Laotian History: Vietnam War -- Laotian Civil War Fighting (1964)
Figure 1.-- The North Vietnamese invaded eastern Laos in force. The fighting created refugees. The press caption here read, Laotian women and children fled Red attack on Plaine des Jares. Refugees accompanied by neutralist soldiers, walked 75 miles to the central Laos outpost of Sam Thong. Communist Pathet Lao artillery shelled the commnd post of the neutralist commander, Gen. Kong Le, today and Red troops werre reported to have trapped three neutralist companies in a drive tht threatened Laos' two capitals of Vientiane and Luang Prahang." The photograph is dated May 26, 1964. Click on the image to see the full article. It does not explain that the North Vietnamese army and supplies was the power behinf Pathet Lao operations. The North Vietnamese converted the Plain of Jars into a major part of the Ho Chi Minh complex. Many of the refugees here are Meo tribesmen. The North Vietnamese especially targeted the Meo in a basically genocidal campaign. The Meo are hill tribesmen found in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
The North Vietnamese by 1964 had enlarged what had been footpaths on the Ho Chi Minh Ttrail into improved truck roads. Smaller paths were developed for bicycles and walking. The Laotians had no say in this. The North Vietnames Army was far beyond any Laotian military force. The North Vietnamese by invading eastern Laos had converted the country into the major artery to infiltrate South Vietnam and support the insurgency against the South Vietnamese Government. Partly as a result, two coups occurred against the Royal Lao Government. The policemen of the Directorate of National Coordination in Vientiane staged the first coup (April 18, 1964). It suceeded, but was overturned (April 23). Neutralist Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma managed to form fragile coalition with the Pathet Lao communists. Military leaders disturbed with the Pathet Lao and Vietnamese incursions attempted to force Souvanna Phouma to resign. Defense Minister Phoumi Nosavan attempted to take over Vientiane with a training battalion (August 4). This attempt was defeated by the local Royal Lao Army troops in Vientiane. The police this time sat out the conflict. The Pathet Lao knowing they were backed by the North Vietnamese repudiated the coalition and repudiated Souvanna Phouma. He was thus forced to cooperate with the rightist Royalist politicians and military officers. The United States and the Soviet Union refused to recognize the coup leaders. Souvanna Phouma retained the premioership, but with a right-wing neutralist government. None of these actions in Vientiane affected the North Vietnamese use of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and funelling troops and supplies into South Vietnam. More importantly the Pathet Lao and North Vietmanese troops drove Laotian forces from the Plain of Jars in east-central Laos. [Stuart-Fox] The image here shows the beginning of the North Vietnamese offensive (figure 1). The Plain of Jars was located in Xieng Khouang province and had become an important part of the Trail leading to the Laotian southern panhandle connecting North to South Vietnam. As a result the U.S. Air Force began flying reconnaissance missions over the Laotian panhandle to obtain target information on men and material being moved into South Vietnam over the Ho Chi Minh Trail (May 1964). President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a F-100 strike against the North Vietnamse retaliation for the shooting down of another U.S. aircraft (June 9). THe United States commenced the bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in eastern Laos and the panhandle. The Plain of Jars bpmbing was significantly expanded-- Operation Barrel Roll (by December 1964). The U.S. ambassador to Laos, Leonard Unger, approved all targets before they were bombed.
Sources
Start-Fox, Martin. "Laotian women and children fled Red attack on Plaine des Jares," UPI feed, (May 26, 1964).
