Tuesday, December 2, 1975. The end of the wars in Indochina.

Vientiane fell to the Pathet Loa, bringing to an end the devided leadership of Laos and making it a fully communist country.

It effectively brought to an end the wars that broke out with end of World War Two over what type of governments former French Indochina would have.

Ironically, the new head of state was the French educated Communist Prince Souphanouvong.  While we think of Communism as being inherently anti monarchical, in Indochina this was much less the case.

December 2, 1975: Archie Griffin Is Awarded a 2nd Heisman Trophy

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Thursday, November 20, 1975. Death of Franco.

Labels: 1930s, 1940s, 1970s, 1975, Central Intelligence Agency, Congo, Dachau, Fidel Castro, Francisco Franco, German SS, National Conservatism, Ngô Đình Diệm, Spain, Spanish Civil War, The Holocaust, World War Two

Saturday, May 31, 1975. Laying down arms.

Neutralist Laotian Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma ordered the Royal Lao Army to lay down their arms and cease further resistance as the Pathet Lao took Savannakhet.

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Wednesday, May 28, 1975. "NATO is the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy and has the unwavering support of the American public and of our Congress. Our commitment to this alliance will not falter."

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Gerald Ford, It was because of the Vietnam War, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, United States, Vietnam, Vietnam War

Tuesday, May 13, 1975. Breakthrough at Long Tieng.

Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese troops broke through the defense lines of the Hmong army headquartered in Long Tieng, Laos, "the most secret place on earth."   From that location, the Hmong has opposed the Pathet Lao and NVA.

Jerry Daniels of the CIA organized an air evacuation of Vang Pao and about 2,000 Hmong, mostly soldiers and their families to Thailand.

Daniels is an interesting character who stayed on in Thailand after the conclusion of the Indochinese wars.  He was claimed to to have died in 1982 due to asphyxiation from a water heater gas leak, but his casket was sealed with instructions not to open it.  After his funeral in Montana, which was widely attended by Hmong refugees, various members of the Hmong community have claimed to have seen him in Indochina or the US.

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Monday, May 12, 1975. The Mayaguez taken.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, boats and ships, Cambodia, Khmer Rouge, The Mayaguez Incident

Friday, May 9, 1975. The Hmong Genocide.

Kaho Xane Pathet Lao, the official newspaper of the Lao People's Party, (the Communist Party) announced: that the nation's Hmong people "must be exterminated down to the root of the tribe" because their soldiers had assisted the United States in fighting the Communists. 

Two days later the genocide would begin.

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Thursday, May 8, 1975. The last to get out.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Cambodia, Cambodian Civil War, European Community, Islam, People's Republic of China, religion, Thailand

Monday, May 5, 1975. Dominos. And now Laos.

The Social Security Administration announced for the very first time that it's retirement and disability program was in debt; and that its $46 billion reserve would be drained by 1983.  Notably, President Nixon had extended Medicare, which originally did not apply to everyone, to everyone 62 years of age or older during his Administration.

Television broadcasting began in South Africa.

Royal Lao General Vang Pao, a Hmong highlander, was ordered by the Prime Minister of Laos to cease resistance to the Pathet Lao. 

He resigned instead.

It's almost like the Domino Theory was correct.

Before serving in in the Royal Lao Army, he has served with the French starting during World War Two.  He immigrated to the United States where he died in 2011.

101 former RVNAF aircraft at U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield were loaded aboard the USS Midway which evacuated 27 A-37s, 3 CH-47s, 25 F-5Es and 45 UH-1Hs.

A further 41 aircraft were flown to the U.S.  54 aircraft were transferred to the Thai Government, these comprised: 1 A-37, 17 C-47s, 1 F-5B, 12 O-1s, 14 U-17s and 9 UH-1Hs.

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Sunday, May 4, 1975. 1,000,000 runs.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, baseball, Cambodia, Cambodian–Vietnamese War, Khemr Rouge, South Vietnam, Sports, Vietnam

Friday, September 14, 1973. Winds of change.

It what was a sign of things to come, the Laotian government agreed to allow the Pathet Lao to become part of a coalition government.

Selassie in 1970.

Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was held at gunpoint by his grandson, Iskinder Desta, deputy commander of the Ethiopian Navy.  Ultimately, the coup attempt would be abandoned when Desta's mother, Princess Tenague, backed him off of it.  A towering figure of Ethiopia in the 20th Century, this too was a sign of things to come.  Things would not work out well, in the end, for Desta either.

Sunday, January 28, 1973. The war continues on.

US B-52s struck Laotian locations to interdict North Vietnamese supply lines to South Vietnam in spite of the official end of the war in South Vietnam, as the peace accords did not extend to Laos.

From 1964 to 1973, the U.S. dropped more than 2,500,000 tons of bombs, or 260,000,000 bombs, making Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita in history. The Laotian bombing campaign ended on March 29, 1973 following the Agreement on the Restoration of Peace and Reconciliation in Laos between the central government and the Pathet Lao.

Laos, the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, remains subject to a Communist government today and is effectively one of the most isolated countries in the world.

Saturday, April 9, 1910. Transfer of Lourdes.

Under the French confiscatory policy of disestablishment, the shrine at Lourdes was turned over to the local commune. The town council, in turn, turned it's ownership into a trust under the authority of the local Bishop.

Nouhak Phoumsavan, Pathed Lao revolutionary and President of Laos 1992 to 1998; in Ban Phalouka, Mukdahan province, Thailand.

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Saturday, March 26, 1910. The Immigration Act of 1910.

Labels: 1910, 1910s, Immigration, law, Louisiana, panoramic, San Antonio Texas