hadn’t previously—transport and sell large quantities of the drug, including to US soldiers.
There has been a great deal of debate since over the exact details of the operation, based on testimony given by CIA agents who were there at the time. But one thing is clear—there was a busy opium trade operating in the region, and the agency appears to have turned a blind eye.
A number of CIA officers have claimed since that, fearing their operation could be embarrassingly exposed, they decided to give Vang Pao his own local airline, Xieng Kouang airlines, as part of a compromise following his demands for control of all of the agency’s planes.
Much of the opium that was produced is said to have ended up in the hands of American GIs on the frontlines, leading to a dramatic rise in the number of overdoses among soldiers. Yet despite this obvious drawback, those involved in the operation appear to have felt there was little they could do as the profits were, in effect, also helping to fund the war effort.
‘Opium grew everywhere in our highlands,’ says Tho Ther, a former Hmong soldier who now resides in the United States. ‘We smoked it openly, but it was only when the Americans came that our leaders began to sell it.’
‘We were losing countless male children for the CIA’s war and needed to pay to keep the villagers happy,’ he adds. ‘Otherwise they would have changed sides to save their men from joining our army.’
But it still wasn’t enough. The communist forces continued to grow in strength and advanced towards the CIA bases despite Washington’s best efforts—and $2 million a day spent carpet bombing Laos—to stop them. Accepting defeat, the Americans eventually fled, taking a handful of Hmong leaders, including Vang Pao.
With the Americans out of the picture, the Pathet Lao moved to try to wipe out the remaining Hmong elements that had worked with the CIA. But while thousands perished in aerial attacks on Hmong settlements—spurring a mass exodus to Thailand—the rest fled deeper into the jungle, where many remain today, still hoping the United States will return to save them.
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Eric
From the beginning I honestly believe most of the Hmong people or my people had no saying rather to fight or stay neutral. General Vang Pao and other leaders that followed him made the call for everyone else. In my opinion, the Hmong people really knocked on the devil's door. The trade off wasn't worth it at all, the price was too much. No one shall ever be force to goto war without their own consent. Especially with no education, no knowledge, poor and barely 4ft tall. C'mon you're like sending a Hobbit to fight an Orc. But General Vang Pao did what he did and I'm sure he regret and feel very ashame for himself throughout his life. Do note that it wasn't the Viet Congs or P. Lao that defeated the Hmong people. It was Hmong people who betrayaled their own kind that lead us to our doom in the Vietnam War. I do believe that if we as one fought together, we would of been unstopable or we would of put up a very good fight like the movie 300(Spartans). After all, we as the Hmong people are not meant to rage wars, we're known for peace and quiet with love and prosperity. Kind of like the hobbits :) . Sorry for grammar or if it offended anyone, this is my personal opinions. Thanks!
dendy
vietnam by thu he are yo thu my fren by thu CIA asia
David Faas
I believe that the Communist Vietnam gov’t ?
Will one day be done with!!! :-)
Ghenghis
This article is an outright admission that the USA used child soldiers to fight their wars.
Perhaps the ICJ should look into this as this is a crime against children and humanity, no?
Mr Vision
The US has done, and will continue to do morally questionable things. We aren’t a perfect nation. But consider the options here, please, before labeling the US something similar to Nazi Germany. What if the USSR were dictating world politics right now? Or god forbid, Nazi frickin Germany? No one likes the superpower. Nobody liked France, or the United Kingdom, so of course nobody likes American interference. Vietnam and Laos were bad conflicts, but we maintained some semblance of humanity during them. The same cannot be said of Russia in Afghanistan or Germany in Poland. Geez. We may be arrogant, but we’ve kinda earned the right to be, and were nowhere near as brutal as the Russians, unlucky as the French, or kineving as the British. There hasn’t been a massive conventional world war in 70 years. Europeans caused one almost every ten years. Lets do the math here.
Venger
This is probably the most thoughtful comment I have read on this stream ,Mr. Vision.
janna
Was Laos fighting with American forces or against them?
Jah
Laos was officially neutral but let North Vietnam use its land to transport troops and equiment to the south where the war was. The Hmong were caught in the middle, living on the land where the Ho Chi Minh Trail and major North Vietnamese base camps were located in Laos. The Americans recruited the Hmong to stop the North transportation line, and also to protect their own homes and families.