Fred Branfman interview

FRED BRANFMAN
“Voices From the Plain of Jars”

” We walked into the Pagoda and the first farmer I interviewed said that he had been bombed for the previous five and half years. I was astonished because here I am living in Laos and, although I had heard rumors about bombing, I didn’t know anything about it. It was called the “Secret War” I later found out.”

Ova Saopeng of “Refugee Nation”

LAOS COUNTRY READER © Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
Entire interview (pages 130 – 143) and many others can be found at www.adst.org

LEONARD UNGER
Chief of Mission
Vientiane (1962-1964)

Kouprasith, incidentally, also had arrested Souvanna Phouma and on that occasion had put him under house arrest. It was essential that Souvanna Phouma know what had taken place because there were good indications that this was kind of a last straw, as far as he was concerned; if Kouprasith were successful in pulling this coup and installing a right-wing government, Souvanna Phouma was going to get on a plane and get the Hell out of Laos! So I had to get to Souvanna Phouma to tell him what had happened. As I say, he was under house arrest, so I drove over to his house and I tried to drive up his driveway, but Kouprasith’s soldiers wouldn’t let me. Souvanna’s house was set well back from the road and I noticed that the next-door driveway, immediately parallel to Souvanna’s, with only a fence in between, was not guarded. So I had my driver just move over one and drive up that driveway. I got up more or less abreast of Souvanna Phouma’s house, and by that time, he began to know what was going on. He came out on his balcony and I stood there at the fence and shouted to him, you know, “don’t give up, don’t resign.” [Laughter] “We’re with you and stay with it.