Dr. Paul Carter has a Youtube channel where he posts lectures about the war from the perspective of someone living in Southeast Asia. His videos are embedded below with his permission. Dr. Carter is a retired U.S. Army officer. He spent seven subsequent years at the Defense Intelligence Agency and holds both Masters and Doctorate degrees from Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
Opportunity Denied: Seizing the Ho Chi Minh Trail
During the Vietnam conflict, Pentagon and State Department officials debated how to prosecute the war. Many high-ranking officials advocated placing the main military effort into Laos to block the Ho Chi Minh trail, arguing that as the trail was the North Vietnamese invasion route into South Vietnam, the U.S. would never be able to win the war with an unimpeded invasion flow. Carter revives this debate, expands upon the argument, adding exceptional film and illustrations to show that without such an effort, the U.S. was doomed to lose the war."A truly magnificent, enlightened and honest video. As someone who was privy to the war plans such as El Paso and others related to the possible invasion of Laos to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, I am deeply grateful for your explaining the importance of cutting the trail to the public and doing so in such a cogent manner" U.S. Marine Colonel (ret) Andrew Finlayson.
What Was the Secret War in Laos?
Many books have been written on this secret war that occurred simultaneous to the Vietnam War, but almost none tell the full story of the war, failing to tie the components together. Carter – using rare film, old photos, and declassified information – weaves the disparate components together into a comprehensive picture for a fascinating account of the war. "The best explanation of the war that I have ever seen." Raven 27, U.S. Air Force Colonel (ret) Craig Duehring.How Thailand Won the Second Indochina War
. Often overlooked is Thailand’s role in the Vietnam War, but the country is a fascinating case study because it was one of only four countries in Southeast Asia targeted for communist expansion that survived. Relying on first-hand accounts and rare materials, Carter unfolds this story of the American involvement there, Thailand’s contribution to the overall war, and how it defeated its communist insurgency. "The best English-language work produced to date on Thailand and its role in the Second Indochina War. An extraordinary piece that all students of the war should view." Dr. Winai WongsurawatSmokejumpers: CIA Clandestine Weapon in America’s Secret Wars
It was barely known that between World War Two and the end of the Cold War, the CIA employed over 100 Smokejumpers for overseas clandestine operations. Carter tells us why, what they did, who they were in this fascinating account with rare photos and film clips. "As a retired Smokeumper who also served in our nation’s defense, your video is the best – and only – presentation to highlight this key connection between the CIA and Smokejumpers. Superb presentation, great video and historic pics" Jeremy RohrbacherThe Documented Cases: POW''s Left Behind
The actual story of Prisoners of War (POWs) left behind in previous wars is quite documented but became obscured by hoax POW pictures, small time scams, and other diversions. This is the story of those POWs left behind in Laos and Vietnam, drawn on facts from government published reports and official testimony from high-level figures such as former U.S. Defense Secretary and CIA Director James Schlesinger who testified under oath that POWs remained behind in 1973 at the end of the Vietnam War. For example, Colonel David Hrdlicka was shot down over Laos in 1965, and it was not known he was a POW until his pictures appeared as a POW in a Soviet newspaper. The Laos government never acknowledged his status and he remains behind to this day.A Mystery of Angkor Warfighting Revealed
. Carter made a monumental discovery regarding ancient Khmer (Angkor civilization) warfighting that had eluded previous researchers. If you are a war buff, it is a must-watch. This discovery serves to either narrow – or perhaps widen – the mysteries of the civilization. Angkor civilization scholars Solang Uk, Damian Evans among others lauded Carter’s discovery with a follow-on panel discussion occurring among Angkor civilization experts to discuss this mysterious warfighting anomaly. "Kudos to discovering a mysterious Khmer warfighting anomaly that has become a point of discussion among Khmer and Angkor scholars. This is an excellently presented video that has now opened many questions for us researchers." Kent Davis, Angkor Civilization Researcher.CIA Secret Warriors: Thai Forward Air Guides
During the largest ever CIA paramilitary operation in its history - the Laos Secret War during the Vietnam War - the CIA recruited and hired a small group of around 100 young Thai men, most with no military experience, to deploy to Laos to coordinate and conduct forward air control operations in combat for our strike and other aircraft. U.S. Air Forces Special Operations Combat Controllers trained the Forward Air Guides as CIA contract employees before the Forward Air Guides were deployed to Laos. These English-speaking Thai men played an extraordinarily unique role, an anomaly of warfare that had never happened before and almost certainly will never happen again – foreign civilians coordinating U.S. Air Force strikes. This video is the introductory story.Montagnards, Missionaries, and the Green Beret
