Anti-Cluster Munitions Campaigners Call on Biden White House to Answer Basic Questions Regarding Recent U.S. Transfers of Indiscriminate Cluster Munitions to Ukraine

Ukraine has said the weapons, banned by many countries, are necessary to battle Russia

Today marks exactly fifty years since the last cluster bombs were dropped in Laos.

Cluster bombs were dropped across Laos and Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Many didn’t explode, and remain a danger nearly 50 years after the war ended.

Former U.S. Ambassadors to Cambodia Urge the President to Reconsider Cluster Munitions

Former U.S. Ambassadors to Laos Urge the President to Reconsider Cluster Munitions

The weapon is banned by many countries. NPR's Michel Martin talks to Sera Koulabdara of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalition, about why the U.S. think it's worth the risk.

Danae Hendrickson is the Chief of Mission Advancement & Communications for the organization Legacies of War. Legacies of War is an educational and advocacy group working to address the impact of the American Secret War.

This special award is given in honor of Sera’s passion and dedication to Legacies' mission. Under her leadership...

50 years ago today, during the Lao new year, the US blew up my father’s village, leaving a legacy of unexploded munitions.

"What I want my boys to know is something that my family has spent generations trying to understand..."

Philly’s southeast Asian community is done hiding.

Despite being banned, anti-personnel landmines and unexploded submunitions still litter fields from Bosnia to Bangladesh. And they’re even being used in Ukraine. Does that mean the treaties that ban their use aren’t working? Experts say the story isn’t so simple.

The board members of Legacies of War and its community partners visited the Lao PDR to review efforts to remove unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the Southeast Asian country.

From the desk and makeshift studio of our Chief of Staff, Aleena Inthaly

A new online library documents the CIA-led campaign that made it the most bombed nation in history, the effects of which are still felt by Laotian Americans today.

The president promised to reverse his predecessor’s embrace of these indiscriminate weapons of war but has so far yet to act.

Many fear that Ukraine, which has received many cluster bombs from the US, will become the next unfortunate casualty to share Laos' fate.

Exactly 50 years since the bombing stopped in Laos HALO is still clearing up unexploded bombs in the landlocked South East Asian country. JJ Chalmers talks to Sera Koulabdara, CEO of Legacies of War and to William Hunter, who runs HALO's Laos programme.

SEAD's Kaysone Syonesa Schneider sits down with Legacies of War's Aleena Inthaly & Danae Hendrickson.

A fatal blast caused by suspected UXO in Phiang District, Xayaboury Province has claimed the lives of two children.

Fifty years after the last bombs were dropped on Laos, unexploded cluster munitions continue to be dangerous making the U.S. decision to send cluster weapons to Ukraine controversial.

With cluster bombs, the killing doesn't stop when the war ends. Wherever they land, children playing, gardening, herding cattle or digging an irrigation canal decades later all become dangerous.

"America is sending another deadly weapon to help Ukraine fight Russia. The Associated Press reported the White House has approved Ukraine's request for cluster munitions — bombs and artillery shells that open in the air to release dozens or hundreds of "bomblets" to destroy multiple targets at once."

When Lee Po Cha traveled to Laos in November 2022, he was given the opportunity to detonate a bomb. It was the first time in 48 years he had been back to his birth country.

A discussion on how a small group of persistent and dedicated actors in both countries have led efforts to heal the legacies of war

It’s time for the US to finally clean up the unexploded ordnance it left behind in Laos during its “secret war.”

All that was accomplished by using these inhumane weapons was to leave a trail of destruction that remains to this day, and a deep sense of regret for U.S. veterans like myself.

In my birth country, since the last bomb was dropped 50 years ago, only 1% of the contaminated area has been cleared, posing danger to children walking to school and farmers working their land.

Ms. Sera Koulabdara, the head of the Legacies Of War, was recently elected as the Chair of the USCBL-CMC (US Campaign to Ban Landmines-Cluster Munition Coalition)

Col. Mike Burton makes his first visit back to Laos nearly 50 years after he was deployed to serve in the American Secret War, this time to address the impact and support the clearance of UXO

Most Americans learn something about the Vietnam War at school. Fewer learn about the shadow war that was being fought alongside it.

As a war refugee from Laos, I call on America to resolve the deadly legacy of its secret war in my birth country.

Retired Air Force officer Mike Burton was selected to be the board chairman of Legacies of War.

‘short-sighted, inhumane, and a complete disregard for intl law’

Cambodia and Laos have direct experience with the aftermath of U.S. cluster bombs, now deployed on the battlefield in Ukraine.

In July, U.S. President Joe Biden made the controversial decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine. Though neither the United States, Ukraine nor Russia is party to the 2008 convention outlawing them...

Southeast Asian countries are warning about the long-term dangers of cluster bombs in Ukraine after the United States sent the explosives to Kyiv earlier this month for use in their drive to recapture territory seized during Russia’s invasion.

Any battlefield advantage is outweighed by the death and destruction these weapons cause.

"We strongly condemn the use of cluster munitions by all parties in the war in Ukraine and call for the immediate end to the use of these horrific weapons anywhere in the world," said chair of the CMC and CEO of Legacies of War Sera Koulabdara, who was quoted in the release.

“I applaud the NDAA amendment proposed by Reps. Jacobs and Rep. Omar,” Sera Koulabdara, CEO of the advocacy group Legacies of War, told RS. “I urge them and other leaders to continue to stand on the side of the basic human rights to live free from the fear of cluster munitions and speak out publicly to their colleagues and the American people.”

We are Celebrating and shining the light on amazing Women and Girls from all walks of life, who are walking in their power, leading and inspiring change around the world.

Monday marks 50 years since the U.S. ended its nine-year bombing of Laos. Traditional textiles with missiles, grenades and attack planes offer a haunting glimpse of the attacks.

What impacts do UXO have on the environment?

Many of us experience generational trauma and mental health issues, and they impact our life and career choices.

The US must heed its former president’s call and rid the US arsenal of these indiscriminate weapons.

My father's fellow pilots were shot down a week after the Paris Peace Accords were signed 50 years ago. The crash fed his post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor's guilt endlessly.

Sera Koulabdara is the Executive Director of Legacies of War. In this episode, Eugene sits down with Sera in the beginning of a three part series with Legacies of War to provide some background on the Laos bombings conducted during the American "Secret War" on Laos and how it resulted in family separation, both for Sera's family and others.

From 1964 to 1973, the U.S. dropped more than two million tons of ordnance over Laos. Central Ohio is now home to tens of thousands of Laotian-Americans.

The experience led me to America – and to legacies of both fashion and war