Want to make a brief statement about laos 1st we strongly and im reserving places for the goal of a neutral and independent layer tied to no outside power or group of powers threatening no one and free from any government nation my fellow americans they are far away from america but the world is more. The security of all Southeast Asia will be endangered if laos loses its neutral independence i want to make it clear to the American People going to wall the world that all we want to lay our. Hands learn to. Handle ease and my dad. You know those days the american airplanes flew in parts of lyons thing. Flew back and forth and dropped bombs like crazy and new ones didnt care about anything we knew nothing and all we could do was wait for our deaths to count. From june 1064 to march 973 the u. S. Dropped at least 2000000 tons of bombs on the small landlocked Southeast Asian country in what would become the largest Bombing Campaign in history the equivalent of one plane load every 8 minutes 24 hours a day for 9 years more than were dropped on germany and japan during world war 2. Bodies the mekong river and at obviously last on understandably increased the danger along the Northern Front is thailand. Declaration of your property of laos and respect of your quality of independence the better the country the president handed over the war effort in laos to the cia. This nation to the entire peninsula that has threatened by red military takeover as it was last may. Americas intervention here allows for the secret to the American People. The people also have suffered tremendously from it. Is the result of those who. Laos is now littered with as many as 80000000 bondys or bombed lets based small signs bombs found inside cluster bombs. Up to 18000000 of these failed to detonate and just one percent of them have been cleaned. Again the amount of bombs that were talking about that were dropped on this tiny country. Now people have been living among the u. S. For decades. What they say today is that they want to put the war behind them and they want to grow in the future and they would love the help of the United States government ensuring that. Their story. Will know what. We didnt know that they would come to bomb us make double what i just said the war is coming soon it will be a war of a plane well have to run and hide as fast as you can. Manage was over here during a war write legibly went to the forest we went to the cage but couldnt stay if the planes bombed the cave heavily by by you tom what i mean the one you just the sound of an explosion could kill you. With a lot of. Heat. And then. 8. Times that when the new movie. I see my family name is strongly. Im not. I was born in 1955 im not quite sure how old i am. Who wouldnt want that but i called up someone said im 61 but i dont know if thats true what would happen. In 965. 00 to be 52. 00 planes started bombing the country i thought mining. Man got me there were times that the planes didnt boman manned by. All movement no nina. I mean sometimes a full day would pass without round. And we moved into this k. F. To join my grandfather. But how one to. My left lead man you would have me there. For years hand in hand during the war time there were days of very heavy bombing. My and i know bombs dropped from airplanes beginning in 196510 and that continued in 196667 and through 969 bad power the bombs were boring from the airplanes on to the ground. But ive been gone for about 2 or 3 different kinds of bombs. And theres how much thought that if a cave only had one entrance we couldnt take shelter of them we were afraid it would be trapped inside the enemy state on that mountain back down the mountain was higher than where they bombed the mountain until it can flat no one survived. 6 6 i. Am. I. The us dropped one plane load of bombs on average every 8 minutes 24 hours a day and 9 years. Meet a a. Random underworld our house was over there at the base of the mountain oh it was really scary and who couldnt light fires at night and if we lit a fire the planes would come to bomb us for sure like dollar would hold on to and used to 1st come to drop a light marker then they started bombing when Nothing Happened we couldnt sleep in the hands we had to run what crime there were and to hide from the airplanes we went to dig a hole next to the river over there in the. Rhythm. Her i had 5 children at the time sometimes i had to carry or drag them as we ran that we had to dig the holes by ourselves there was nobody else who could dig for no lash out for crap you just had to dig with your family until the hole was large enough for everyone to fit we were not 2 families in one whole. Day they were bombed my house i saw the village the monk went to dig a hole on the mountain had been for fighter jets came really fast and we had to run for our lives they dropped many bombs in our area and we had to run and hide in the hall and the little i almost didnt survive that day the bombing was really heavy there no bombs fell like rain on world. If i could call. It well my father died in 1969. After my father died we werent able to farm anymore we couldnt do any farming or grow food in our gardens at all because the airplanes were gaming the area so heavily at the time. You know it was more than 10 years old by then i own i am after my father died we stayed with my grandfather s. K. But ill let you know how many out. Right when i see the children these days and think about the past my tea has dropped. Most of the time when i pass by this area and see this cave in the cliff i start to cry remembering my life up there. In any of them abandon all the difficulties and losses. Whenever i come back here i think about that difficult time and when i lost my father i never thought about life or anything else during the war all we could think about was the difficult situation we were in during the war. When i look at the modern world today i never thought we would have electricity we have enough clothes and other things to wear and use. We have the tractor to work in the rice fields and. We have cars motorbikes and light to see at night. Me i. Just when the United States is graduate pulling out of vietnam there is a rush of concern that lars may become another not by itself as the administration and