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| Southeast Asia |
| In 1968, A Secret U.S. Military Base Was Overrun By Elite North Vietnamese Commandos |
| 2023-10-03 |
| By Sebastien Roblin [CherriesWriter] Decades ago on March 12, 1968, a top-secret U.S. base on a mountaintop in Laos was overrun by an elite force of North Vietnamese commandos. Only six of the eighteen CIA and Air Force personnel manning the remote outpost escaped with their lives in an incident that would remain veiled in secrecy for three decades. This was because the U.S. military was legally prohibited from operating in Laos. The southeast Asian nation had been wracked by a civil war pitting right-wing royalists against Pathet Lao communists—the latter backed by North Vietnam, which used Laotian territory to clandestinely funnel troops into South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh trail. However, in 1962 Washington, Hanoi and Laotian factions all signed a peace treaty in which the foreign powers agreed to withdraw their forces from the country. However, North Vietnam only withdrew a minority of its forces, and the United States continued transferring extensive military aid to the royalist and instead began a secret but large-scale aerial bombing campaign in the kingdom known as Operation Barrel Roll. Though warplanes based in Vietnam and Thailand flew missions into Laos, CIA-run mercenary contractors and ‘airlines’ such as Air America flew transport and observation aircraft from Laotian bases. CIA personnel also recruited local Hmong, an ethnic minority present in several Southeast Asian states, to fight a guerilla war against the Pathet Lao. It was with this purpose in mind that CIA personnel first established a base atop the steep cliff of Phou Pha Thi mountain, a sacred place in the Hmong’s animist faith which happened to be strategically located near the border with North Vietnam. This base was one of many ‘Lima Sites’ in Laos intended to facilitate the aerial supply of U.S.-allied forces. The main facility was at the peak of the 5,600-foot high mountain surrounded by steep cliffs; you can see the base’s layout in this photo. A path wound downslope to a short 700-meter-long airstrip at the base of the mountain was used for resupply and staff rotations, delivered in covert weekly flights by CH-3 helicopters of the 20th U.S. Air Force helicopter squadron. Read the rest at the link |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #6 Notice the shooter NMBS? No monkey harness, just knees in the breeze and let'r rip. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2023-10-03 13:04 |
| #5 Great story of American heroism and an astounding picture of the Huey and the AN-2 Colt! |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2023-10-03 12:58 |
| #4 Lima Site 85 Interesting to some: Phou Pha Thi is a major center of Opium Production. |
| Posted by: mossomo 2023-10-03 12:55 |
| #3 You mean the USA isn't/wasn't the only one with elite troops? My confidence is now simply crushed. |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2023-10-03 07:13 |
| #2 I'll go out on a limb here and call that vapor trail from the upper left wing a fuel leak. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2023-10-03 07:02 |
| #1 Absolutely great foto of a RU An-2 biplane being shot down by a door gunner in a Huey. Note the 'Air America' Huey markings and the attire of the door gunner. * An Air America Bell UH-1B, XW-PHF that had been resupplying the site gave chase to the two attacking aircraft. Using an AK-47, the American crew (Ted Moore Captain, Glen Wood Kicker) succeeded in shooting down one of the An-2s while the second aircraft was forced down by combined ground and air fire, eventually crashing into a mountain. The surviving Antonov returned to its home base, Gia Lam, near Hanoi. Source = CIA Archive.  |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2023-10-03 01:41 |