Original subtitles

[Narrator] The President's press

conference from the new state department

auditorium, March 23rd, 1961.

[crowd chattering]

[John F. Kennedy] I want to make a brief statement about Laos.

These three maps

show the area of effective communist domination

as it was last August and now from December 20th,

now to the present date, near the end of March,

the communists control a much wider section of the country.

The position of this administration

has been carefully considered.

We have sought to make it just as clear

as we know how to the governments concerned.

[rising music]

The security of all Southeast Asia will be in

dangered if Laos loses its neutral independence.

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[Narrator] From June 1964 to March 1973,

the US dropped at least two million tons of bombs

at a small landlocked Southeast Asian country

in what would become the largest bombing campaign in history.

The equivalent of one planeload every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day

for 9 years, more than were dropped

on Germany and Japan during World War II.

Borders the Mekong River and quite obviously,

if Laos fell into Communist hands,

it would increase the danger

along the northern frontiers of Thailand.

We signed the Declaration of Neutrality of Laos

and respect for the neutrality and independence of that little country.

The president handed over the war effort in Laos to the CIA.

This nation, key to the entire peninsula is threatened

by a red military takeover as it was last May.

America's intervention here in Laos

was a secret to the American people.

The people of Laos have suffered tremendously

from the war that was not known as a war.

[explosions]

[music]

Laos is littered with as many as 80 million bombies or

bomblets, baseball-sized bombs found inside cluster bombs.

Up to 80 million of these failed to detonate

and just 1% of them have been cleared.

Again, the amount of bombs that we’re talking about

that were dropped on this tiny country.

What they say today is that

they want to put the war behind them

and they want to grow in the future

and they would love the help of the United States government

in doing that.

[music]

[birds chirping]

[wind blowing]

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[music, singing]

[boat scraping on sand]

[splashing]

[splashing, birds]

[music]

[airplanes]

[crickets]

[music]

[lighter clicking]

Just when the United States

is gradually pulling out of Vietnam,

there is a rush of concern that Laos

may become another Vietnam.

Not so says the administration and says why.

Well, the president won't let it happen, that's why.

We have learned one lesson

and that is that we're not going to fight any major wars

in the mainland of Asia again.

We're not going to send American troops there.

We certainly are not going to do it

unless we have the American public

and the congress behind us.

There are no American comeback forces in Laos.

We have been providing logistical support

and some training for the mutualist government

in order to avoid Laos falling under communist domination.

As far as American manpower in Laos is concerned,

there are none there at the present time on a combat basis.

[explosions]

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[engine revving]

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[cooing]

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[airplanes]

[explosions]

As to the general view on Laos,

this matter is a big concern to us.

The Unites States is anxious that there'll be established in Laos,

a peaceful country, an independent country.

Not dominated by either side

but concerned with life within the country.

They are anxious that that situation will come forward

and that the United Staes is using its influence to see

if that independent country,

peaceful country and committed country

can be established under

the present very difficult circumstances.

[music]

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[metal detector whistling]

[metal detector whistling]

[rustling]

[shovel scraping]

[clanking]

[clanking]

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[rising music]

We do have aerial reconaissance.

We do have perhaps some other activities,

I won't discuss those other activities at this time.

[music]

There are no American combat forces in Laos.

[explosion]

[music]

[water splashing]

[airplanes]

[explosion]

[peaceful music]

[laughing, shouting]

[music]

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[water dripping]

[rainfall]

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To the government and the people of Laos,

thank you so much for the kind welcome

that you've extended to me and my delegation.

I am very honored

to be the first American president to visit Laos.

Thank you.

I realized that having a US president in Laos

would have once been unimaginable.

Six decades ago, this country fell into civil war.

Your neighbors and foreign powers,

including the United States intervened here.

At the time,

the US government did not acknowledge America's role.

There was a secret war.

For years, the American people did not know.

Even now, many Americans are not fully aware

of this chapter in our history

and it's important that we remember today.

Over nine years, from 1964 to 1973,

the United States dropped more than 2 million tons of bombs

here in Laos.

War inflicts a terrible toll,

especially on innocent men, women, children.

Today, I stand with you in acknowledging

the suffering and sacrifices on all sides of that conflict.

I also know that the remnants of war

continue to shatter lives

here in Laos.

Today I'm proud to announce a historic increase

in these efforts.

The United States will double our annual funding

to $90 million over the next three years

to help Laos expand its work.

[plane engine]

[music]

President Obama just made history

by being the first sitting US president to visit Laos.

Obama has so far refused to issue a formal apology

for the secret US bombing campaign in Laos

during its war on Vietnam.

The US secretly dropped 270 million bombs on Laos,

in part to cut off North Vietnamese supply routes.

Again, Margaret Brennan,

$90 million or so to help clean up undetonated bombs

still in the country.

What are the details?

Well, this is $90 million over three years

to clean up what's called unexploded ordnance.

These are bombies, they look like little balls.

Little kids pick them up

and often become victims of these bombs

that were dropped nearly 40 years ago

in a war that this country was never technically a part of.

Up to 80 million of these failed to detonate

and just 1% of them have been cleared.

Obama's $90 million for bomb clearance in Laos.

It's not enough.

We bombed Laos so much

it is officially the most heavily bombed country

per capita in all of human history.

The $90 million that Obama pledged at first sounds like a lot.

The numbers that everybody talks about

and that you brought up they're accurate as far as we know.

That said, we also know that that is the low estimate of it.

Large numbers of airplanes that were sent to do bombing runs

in Vietnam, for example, came back over Laos

to bases in Thailand and on their way back,

would randomly drop their loads in Laos.

We have no records whatsoever of those loads that were dropped.

We don't actually know how much was dropped in the first place.

We know it's more than the numbers that we talked about.

Experts say the President's visit shows

that the US is trying to make friends

with countries near China

to help balance out that nation's growing power

in the region.

Because of the problems and because of the lack of cleanup,

because of the lack of recognition,

it continues to kill people

and trouble this very undeveloped country.

There are fields that can't be plowed,

there is land that can't be developed.

There are children who are walking around

who weren't even alive during the Vietnam War,

who are missing arms and legs and limbs.

When we are able to come here

to show respect for their culture,

recognize our history and then point towards a future

in which we can work together,

we will actually have more influence.

We'll be able to promote our ideals more effectively.

That's part of what we've been able to accomplish I think

over the last seven, eight years

is open up places that previously were closed

and engage people in ways

that will pay huge dividends in the future.

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After years of secrecy and silence,

we are now learning a lot about Laos.

My fellow Americans, Laos is far away from America,

but the world is small.

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