As mentioned elsewhere, this is not an absolute schedule. The only absolute dates will be TBD. The rest will be adjusted to suit our exploration and severity of our Monkey Butts. We can spend more or less time in each place along the way as long as we make Pakse in time to make our departures. Continue reading
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