The village of Long Tieng, near the site of the attempted rescue, sits in central Laos about 80 miles northeast of the capital, Vientiane. Today, it’s a sleepy settlement of a few thousand people who mostly rely on the land for their livelihoods.
It also hides a chapter of America’s Cold War history – a site once known as “the most secret place on Earth.”
From the 1960s to the early 1970s, Laos played a central role in the United States’ fight to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. Long Tieng was the secret headquarters of a US-backed Hmong anti-communist army fighting against Pathet Lao forces, which were supported by the North Vietnamese Army.
At its height, tens of thousands of inhabitants – Hmong soldiers, their families, refugees from other parts of Laos, Thai soldiers and a small contingent of American CIA operatives and secret US Air Force pilots, dubbed “Ravens” – called this place home.
It was the heart of the largest paramilitary operation ever conducted by the CIA.
Today, the impacts of the intense US bombing campaign on Laos are still being felt. Of the 270 million sub-munitions dropped on the country, an estimated 30% did not detonate, according to the Mines Advisory Group (MAG). This unexploded ordnance continues to kill, injure and hinder development across the country, according to MAG.
Around the hills of Long Tieng, villagers still rarely venture off established roads and trails, to avoid unexploded munitions.
Read more about Long Tieng’s history here.
