They fought against the PAVN and Pathet Lao too but from the air. However, the US didn’t stay completely out of the fight in Laos. They stalemated the Pathet Lao and PAVN and carried out attacks on the Ho Chi Minh trail, successfully alleviating the pressure on US forces in Vietnam. This force grew to a size of about thirty thousand troops, mostly from the Hmong tribe. In 1960, the CIA began guerrilla training for Laotian tribesmen who opposed the Pathet Lao and PAVN. The trail was such an important asset that the US stopped at nothing to deny its use to their enemies.īoth the US and North Vietnam had signed their official recognition of Laos’ neutrality, so for political reasons, a conventional ground war was not a possibility. (Photo by: Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Laos, Xiangkhoang, Meo soldiers gathered around an American plane shot down over Pathet Lao territory. This trail was a vital lifeline for the PAVN and Viet Cong fighting in Vietnam, enabling the transportation of supplies, men, equipment, weapons, and other necessary elements for war. They used the Ho Chi Minh trail, the infamous pathway that ran alongside Vietnam’s western border. The PAVN and Viet Cong were engaged in a war against the US in Vietnam too and began sending supplies and troops to Vietnam via Laos and Cambodia.

The Pathet Lao and their rebellion against the Royal Lao Government were supported and funded by North Vietnam, whose army, the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) was also operating in Laos.

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