Laos "The Secret War" Resource (External Link's)

[bsacbob]

Recently a forum member asked me to point him in the direction of some information on the so called secret war and other information, it occurred to me whilst there is a huge amount of information within Ride Asia and various links within trip reports etc there is no one place where users can quickly access websites or other media sources for quick trip planning or reference.

A huge amount of useful information on the web, but if you're like me you may find a fantastic site and forget to bookmark it and so it disappears back into the abyss, i am sticking this thread so hopefully it may grow into with the help of others into a fountain of knowledge and if need be i will tab it into sections of the various types of media available such as books, videos etc.

So below to get the ball rolling a few of the sites i have picked out at random, please feel free to contribute your own favorite honey holes of information.

Websites

The Ravens FAC website, probably one of the best sites for gathering information, has a huge archive and external links section.

http://www.ravens.org/

Angelfire, almost full list of the various Lima sites in Laos with coordinates.

http://www.angelfire.com/home/laoslist/limasitelistweb.html

Peter Alan Lloyd, British writer and researcher, another good site with many person to person interviews with former CIA case officers and pilots as well as the other topics such as the famous POW volleyball picture.

http://peteralanlloyd.com/

Rotorhead's, great site covering all war's relating to Helicopter service, here you will find information of MIA pilots in Laos of the types of aircraft used.

http://www.rotorheadsrus.us/documents/215.html

MIA & POW information article.

http://www.miafacts.org/laos.htm

Lima Site 85 website with some great pictures.

http://www.limasite85.us/

The famous Talking Pround site, huge archive covering all wars.

http://www.talkingproud.us/index.html

Another site about Lima 85, describing subsequent visits to recover remains (site currently down).

http://www.1stcombatevaluationgroup.com/RBS-History/fallofls85.html

Books

One Day Too Long, story of Lima 85.

http://www.amazon.com/One-Day-Too-L...d=1438054738&sr=8-1&keywords=one+day+too+long

The Ravens by Christopher Robbins, a must read book about the FAC pilots in Laos.

http://www.amazon.com/Ravens-True-S...ie=UTF8&qid=1438054909&sr=1-2&keywords=ravens

Meeting Steve Canyon, great book by Raven 45 of his exploits as an FAC.

http://www.amazon.com/Meeting-Steve...sim_351_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=08F1T25T2171HA9WW6KJ

Battle For Skyline Ridge by James Parker Jr, great timeline book of all events of the battle along the skyline ridge at Lima Site 20A.

http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Skylin...pebp=1438055119576&perid=06BV5CF8CGTY8FATR5AZ

Tragedy In Paradise by Charles Weldon MD, one of my favourite books about the efforts of the USAID programme and his relationship with General Vang Pao and Pop Buell.

http://www.amazon.com/Tragedy-Parad...pebp=1438055266130&perid=0K0KR05YYBP0W19DNEDD

Escape From Laos by Dieter Dengler, amazing book by the it is believed only man who ever escaped capture as a POW in Laos, a later movie "Rescue Dawn" was made depicting the story.

http://www.amazon.com/Escape-From-Laos-Dieter-Dengler/dp/089141293X

Honor Denied by Allen Cates, story of the Air America pilots and the continued efforts to gain war time recognition for a brave group of men who never received a single medal.

http://www.amazon.com/Honor-Denied-...pebp=1438055696591&perid=0Y3ARV2J3EQ0T4XJ6799

Eternal Harvest, about the UXO problem in Laos and the daily struggle of it's people.

http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Harve...pebp=1438055915449&perid=0NTGWQGG1D9B1X14J8MQ

Shooting At The Moon, great book by Roger Warner about the secret war in Laos.

http://www.amazon.com/Shooting-Moon..._sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=08ZZXDKG8Z2QC3KSZ8QX


Video's

As i said before feel free to contribute your own content to this thread.

 

[brake034]

Thank you for sharing Bob.

 

[bsacbob]

Just finished reading a book and found this website link http://www.t28trojanfoundation.com/home.html this is a great site with ton's of information and links to video's etc.

