What role did the U.S. play in Laos?

The United States, under President Kennedy, was convinced that if Laos fell to communism, the same would happen to South Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma. They were eager to support the anticommunist government and to cut the military supply line the North Vietnamese ran to South Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. However, they could not do so openly, as they had pledged not to send troops to Laos at the Geneva Conference of 1961-62. Their solution was to send a cadre of CIA "advisors" who recruited, trained, and armed a guerilla army of Hmong men. Unlike the Royal Lao army, who had a reputation for being peaceful and laying down their arms rather than fighting, the Hmong were excellent fighters and had already proven themselves as guerrillas during and after World War II. This secret army, or Armee Clandestine, eventually grew to over 30,000 soldiers and, at its peak, was the largest CIA operation in the world. Its soldiers fought on the ground, directed air strikes, fought behind enemy lines, gathered intelligence on communist forces, sabotaged roads and bridges, and more.