Lao Voices

This is what our parents and grandparents were going through. We all know how the war ended and so much casualties on both sides. To me, this was a domestic disputes and the children suffered when the parents are divorced and can’t work things out. It was interesting for me to watch the clips because I have heard about the fighting and the fire in Vientiane from my Great-grandparents. They had to move back to Banh Kern to start over. I didn’t know what they were talking about since I was in elementary school, under the new government and have not seen the war first hand. I was taught differently about the history of Laos and about the civil war.

I asked my Grand-Mama about the war a couple of weeks ago and she told me how she would be digging and hiding when the bombs were dropping on the ground. These were American bombs pouring down from the sky on her and those living around her. While all her sons were serving in the Royal Army to fight the People’s Revolutionary Army, Grand-Mama was fighting for her life, along with all my aunts and my cousins. What a twisted fate for them.

Watch the clips carefully and you’ll see the struggle for public opinion.