 

[bsacbob]

There is a new book "The Raven Chronicles" a first person account by many of the Raven's which is a pretty good read, only available on Kindle at the moment.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B5GADMM?redirect=true&ref_=pe_180000_167285770_em_1p_0_ti

 

[KTMphil]

Got a link sent to me for a new documentary on Long Cheng thats on Youtube

 

[Pounce]

 

[bsacbob]

Nice slideshow doc about Pop Buell.

 

[bsacbob]

Very interesting documentary about Air America.

 

[Pounce]

Air America's Black Helicopter
The secret aircraft that helped the CIA tap phones in North Vietnam

http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/air-americas-black-helicopter-24960500/

 

[Lone Rider]

Interesting video about the people who would go in to rescue downed crews in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia

AIR FORCE NOW SANDYS HELICOPTER RESCUE IN VIETNAM "ALL FOR ONE" 75522

This profile of the 40th Helicopter Squadron in Vietnam shows the incredible work of this unit in combat conditions. ALL FOR ONE focuses on the rescue of Capt. Gerald Lawrence on August 20, 1972. It includes interviews with A-1 squadron commander (Sandy), as well as, the forward air controller, excellent live-action footage aboard HH-53s (super jolly greens) of actual rescues, as well as details outlining the specific role of each team member: the pilot, co-pilot, navigator (door gunner) and the para-rescue jumpers, called "PJs."

The squadron was activated as the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in March 1968 with HH-3s which were nicknamed "Nitnoy." Later HH-53s arrived and these were nicknamed "BUFF." In March 1968, Detachment 2 of the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron at Udorn RTAFB operating HH-3s and HH-53Bs, was transferred to the 40th ARRS. The 40th moved to Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base on 21 July 1971. 20 August 1972, the local base rescue detachments of the 3d Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group each operating 2 HH-43s were transferred to the 40th ARRS. 30 November 1972, with the inactivation of the 37th ARRS at Danang Air Base, 5 of its HH-53s were transferred to the 40th ARRS, while its two HH-43s remained at Danang as Detachment 7 of the 40th ARRS to provide base rescue during Operation Linebacker II.

Following the Paris Peace Accords all remaining US Forces were withdrawn from South Vietnam by 27 March 1973. Detachment 7 at Danang Air Base and Detachment 14 at Tan Son Nhut Air Base were inactivated during this period. Following the withdrawal from South Vietnam the 40th's force level was 11 HH-53s and 14 HH-43s. The USAF continued combat operations over Cambodia until 15 August 1973 and the 40th provided CSAR support during this period. Following the end of combat operations the 40th kept 2 HH-53s at Nakhon Phanom on 15-minute alert during daylight and 45-minute alert at night. In July 1974 Detachment 10 at Takhli was disbanded, followed in August by Detachment 3 at Ubon. On 20 February 1975, Detachment 1 at Nakhon Phanom was disbanded. At this time the 40th's force level had dropped to 8 HH-53Cs and 4 HH-43Fs. The 40th moved to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base on 1 October 1975. On 15 October 1975 with the inactivation of the 56th ARRS its 4 HC-130Ps joined the 40th. On 31 January 1976 the 40th ARRS was inactivated at Korat RTAFB.

 

[KTMphil]

Link to the new "Vietnam War Episodes".

 

[Lone Rider]

Link to the new "Vietnam War Episodes".
parts

Started watching it and find it interesting but it will be a "monster task" as the whole movie consists of quite a few parts and the whole movie is 18 hours long. The first part is a 1.5 hour panel discussion about the background of the movie as well as the war

 

[bsacbob]

A Laos movie of the famous T-28 pilots, some very interesting footage.

 

[bsacbob]

​A two part documentary of the re-assembling a T-28, the go to workhorse used in Laos and Vietnam.

Part 1,

Part 2.

 

[bsacbob]

Thought i had posted this earlier, but here is a downloadable link to an excellent book by Don Schanche on the life of Pop Buell in Laos.

http://renincorp.org/bookshelf/mister-pop_schanche.pdf

 

[bsacbob]

The Voice Of Sorrow

Fascinating video documentary footage about the Hmong people, with English subtitles its a must view.

 

[bsacbob]

Here is a little known video featuring the legendary "Pop"Buell about the Hmong refugees fleeing Laos to Nong Khai in Thailand, post the USA 1975 pull out.