CAVWV urges Memorial Day recognition for Laos Secret War airmen

By AI, Created 5:32 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – The Coalition of Allied Afghan & Vietnam War Veterans is asking Americans to remember the airmen, covert controllers and Lao allies who fought the secret air war in Laos from 1961 to 1973. The group says the mission’s scale and sacrifices have been overlooked for more than 50 years, and it is using Memorial Day to push for broader public recognition.

Why it matters: - CAVWV says the Secret War in Laos produced a generation of airmen and allied fighters whose service was hidden from the public and minimized in official records. - The group is pushing for Memorial Day recognition of American and Southeast Asian personnel whose losses and sacrifices remain undercounted in public memory. - CAVWV says formal recognition could help restore visibility to veterans, families and Lao allies whose wartime roles were long kept secret.

What happened: - The Coalition of Allied Afghan & Vietnam War Veterans called on Americans this Memorial Day to remember the airmen of the 56th Special Operations Wing and other covert units that flew missions in Laos from 1961 to 1973. - CAVWV said the campaign includes the Sandys, Hobos, Knives, Nimrods, Fireflies, Zorros, Lucky Tigers, Candlesticks, Green Hornets, Pony Express crews and gunship teams from the Spooky, Shadow, Stinger and Spectre aircraft. - The group also highlighted the Ravens, volunteer fighter pilots who flew unarmed propeller aircraft as covert Forward Air Controllers, and the Butterflies, enlisted Combat Control Team members who pioneered covert FAC operations. - CAVWV said American advisors and CIA officers were part of the operational partnership that enabled the secret air campaign.

The details: - The missions were conducted in Laos, a neutral country where the United States was legally barred from entering under the 1962 Geneva Accords. - The release says the missions were classified and that awards were sanitized before presentation, with Laos removed from citations. - CAVWV said some families were told their relatives died in accidents when they were killed on secret missions. - The organization said the airmen were excluded for decades from the official directory of Vietnam Veterans Memorial names, even though their names appear on the wall. - CAVWV said American pilots flew 580,000 bombing sorties over Laos, which the release describes as the equivalent of a full planeload of bombs every eight minutes for nearly a decade. - The mission was split between strikes against the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the Annamite Mountains and close air support for Special Guerrilla Units and MACVSOG teams operating in Laos. - The release says the first USAF aircraft lost in the Southeast Asia conflict went down over Laos on March 23, 1961. - Of the 161 men identified as having flown as Ravens, 22 were killed in action, according to the release. - CAVWV said seven Raven FACs captured by the Pathet Lao were never released, and no American prisoner held by the Pathet Lao was returned. - The organization said Lao Special Guerrilla Units, including lowland Lao, Lao tribesmen and Hmong fighters under CIA direction, fought alongside U.S. personnel in numbers that exceeded American casualties. - CAVWV identified General Vang Pao in the north and General Soutchay Vongsavanh in the south as key Lao commanders.

Between the lines: - The campaign is as much about historical memory as wartime history, with CAVWV arguing that secrecy protected the mission for decades but also erased the people who carried it out. - The group is framing the Laos air war as an underrecognized part of the Vietnam era, not a side story, by linking air operations, covert controllers and allied ground forces into one narrative. - The emphasis on Lao allies signals a broader recognition push beyond American veterans alone.

What’s next: - CAVWV is inviting veterans’ groups, military historians, journalists and the public to review a full research summary, unit history and valor award accounting at the organization’s website. - The group is also urging the Gary Sinise Foundation, National Memorial Day Concert producers and veteran-focused media to spotlight the story. - CAVWV President Thomas Leo Briggs said the anonymity these men accepted should end now. - The organization can be reached through Briggs at cavwv.president@gmail.com and on social media at CAVWV on X.