Their Bombs Destroyed-and Still Threaten-Villages. Vietnam-Era Veterans Are Going Back to Help and Heal
Veterans are struggling with guilt after USAID cuts impact cleanup programs. ‘We have a responsibility to help pick up this garbage’
High in the mountains of Northern Laos, nestled in the Plain of Jars, rests the small village of Laht Saen. Its residents are mostly farmers growing rubber trees, peppers, some pigs, chickens, and small quantities of rice.
Like so many other villagers in Laos, the people there live in a constant state of suspense. At any moment, the ground beneath their feet could explode.
Though the United States military left Laos after the CIA’s “secret war” ended in 1973, the 270 million bombs they dropped did not. Today, more than 79 million unexploded ordnances remain hidden in the shallow earth there, ready to maim or kill anyone who stumbles upon them.
Understanding this constant peril brought U.S. Army veteran Don Super to Ban Laht Saen in 2023 from his remote ranch in Washington state, where he has struggled for decades with his part in the legacy of destruction the U.S. military left behind. Like many fellow veterans, he had returned to help a village—and himself—heal.
It’s an obligation felt deeply by many veterans who fought in Southeast Asia. But this spring, as the U.S. marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, veterans like Super are struggling with guilt again over the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts for international aid that funds many of the programs that have helped normalize relations and clean up the war-torn region of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
The funds the U.S. government has given in the last 30 years is “just chump change” compared to what is needed to finish the job, Super said. “But at least it’s an admission on our part that we have a responsibility to help pick up this garbage.”
https://thewarhorse.org/vietnam-veterans-clean-up-bombs-laos/