Laos Memorial

The Laos Memorial is a small memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, located between the path to the JFK memorial and the Tomb of the Unknowns, in Arlington, Virginia, in the United States. The memorial commemorates the veterans of the "Secret War" in Laos.

Approved by the U.S. Department of Defense, but paid for by Hmong veterans, the memorial stands as a tribute to the Hmong, Lao, and other ethnic groups and American advisors who made up the Secret War effort during the Vietnam War.

Historical significance

The Laos Memorial was dedicated on May 15, 1997 in an emotional Arlington Cemetery ceremony attended by thousands, including Hmong war veterans and refugees, American government officials, and U.S. supporters of the Hmong. [ [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/laosmem.htm "Laos Memorial" at Arlington National Cemetery.] ]

The day has since been viewed as an historical one, since it represents the first time that the United States government officially and publicly recognized the contributions of these soldiers who fought alongside the United States during the Vietnam War. A covert war, the contributions of the Hmong to the U.S. war effort against the North Vietnamese Army and VietCong in Laos had been officially and repeatedly denied by the U.S. government during the Vietnam War and for over two decades following its end. Despite U.S. denials, however, the Secret War was actually the largest U.S. covert operation prior to the Soviet war in Afghanistan, with areas of Laos controlled by North Vietnam subjected to years of intense American aerial bombardment, representing the heaviest U.S. bombing campaign since World War II.

Twenty-four years following the end of the Secret War, under significant political pressure from several U.S. conservatives who argued that there no longer existed any national security interest in denying the Secret War's existence and that its denial was being used by the Clinton administration to justify a forced repatriation of the Hmong to Laos, the U.S. government formally reversed its position, acknowledging both the existence of the U.S.-led Secret War and the Hmong's contribution to U.S. efforts during the conflict. [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n20_v47/ai_17443642 "Acts of Betrayal," by Michael Johns, "National Review", October 23, 1995.] ] This official reversal of U.S. policy has since been considered monumental and nearly without precedent in American foreign policy since, in acknowledging the Secret War's existence, the U.S. also implicitly acknowledged that it had lied for decades in denying that it had engaged in combat operations in Laos during the Vietnam War.

The reversal of policy was subsequently supported even more forcibly by the George W. Bush administration, which strongly supported the earlier demands of U.S. conservatives that Thailand-based Hmong refugees from Laos be afforded U.S. immigration rights. [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n20_v47/ai_17443642 "Acts of Betrayal," by Michael Johns, "National Review", October 23, 1995.] ] [ [http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/34813.pdf "Long Wait Is Over: Hmong from Wat Tham Krabok Begin Arriving in U.S.," U.S. Department of State, July 23, 2004.] ]

The Secret War was funded and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and led by General Vang Pao, a Hmong military leader who led the Hmong in supporting tens of thousands of U.S. air combat raids, along with major ground operations, against the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong in Laos during the Vietnam War conflict. The Secret War was designed to counter North Vietnam's military supply efforts through Laos to South Vietnam, which U.S. military officials believed were core to North Vietnam's war strategy to destabilize U.S.-aligned South Vietnam.

Dedication words on Laos Memorial

The following words appear on the Laos Memorial:

:Dedicated to::the U.S. Secret Army:in the Kingdom of Laos :1961 - 1973

:In memory of the Hmong/Mong and Lao combat:veterans and their American advisors:who served freedom's causes in:Southeast Asia. Their patriotic valor:and loyalty in the defense of liberty and:democracy will never be forgotten.

:YOV (yuav) TSHUA TXOG NEJ MUS IB TXHIS

:LAOS VETERANS OF AMERICA :May 15, 1997

Notes

ee also

*Hmong people
*Laotian Civil War
*North Vietnamese invasion of Laos

References

* [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/laosmem.htm Laos Memorial: Arlington National Cemetery] .
* [http://www.laoveterans.com/ Laos Memorial at LaoVeterans.com] .
* [http://www.hndlink.org/vetmem.htm Laos Memorial at Hmong National Development, Inc.] .