We were at war. Laos became part of that war because of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other routes creatively developed through the country to deliver supplies to the south. It was comforting to know that our weaponry could be equally creative. This was the so-called secret war. We were to deny, even after multiple missions over Laos, that we were ever there.
Truth is always the first casualty of war.
Unfortunately, the law of unintended consequences went on unabated in Laos and continues to wreak havoc even today. This country, smaller than the state of Indiana, bore the brunt of the most sophisticated weaponry then created, became a giant junk heap for exploded ordnance, and assimilated all the unexploded bombs and bomblets. To maintain the terror of the moment, a net of land mines also was stretched from one corner of this country to the other, a silent killer that continued to raise the indiscriminate ante of life exposed to war. Though the Vietnam War ended in 1975, for the most part the land mines and unexploded ordnance remain. The human exposure continues to haunt the people of Laos.