Deadly Leftovers

Phonsavanh lies in one of the most heavily bombed provinces during the US Secret War. While the Vietnam War got lots of attention, it took years before anyone found out about the simultaneous war efforts in Laos. Supposedly, Congress was not even aware of the military activity in Laos. Just 2 years prior to the bombing campaign, the US signed the Geneva Accord, which designated Laos as a neutral country and off-limits to military aggression. When troops began pulling out of Vietnam, the war planes turned their attention to Laos, joining those already making Laos the heaviest bombed country, per capita, in the world. The bombs were used to attack the communist forces in the North of Laos and against Vietnamese soldiers in the south of Laos who used the Ho Chi Minh trail to smuggle soldiers and goods from N to S Vietnam. Lao civilians hid in caves, fled as refugees to Vientiane or died. Even some the caves were bombed eventually.

The most commonly used bomb was the cluster bomb, a small round ball about the size of a tennis ball. Large casings containing close to 700 cluster bombs were dropped from planes. The cluster bombs would open midair and shoot out 300 ball-bearing shrapnel that was designed to kill, not damage equipment or military facilities. They were called "anti-personnel" bombs. Up to 30% of the bombs did not explode and still lay active in the landscape of Laos. This amounts to millions of bombs scattered over Laos, and can mean thousands hide in one area alone.

Bomb clearing is painstakingly slow and the US contributes paltry sums to help in the clearing efforts. Despite strong efforts in schools to educate children about bombs, the lure of money for the family or the excitement of a new toy often gets the better of them. In recent years, half of UXO (unexploded ordnance) injuries or casualties have been children. In "Bomb Harvest," a documentary, small children come across bombs in the woods and carefully dig them out. They don't want to play with them, like some children, but want to sell them to help their parents. Scrap metal has become the new cash crop for families who cannot get by on subsistence farming. Because villages are surrounded by so many bombs, people are scared to expand fields and often don't have enough food to last the year. Some farmers continue to farm land, despite encountering several bombs in their fields each plow season. Even well-used roads, schoolyards and backyards can have large warheads lurking just below the surface. A strike of a shovel is often all that's needed to set off a deadly explosion. For those who survive, they obtain medical attention in facilities without running water or electricity. Often, amputation is the only option to save their life.

In addition to selling the bombs as scrap metal, many people have become rather clever with ways to re-use the wreckage from the war. Bomb casings are used for benches, fire pitts, herb gardens, and stilts for homes. Pineapple bombs are used for lamps. Shell casings are stuck in the ground over a fire to hold cookware. Metal is melted down and shaped into weapons and cookware.
Although the statistics vary slightly, the common numbers seem to be that over 2 million tons of bombs were dropped on Laos over a 9 year period, between 1964 and 1973. The population at the time was somewhere between 1 and 2.5 million, meaning that 1-2 tons of bombs were dropped for every person.

If you missed my account of Luang Prabang, World Heritage city, click HERE.