HOME MOVIES: LAO ARMY INSPECTION VIETNAM WAR

Genre: home movie

Format: 16mm

Description: These extraordinary Super 8mm home movies from the Vietnam War, come from a member of the "Ravens". The Raven Forward Air Controllers, also known simply as The Ravens, were fighter pilots used for forward air control in a covert operation in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States in Laos during America's Vietnam War. The Ravens provided direction for most of the air strikes against communist Pathet Lao targets and People's Army of Vietnam's infiltrators in support of the Laotian Hmong guerrilla army. SCENE #1: (00:00:00) General Vong Pao and his troops on Eastern edge of Bolavens Plateau at PS-38. They had been brought down from 20-A (20-Alternate) in Northern Laos to help fight the N. Vietnamese who were overrunning the area, and, in particular, PS-26 that was on the edge of the Bolavens Plateau. General Vong Pao is the one in the red beret. The "PS sites" or "Lima Sites" are small outposts throughout Laos that normally have a dirt runway for forward operations. SCENE #2: (03:22:15) The official in the white shirt is a CIA Field Team Advisor for the Lao Army. The film is being taken from the Pilot Seat of my O-1. SCENE #3: (03:53:00) "Grandpa and Grandma Thompson" in Grand Island, Nebraska. Not sure why I took them standing there, but I must have been on "vacation" on my way West for various Survival Training Schools. SCENE #4: (04:34:05) An island in the Pacific Ocean shown the "emerald" shores. SCENE #5: (06:40:00) Apparently, the Mekong River. SCENE #6: (07:29:05) Vietnamese village. SCENE # 7: (13:19:05) Silos in Nebraska! … (09:04:00) Corn fields in Nebraska. (09:43:10) Grandpa and Grandma Thompson in Nebraska. SCENE #8: (11:25:00) Villagers on road in Laos. … (11:43:10) House maids and others at the AERA home in Pakse, Laos, having fun outside. … (12:18:10) Villagers on road outside AERA house compound, and families living nearby. SCENE #9: (12:50:10) Shadow in clouds of O-1 flying, with a rainbow around the O-1. SCENE #10: (13:23:00) BLANK SCENE #11: (13:42:00) Grandpa and Grandma Thompson at home in Grand Island, Nebraska. … These movies are probably of little value unless one wants to see some "old folk" walking down streets, as well as street construction, etc. … (15:21:10) Train Museum in Grand Island, Nebraska … (16:40:10) U.S Navy Terrier Rocket SCENE #12: (17:03:00) BLANK SCENE #13: (17:19:05) War Memorial (the "Vertical Runway") in Vientiane, Laos. (It was called the "Vertical Runway" because it used concrete sent to Laos by the U.S. for airport improvements, and instead was used to build this monument to the war. SCENE #14: (18:50:00) Laotians inside bunker on porch of AERA house. SCENE #15: (19:29:05) Ho Chi Minh Trail in Eastern, Southern Laos showing interdiction bombing, and the expansiveness of the "trail". The "trail" was actually a network of many trails leading from N. Viet-Nam into S. Viet-Nam. SCENE #16: (20:04:05) Buddhist Temple funeral ceremony for the death of a Lao pilot, 1970. SCENE #17: (24:42:05) Reconnoitering showing bombed rice paddies and cows in the paddies and fields … indicating that the area has been overrun by the enemy. … (26:06:15) Elephant transporting supplies along road. … (26:53:15) Large cave uncovered near PS-26 on the Eastern edge of the Southern Bolavens Plateau near PS-38. This cave is large enough to ride elephants into and was used by the PL (Pathet Lao) during the war for supplies. … (28:30:00) PS-26 bombed after the N. Vietnamese Army overran the post. 4 N. Vietnamese soldiers held off several companies of SGU (CIA Special Guerilla Units) during this fighting.

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