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Above, former Laotian solders who fought for Americans in the Vietnam war wipe away tears alongside their families at the sight of Westerners. At right, Fathi Ja, the son of a man who fought for the CIA, guards a camp in the jungle in Laos' Vientiane province. Below, the men and their families huddle before a fire. They are constantly on the run from a government that still mistrusts men who sided with the U.S.
Above, former Laotian solders who fought for Americans in the Vietnam war wipe away tears alongside their families at the sight of Westerners. At right, Fathi Ja, the son of a man who fought for the CIA, guards a camp in the jungle in Laos’ Vientiane province. Below, the men and their families huddle before a fire. They are constantly on the run from a government that still mistrusts men who sided with the U.S.
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Four decades after the CIA hired thousands of jungle warriors in Laos to fight on the fringes of the Vietnam War, men who say they are veterans of that covert operation are isolated, hungry and periodically hunted by the Laotian Communist government. “If I surrender, I will be punished,” said Xang Yang, 58. “. . . I cannot live outside the jungle because I am a former American soldier.”
The New York Times

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