In 1975, the communist North Vietnamese, after decades of aggression, achieved their goal and seized the southern capital, Saigon. Panicked South Vietnamese who had fought with the U.S. discarded their uniforms and abandoned their weapons. But the staunchest U.S. ally during the war, the Montagnard, did neither. For them, the war was not over. Montagnard groups took their families and what few possessions they had and fled to the jungle to continue their fight against the North Vietnamese. It would be seventeen years after the war ended before one group of Montagnard fighters and their families – part of a resistance called the FULRO Army - were discovered deep in the Cambodian jungle, still fighting their sworn enemies, the Vietnamese communists. This group had been so forgotten, puzzled United Nations personnel quizzed them as to their identity. This is their story, and how they came to America. Often in talking about the Montagnards and FULRO, the role of Christianity and the Christian Missionary Alliance (CMA) is left out, but religion, Christianity, and the CMA played an outsized role in shaping the Montagnard.The Ravens Part I: Mission and Men
While most Americans watched the Vietnam War on television, another bloody conflict was transpiring next door in Laos, hidden from the news cameras and print journalists. A very small, select, group of volunteer U.S. Air Force pilots in a highly secret U.S. government program were fighting a secret war, wearing civilian clothes, piloting small, unarmed prop-driven aircraft, taking life-and-death risks on every hazardous mission and given little to no guidance other than to direct deadly fires on the enemy. These men were U.S. Air Force pilots called Ravens, guiding fast-mover U.S. fixed wing fighters and bombers onto enemy targets in an effort to stop the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos. Ravens flew and fought in Laos from 1967 to 1972, sustaining one of the highest casualty rates of any U.S. Air Force unit during the Vietnam War. This is Part I of their story.Ravens Part II: Their Stories
This is the second installment in the Raven series, this video Ravens telling their stories. The stories they tell are thrilling, sad, dangerous, and poignant, of their life and death missions flying combat during the Laos Secret War. Please see Ravens I: Mission and Men on my channel.While most Americans watched the Vietnam war on television, another bloody conflict was transpiring next door, hidden from the news cameras and print journalists. A very small, select, group of volunteer U.S. Air Force pilots in a highly secret U.S. government program were fighting a secret war, wearing civilian clothes, piloting small, unarmed prop-driven aircraft, taking life-and-death risks on every hazardous mission and given little to no supervision and guidance other than to direct deadly fires on the enemy. These men were U.S. fighter and FAC pilots turned Airborne Forward Air Controllers (FAC), called Ravens, guiding fast-mover U.S. fixed wing fighters and bombers onto enemy targets in an effort to stop the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos.
The Raven program came about during the U.S. Secret War in Laos which was fought at the same time as the Vietnam conflict, and in fact rather than Vietnam, Laos could have been the conflict the U.S. became primarily embroiled in. My video 'What was the U.S. Secret War in Laos' will provide you a full understanding of the war.
Vietnam War's Most Decorated Raven: Chuck Engle Raven 26
The Ravens were a clandestine unit with a secret mission in Laos during the Vietnam War. The Ravens were airborne Forward Air Controllers (FACs) guiding and controlling airstrikes against communist North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces. Chuck Engle, Raven 26, was the most decorated Raven, and gave his life in Laos in an airplane crash just shortly before the end of his tour. The story of his most decorated missions is told by fellow Raven Craig Duehring, the longest serving Raven at Long Tieng during the war.Laos Secret War Pilot: Lee Gossett
In this video you’ll see very rare Lao War photos from Lee’s collection, listen to his stories, and hear about his flying an NBC documentary crew around Laos during the war and a quick clip from the documentary flying his Pilatus Porter. Gossett flew 5,000 accident-free hours and had over 9,000 landings.In early 1972, NBC news sent a team to Laos to film a documentary about the war called CHRONOLOG which was aired in the US. The U.S. Embassy gave the NBC team permission to enter Long Tieng, LS-20A, the first time a news team had been allowed there. Lee Gossett was assigned as the pilot to fly in his CASI porter the NBC film crew around to various Hmong villages while they filmed the documentary.
