U.S. Special Forces Association Honors Lao, Hmong, Veterans of Vietnam War

WASHINGTON - July 19, 2015 - PRLog -- The following is the text of the statement of Lieutenant Colonel James K. Bruton (U.S. Army, Green Beret-LTC, Ret.), Special Forces Association, officially released on July 7, 2015, regarding his earlier speech at Arlington National Cemetery in May of 2015 to mark the 40th Anniversary of the fall of the Royal Kingdom of Laos to invading North Vietnamese forces.

Bruton initially served as a keynote speaker, at Arlington National Cemetery, at a special joint U.S. Armed Services wreath-laying ceremony honoring Lao and Hmong veterans and their American military and clandestine advisors who served in defense of the Kingdom of Laos during the Vietnam War. The veterans' memorial ceremony was held on May 15, 2015, by the  Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), Lao Veterans of America Institute, and Lao Veterans of America, Inc., in cooperation with Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, Members of Congress, the Special Forces Association and others.

The following is the text of Bruton's statement:

Lieutenant Colonel James K. Bruton (U.S. Army- Green Berets, Ret.) , Special Forces Association, Remarks at Arlington National Cemetery, Wreath-Laying Ceremony, May 15, 2015, at the Lao Veterans of America Monument

Sah-bai-dee!

I am honored to be here today to remember the Hmong and Lao soldiers who fought and those who fell in our war against the Vietnamese Communists.

While assigned to Special Forces in Thailand, I did not work with the Hmong:  I worked with regular Lao forces.  But I learned about the quality of the Hmong soldiers from other officers in my unit in Thailand.

In 1972 I commanded a 12-man team ordered to Laos to assist in training the regular army.  Six members of my team conducted training north at Phou Khao Khouai.  The remaining members and I assisted in training two regular Lao Groupments Mobiles in Champassak Province in the south.

As Colonel Crerar just stated, though we were supposed to be training Lao soldiers we learned probably as much from them as they did from us.   The Lao soldiers impressed us as being good students.  They listened to everything they were taught.

Among these soldiers was a young boy, 12-14 years old.  He was an orphan.  A relative had taken him to an army compound and said: “His father and mother are dead.  I can’t afford to keep  him.  He wants to be a soldier: he is yours.”  This young boy trained as hard as any man in his battalion.  We called him “Super-Soldier.“

Our Groupements Mobiles ended their two month training cycle with a field training exercise.  This exercise took place not far from the Mekong to the south of our location.  Our first field training exercise became a live-fire exercise when one the battalions sprung two ambushes set up by local Pathet Lao units.

But one thing was different.  The battalion commander had his point element, that is, the lead men in front of the battalion, carry a 57mm recoilless rifle.  That is an anti-tank weapon.  And it is heavy to carry.  But it is loud and accurate.  When the men on point detected an ambush, they fired the 57mm recoilless rifle at the enemy position.  They used this technique to break two attempted ambushes.  Our troops took no casualties, and they captured two Pathet Lao prisoners of war.

This use of a 57mm recoilless rifle in the point element is something I learned from the Lao Army.  I had never seen that before in my army experience.

I saw another special use of a weapon at a self-defense battalion to the south of our location.   A battalion commander had a 106mm recoilless rifle, which is another anti-tank weapon.  It is powerful.  It is intended for direct line of fire against a tank.  The commander had practiced on how to use it in an indirect fire role so that it could fire high and come down on the enemy.  I had never seen that before.

When our mission of training two Groupements Mobiles ended at the end of 1972, we returned to Thailand.  My team felt a sense of accomplishment.  To this day I remain proud of my association with the Lao trainers and with soldiers that I worked with at that time.  So, again, it is an honor being with you.

Kawp jai lai lai. ( Translation from Laotian: Thank you very much)

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(ENDS)

Contact(s):

Jade Her or Philip Smith

Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)

Washington, D.C.

Telephone (202)543-1444

info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org