This is just a quickie post to point you to a video Don Duval (AKA the Midnight Mapper) posted recently. It is the first part of a ride through the PDJ and up to the Northeastern Part of Laos. Check out the bamboo bridge crossings at about 4:48 into the video. Click on the image below. It will open in another tab.
P.S. A new series about the best allies the US ever had is coming soon.
No… this isn’t an alternate place to go. This is a place that was most often called “Alternate” by Americans “visiting” there…. Lima Site 20a.
“Alternate” was the epicenter of the Royalist war against the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese Army in Northern Laos. “Epicenter” hardly describes the place at the height of the war. It was the heart and soul of the Hmong armed forces. Their leader, Vang Pao (often just VP), and all his senior officers lived at “Alternate.” VP and the officers had their houses along the runway. There are stories of children playing right by the runway.
Long Tieng, with a variety of other spellings including Long Cheng, was the town that grew up around “Alternate.” At least 50,000 civilians and refugees lived there. Families of the Hmong army and air force also lived in Long Tieng. By 1968 VP had recruited 40,000 Hmong infantry. At one time, Continue reading