says. Well the president will let it happen thats what. We learned one lesson that is were not going to bite any. Major wars. In the mainland of asia again were not going to send american troops there and we certainly are going to do a. Minute there are no america. Combat forces involved we have been providing Logistical Support and some training for the new Us Government in order to avoid laos falling under communist domination as far as american manpower in laos is concerned there are none there at the present time on a combat basis. Month on some show not they came around noon. When you had the vietnamese on the cliffs firing the guns. Back. Then you know it was time to run and hide because they were coming. They were coming for sure and they would bomb us heavily. The planes didnt drop just one bomb at a time they dropped bombs in one long line as they flew boom boom boom we werent even able to escape them in the cave. We just had to run and hide for our lives they kept dropping bombs until im satisfied and went back. To that they didnt care what they were bombing. Everything was gone. The only thing that was left to a crisis some crisis were really break it down with life had no meaning during the war you hoped you would survive see the world and your family again. Without a new journey the war we lived in the forest what you would we couldnt live in the village because it was all on fire when you were going you know that it was time of destruction from the bombs and thats how i had the pillars of the houses remained. In 1975 we returned to the village where we still live in a wood and i dont know how to describe the number of mines that were on the roads going on and the road lines work piled up everywhere who didnt get free theyre now trying to clear the mines but they will never be able to finish a lot of flat mines were dropped thats the kind that destroyed my leg. Now we cant believe that it wasnt even a year later when my husband went to dig in the field that we had no cattle left on the flight my husband was the 1st to go back to the fields. And he had a bomb. It exploded and he died immediately ripple out right there on the spot. I was left alone with all of our children and ive been taking care of them by myself ever since. He died so many years ago you know. There are currently 80000000 unexploded american bombs in laos enough to cover 83 american football fields. Im nailed on the last of the war ended we moved to the village there was so many unexploded bombs. There was a us so in every bush. The good. Morning like oh yes there are still many of them around and they are still active. So im very disturbed one it explodes. Now many people were killed by them as they talk i rice fields. My family and i manage the bombs where in every corner of our rice fields home after the war ended i was always careful i never used hose to dig in my fields never. Known the cost of bombs a very rusty but if you hit one it explodes straight away and may last for a really long time phone time at. Home yes. You. Know the old. You know file this is my daughter unknown to us. Down here too tall he can see you. I thought i had come in. This is my husband. He can see you to talk to. Some i and her husband both work for you xo allow louses National Bomb clearing organization. Of those my name is on site encounter von im 38 years old. I work with us so low income a one province. We have a risky and dangerous job. I discussed this topic with my wife before she went to the training at. Home now. She knows that its dangerous but she wants to take part in theater wants to help the villagers have less risk in their everyday lines. We work in different places which are quite far apart she works on site and im in the office we only see each other a few days out of the month its not that i meet that man most of the time my mother takes care of the house and the children and my son and my daughter. My husband often comes home during the week its how we do things i depend on him because he works closer to home. He comes home to spend time with the children and takes care of the household because im usually gone for 20 days or more at a time. Sansa mind her team work 252 days of the year searching for us unexploded ordinance they work hard to find dig up and detonate the 80000000 u. S. Says one by one. And they never let that what we do each day depends on the location of the sorry and when there are a lot of crisis then there will be more. We need to find about 20 to 30 in a single day sometimes there were even 40 or 50 u. S. Others in a single location and sometimes wed find an entire cluster bomb with all the small you rexx or units and signs. That after my training the 1st time i had to scan for bombs i was so afraid but i slowly got used to it and then it became normal. And i looked. At him and i can see everybody in our team is working hard to clear the bombs. When i know that its dangerous. But we have to do our best. For them and i really want all the villagers to be able to go about their daily lives and safety of them. And i love and i want to designate all the remaining u. S. Owes and loss and i and the crying and everything. Almost 80 percent of laotians a subsistence farmer as they and their families are especially at risk. As to the general view on allows these matters of great concern to wash United States is anxious to be established in laos a peaceful country. A country independent country not dominated by either side but theyre concerned with the. Life of the people within the country we are. Anxious that that their situation there come forward and the United States is using its influence to see that independent country he spoke im free im committed country can be established im the president very difficult circumstances tony you know any faith and then i have a man when i was young around 10 years old i went with my mother to collect and burn and we found a new exercise in the bushes and i was about to dig to find some bamboo and pull like hell and then i saw the wrecks so and i ran away i mean anything he knew them when i grew up and we went fishing i saw a lot of you exercise along the river to come and i was really afraid of them when you and i never thought that one day i would work with them of course are not my job yet all the people who work here are good friends we all feel a great sense of responsibility towards our jobs. We stay in camps like brothers and sisters and we help each other and take care of each other if someone gets sick of what you can and. Young nag at its difficult when you find us. Its very challenging to dig one up and you have to be very careful. Where one might find a small us we report it to the team leader. Of another team leader checks the area and marks it with a stick and young man my mean my mind never have been when we find a big you etc we report to the team leader and to the u. S. Experts we slowly dig around the area until we can see if its a year xo or just some scrap metal. They lend money back when we find you access on the site that we detonate them at the end of each day we usually find between 10. 