A Minnesota PBS Initiative
History of the Domino Theory
The Red Scare played a huge role in the Vietnam War and the lesser known Secret War, waged concurrently in neighboring Laos. President Dwight D. Eisenhower feared that if Laos fell to Communism, the entire Eastern Hemisphere would become a threat to democracy. To secure the Vietnamese border, the CIA recruited Hmong people to fight as surrogate soldiers of the U.S. armed forces.
This excerpt is from Twin Cities PBS's documentary Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: America's Secret War.
Learn more at the bottom of the page.
About Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: America's Secret War
In the shadows of the Vietnam War, the CIA conducted a secret war in Laos that relied on Hmong soldiers to prevent the threat of communism from spreading deeper into Southeast Asia. Tens of thousands died, both in the fight and in the escape.
Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: America's Secret War explores the untold, turbulent history.
Story Themes: America's Secret War, Center for Hmong Studies, Communism, Domino Theory, Geneva Convention, Hmong, John F. Kennedy, Laos, Lee Pao Xiong, Neutralists, Royal Lao Army, Saint Paul, Secret War, St Paul, Vientiane Peace Accord, Yang Dao