Greetings from Cambodia. It's good to see Vietnam is doing well now as a country and society. The US dropped more bombs on Laos than have been dropped on any country in history. Farmers and their children continue to die due to unexploded cluster bombs the size and shape of tennis balls. An average of one person dies this way every week and this is almost 50 years later. It's often taught that the US bombed the network of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, but the bombings occurred far outside those perimeters. I know that first-hand now from talking to people whose families were devastated by the bombings far from those locations. US schools aren't often the place to find the truth. US support for Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge has had devastating effects on the people here in Cambodia. I protested the involvement of the US in Southeast Asia and have served here in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos as an English teacher for the past 9 years to help the descendants of the victims of US atrocities here who think skills in English will help them and their families have better lives. I look forward to returning to my students and friends in Laos next month. Thank you for your video.
One thing to note is the stupid strategy the Americans had in this war: they thought they could kill their way to victory. Mostly they just sent troops with helicopters into an area, killed those Vietnamese in the vicinity and then just left just so the Vietnamese could come right back. Americans hardly held any area they had just won (with heavy casualties on both sides). A good example of this is portrayed in the movie "We Were Soldiers".