20 new access per day. At 3 in the afternoon we block the site for detonations. Commando not just a nation we carry out each day we need megaphones friends for the turkey and electric checking tools we also need explosives for the destination. Might be certain that what i most like to do is detonate. The. Quantity and the 4 detonation we have to inform the us im a novice on the Village Authority of each location and perform. We have a working station on site running from and storage for the explosive powder. When writing a letter to air or to enter to. Pass. At this rate it would take 2500 years to read laos of us. Support come on started in 1909 with funding from the government. To somebody such and clear us i was in the region. Sokoloff it was something. You could. Have to put up there. My name is made tom tom of all. In the u. S. Coordinator income a one province. Our 1st role is to reduce deaths and injuries from your acts of accidents. Caliber bullet and. So on our 2nd town. Is to clear more farmland for the population than the. Support from 1909 to today but we have found 116 big cluster bombs. And 12868. 00 on this way will be. 43 landmines a minute seas of sound way across and 26036 other us. I know im so big i 2016 there was an accident in board up our district but the 2 small children died and one was injured but. Not. Here. In who owns the land and im really worried about my children i dont want them to go near the bombs and i know how dangerous they are now so i dont want the children to go close or play near them. And im not sure if i would be less worried about my children if i didnt know about the danger. And one and yeah. I know that i would be very worried if my children found. Children dont always understand what it says when it i might play with a young man with alan and in the past its happened sometimes that children to run around and when there were children throwing them a treat i saw myself and if my children did that i wouldnt be able to accept it the way other families might have and would i look without a man in the air. 40 percent of you x. A victim a children. The end. May my name is laid 345 children 2 of them died i have 3 left. Home. You know how i told them to go dig for some crickets they went to find some crickets for lunch that was last year. Couldnt that he could from here up to here my 2nd son was injured. He was injured from the knees up. There were lots of holes and hes just big enough for me to put my finger in the mine that was the younger boy my older son was injured here here. And here. My mom in law my younger son the injuries were all over his body my younger son was digging and the older one was waiting for the crickets and thats why the explosion mainly hit my younger son. He son was 11 and my 2nd son was 10 donate and pony. They hit a landmine just digging for crickets. Mother they took my sons to the hospital and they died there they brought my younger sons body some people survive and some dont. The most recent case was a 10 year old child village. Had injuries to his head body and both his legs and. Tried to help him by giving him oxygen. So. We tried to help him for 15 minutes but then he died. We did our best and felt terrible about the accident. So its very sad that the boy didnt survive. The challenge for us is that when an emergency arrives here with just a clinic. We dont have the proper equipment and we can only provide basic treatment. If there are any journos who want to support us that is always very welcome. You know if we had more funding for us in laos and if we received more donations we would try to get the necessary equipment. Not. Be able to treat the emergencies to treat these accidents. The United States stops bombing laos in 1973 they didnt aid to laos until 993. 00 to 2016 the us contributed an average of 4900000. 00 to douse a year but had spent 13300000. 00 bombing out day in 2016 president obama was the 1st sitting u. S. President to ever visit and house to the government the people of laos thank you so much for the kind welcome the extended to me and my delegation. I am very honored to be the 1st american president to visit lots i realize that having a u. S. President in laos would have been unimaginable 6 decades ago this country fell in the civil war your neighbors and foreign powers including the United States intervened here at the time the u. S. Government did not acknowledge americas role it was a secret war and for years the American People did not know even now Many Americans are not fully aware of this chapter in our history and its important that we remember today over 9 years 9641973 United States dropped more than 2000000 tons of bombs here and lots war inflicts a terrible toll especially on innocent men women. Today i stand with you and acknowledging the suffering and sacrifices on all sides of that conflict i also know that the rim remnants of war continue to shatter lives here in laos so today im proud to announce a historic increase in these efforts the United States will double our annual fund to 90000000. 00 over the next 3 years to help while 6 families for. The u. S. Spent 113000000. 