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Minnesota groups are spreading awareness of the millions of dangerous unexploded bombs in Laos. 

The U.S. military dropped millions of bombs in Laos during the Vietnam war, but a third of them did not explode. Laotians have been removing the explosive objects for decades. 

"Just to give you a context to what that feels or looks like, think of it as this: one planeload of bombs every eight minutes for 24 hours a day for 9 consecutive years," Loddy Tolzmann, an immigration attorney working for the Mines Advisory Group, told MPR News host Tom Weber there were about 580 thousand bombing missions in Laos.  

Tolzmann said the U.S. government has increased funding to the group, but it isn't enough to clear the unexploded bombs that remain in Laos. 

Bombing Missions Over Laos From 1965-1973

MPR News intern Michael Swearingen contributed to this report

MPR News Staff

Author

Minnesota groups are spreading awareness of the millions of dangerous unexploded bombs in Laos.

Just last week the US announced $15 Million in assistance to Laos for the removal of unexploded bombs-- a significant increase in funding for a cause that has gained traction domestically in recent years. 

The US conducted an intensive air campaign over the country during the 1960s and 70s, flying hundreds of thousands of bombing missions targeting North Vietnamese troops. 

In the decades since the war, the remnants of that campaign still haunt the country. More than 20,000 people have been killed or wounded in Laos by leftover bombs since 1973, the New York Times recently reported.

Several members of Minnesota's Laotian community have worked on the effort to raise awareness of the work still to be done in removing unexploded weapons from the country. 

MPR News host Tom Weber spoke with Chanida Phaengdara Potter and Loddy Tolzman about safely removing the bombs from Laos.


Guests: Chanida Phaengdara Potter, Founding Editor & Publisher of Little Laos on the Prairie Online Magazine and supporter and adviser to Legacies of War
Loddy Tolzman , Board Member, MAG America

Minnesota activists sound alarm on unexploded U.S. bombs in Laos

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