We are a family of four that decided to step off the treadmill of life in Portland, Oregon and travel in Southeast Asia. We will be volunteering, road schooling and slow traveling for a year or more. We have created this site primarily as a journal to document our photos, experiences and thoughts.
Sometimes when we are eating or walking around Luang Prabang there is the loud noise of a plane flying low and we imagine what it must have been like for the people of this country during the US bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War. How terrifying it must have been. The deafening sound and death literally raining from the sky. Suddenly everything you know and love, blown up. Gone. Unimaginable, and yet the horror of these bombs linger as unexploded ordinances litter the country and kill and maim daily. Mostly poor families who gather scrap metal and kids attracted to shiny balls are the victims. I am not surprised by the powerful’s propensity towards blind cruelty, just dumbfounded. History just keeps repeating. As we travel and learn more, there are no good sides in war. Just uneven sides.
Large missile filled with Bombies, small balls of explosives–designed to send shrapnel over a large area. Otherwise known as cluster bombs.
Looking at a map of Laos that is labeled with pins indicating unexploded ordinance projects
From 1964 to 1973, as part of the Secret War operation conducted during the Vietnam War, the US military dropped 260 million cluster bombs – about 2.5 million tons of munitions – on Laos over the course of 580,000 bombing missions. This is equivalent to a plane load of bombs being unloaded every eight minutes. Laos was not even in the war!
In 2016 under Barak Obama (oh do I miss him), we increased our aid to Laos to 30 million to clear unexploded ordinances. Previously we were giving 5 million dollars a year in aid from 1993 to 2016. I am sure the current administration will reduce the aid again. We are learning in real time and real life the effects of our country’s actions. Our knowledge regarding this part of the world will be a part of us forever, not just a lesson from a history book.
Working on school work
We have found that reading personal memoirs written from a child’s perspective is a great way of learning about a country. As a family we are almost done with “First the Killed My Father” a story narrated by Loung Ung who was five years old when the Khmer Rouge changed her life forever. We go to Cambodia this week, so knowing the history (which is hugely) complicated is helpful. We have also made maps of the country we are going to visit and the kids research about language, religion, currency…the categories are up to them. After a year we will have this world schooling down!
One thought on “The not so secret bombing of Laos”
Mark Twain was one of the great voices against American imperialism just as the USA started its’ military adventures all over the world. He once said, “Americans learn geography by going to war.” I guess you guys are learning that carpet-bombing people from the sky can still have deadly effects 50 years later. I appreciate the fact that you’re teaching your kids about the world in a humble, peaceful way.
Bochner Family Adventure 
Mark Twain was one of the great voices against American imperialism just as the USA started its’ military adventures all over the world. He once said, “Americans learn geography by going to war.” I guess you guys are learning that carpet-bombing people from the sky can still have deadly effects 50 years later. I appreciate the fact that you’re teaching your kids about the world in a humble, peaceful way.
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