00 in just 10 days of bombing laos. By my heart and at the end that he and money arrive to the cup center we welcome him to me told us to wait in a room the way tom had during. They came to tell us if we needed to go to the bathroom we should go now because mr obama was coming soon. Right about what happened you know after that we waited for him outside and. I had some medication with because i was afraid i would have stomach pain from not eating on time. They scanned me and stopped in my pocket i dont know when i was a bit worried. They checked him so it was medication and they said that was ok and that i could go. In and. That mr obama said sorry and that it wasnt meant to be awarded last. Night and they didnt mean to harm laos. And that it was the vietnam war it just happened to mouse and i am not. The one now. President obama just made history by being the 1st sitting u. S. President to visit laos obama has so far refused to issue a formal apology for the secret u. S. Bombing campaign in laos during its war on vietnam the u. S. Secretly dropped 270000000. 00 bombs on laos and hard to cut off north vietnamese supply routes again margaret this plan 90000000. 00 or so to help clean up and detonated bombs still in the country what are the details this is 90000000. 00 over 3 years to clean up whats called unexploded ordinance these are bobbies they look like little balls little kids pick them up and often become victims of these bombs that were dropped nearly 40 years ago in a war that this country was never technically a part of up to 80000000. 00 of these failed to detonate and just one percent of them have been cleared obamas 90000000. 00 for bomb clearance in laos its not enough we bomb to laos so much it is officially done. Most heavily bombed country per capita in all of Human History the 19000000. 00 obama pledged at 1st sounds like a lot the numbers that everybody talks about that you brought up that are accurate as far as we know that said we also know that that is the low estimate of it large numbers of airplanes that were sent to do bombing runs in vietnam for example came back over lost to bases in thailand and on their way back would randomly drop their loads in laos and we have no records wants to whatever of those laws that were dropped so we dont actually know how much was dropped in the 1st place we know its more than the numbers that we talk about experts say the president s visit shows that the u. S. Is trying to make friends with countries near china to help balance out that nations growing power in the region because of the problems and because of the lack of clean up because of the lack of recognition it continues to kill people and trouble this very undeveloped country there are fields that cant be plowed there is land that cant be developed there are children who are Walking Around who werent even alive during the vietnam war who are missing arms and legs and limbs when we are able to come here and show respect for their culture and recognize. Our history and then point towards a future in which we Work Together we will actually have more in force will be able to promote our i. P. O. More effectively but thats part of what weve been able to accomplish i think over the last 78 years is open up places that previously were closed and engage people in ways that will pay dividends in the future. And i want to give our perspective to all the funders from around the world. We are still facing huge challenges. That we still have to keep clearing. And i support them and we dont know when we will complete our mission. Our immediate objective is to clear more farmland for villages. There but there are still a lot of areas that we havent been able to clear yet. Dont have the budget and we dont have enough manpower and. There are many different factors involved including the need for teams equipment vehicles and donors but if we had the budget we could reach out more efficiently to other districts and provide them with help that. We would welcome any additional donations to support us in any category of work or with equipment. I have one and im someone and im. In terrible the 19 cluster bombs in my field i just mock the area and dont find that there are definitely still you x. I was in my rice fields now morning. The government has said many times that this area is not a suitable place for us to live anymore he said we should move away. And right that there are other rich places where we could live but i have to say here we cant leave. Nobody told us to stay but we just dont want to live. Our life in our own home thats better than a rich life in someone elses after years of secrecy and they are now learning a lot about life i just i promise that i will do my best to make sure that all the villages will have a better life a life without you exiles. Than to let me know that its dangerous but we have to do our best. Michael american. Laos is far away from america but the world is small. And if i have i have met all the areas we have cleared to be safe now. Yes im tired and there are still many more bombs out there but i will do my best im not giving up and i will continue my work. And work. And you. Want to go on all done us around the world to support us to help us clear the ground and make it safe for the daily life to give people in the villages a better life so that they will no longer be in danger from you accept. Thank you. Enter the conflict zone with sara kelly. I put the tough questions to those in power challenging the key players face to face its real and hard hitting debate that goes beyond the jargon and helps us better understand whats really. Holding the powerful to account for getting to the truth. Thats the conflict zone. 13 double. The global corona crisis and you can find more Information Online at d. F. W. Dot com and on t. W. Social media channels. I was fishing when i arrived here i slept with 6 people in a room. It was hard i was fair. I even got white hair. Learning benjamin language head nodding off this keeps me and could help us maybe to entrust lives of say you want to know their story for migrants her fighting and reliable information for margaret. This is do w. News live from berlin testing for antibodies a lab in munich germany is working on a task that can tell if a person has already built up immunity to the corona virus something that could help populations return to a more normal life also on the show china warns its coronavirus victims the country came to a standstill for 3 minutes a gesture to honor the more than 3000 people who died in chinas covert 19 outbreak