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Press and Media

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LATEST FEATURE - Press Release

College Students' Open Letter to Honorable Marco Rubio, Secretary of State

"College Students' Open Letter to Honorable Marco Rubio, Secretary of State"

Mar 17, 2025

For decades, college students have been at the forefront of advocating for peace, including during the Vietnam War, when young people across the U.S. mobilized in mass protests against the conflict.

By College Students in the U.S.

"Federal foreign aid funding freeze likely delays DPAA MIA investigations in Southeast Asia"

Feb 20, 2025

By Heather Moore Atherton, Stars and Stripes

80 million US bombs still unexploded in Laos. Clearing them relies on Trump aid. | Opinion

Feb 11, 2025

Continued US funding is needed to resolve the impact of our deadly legacy and create a brighter future for my students and their families.

By: Stephen White, USA Today

"16 US envoys urge Rubio to unfreeze funds for global mine clearance"

Feb 5, 2025

In a letter shared with TRT World, former ambassadors to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam press Secretary of State Marco Rubio to help resume US-funded mine clearance programmes.

By Baba Umar, TRT World, ft. Sera Koulabdara

"US halts global de-mining operations"

Jan 31, 2025

The pause will lead to a surge in avoidable deaths, aid groups say

By Rebecca Root, The Telegraph, ft. Sera Koulabdara

"War Legacies Working Group Names New Co-Chairs"

Jan 28, 2025

The WLWG is proud to announce Susan Hammond of the War Legacies Project and Sera Koulabdara with Legacies of War as co-chairs for 2025

Stimson Center

Child Victims of UXO Injuries Deserve Better

Aug 12, 2024

On International Youth Day, experts write from Laos, where children continue to die in a war that ended over 50 years ago.

By Rebecca Derry with Hannah Wild & Danae Hendrickson

"Children hit hard as landmine casualties almost triple in Myanmar"

Apr 4, 2024

Buried bombs are robbing children of their limbs as landmine as casualties rise to 1,052 in Myanmar

By Sarah Newey, ft. Sera Koulabdara, The Telegraph

"The Legacies of War"

Mar 28, 2024

Mike Burton ’71, ’74 wants the US to clear the bombs it left behind in Laos 50 years ago.

By Jessica Murphy Moo

"The Sticky Rice Model: Legacies of War's Approach to Community Engagement"

Jan 31, 2024

As someone from an impacted community, Anna made the decision to reconnect with her Lao roots.

Youth Democracy Cohort ft. Anna Phommachanthone

"Vancouver resident uses his own battles to help serve fellow Vietnam veterans"

Jan 25, 2024

Since the early age of 25, Mike Burton was raised with the belief that America was the best country in the world. But soon his perception and view of the world changed.

By Shikha Shahdeo, ft. Mike Burton

"Fifty Years of Living With America's Unexploded Bombs"

Dec 21, 2023

Laos Was Collateral Damage in the U.S.’ Secret War. The Wounds Are Visible in the Land and in Generations Still Waiting on Justice

By Sera Koulabdara, ZÓCALO Magazine

"Henry Kissinger’s Cluster Bombs Are Still Killing People in Southeast Asia"

Nov 30, 2023

A half-century after the war “ended,” people in Vietnam Laos, and Cambodia try to live their lives in a land riddled with unexploded ordinance that still kill and maim civilians.

By Danae Hendrickson, The Daily Beast

"US ATACMs in Ukraine gamble with future civilians' lives"

Oct 21, 2023

Rockets from the advanced weapons system carry hundreds of cluster bombs, many of which will live on long after the war is over.

By Titus Peachey, Responsible Statecraft

US human rights organizations condemn cluster munitions aid to Ukraine

Aug 31, 2023

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

Hu Yuwei, ft. Sera Koulabdara, Global Times

Ukraine Can Learn From Southeast Asia

Aug 15, 2023

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

Verena Hölzl, Foreign Policy

Ukraine’s Cluster Bomb Dilemma — with Sera Koulabdara, Romeo Kokriatski and Danny Postel

Aug 3, 2023

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...

Danny Postel, ft. Sera Koulabdara, Romeo Kokriatski, The Lede Podcast

"The US left landmines in Vietnam. An aid freeze won't erase that."

Feb 28, 2025

Southeast Asia is still riddled with unexploded American bombs and effects of Agent Orange, both of which USAID programs were helping to mitigate.

By Susan Hammond and Sera Koulabdara, Responsible Statecraft

"Cambodian mine-clearing program reels after Trump's USAID funding suspension"

Feb 14, 2025

“I am over here because my mother told me as a little kid to clean up after myself,” said Bill Morse, who was a U.S. Army officer during the Vietnam War and co-founded the Landmine Relief Fund.

By Anton L. Delgado and Janis Mackey Frayer, NBC News, ft. Danae Hendrickson

"Musk and Trump’s war on ‘Marxist’ foreign aid"

Feb 10, 2025

Roland Oliphant speaks to Sera Koulabdara, CEO of Legacies of War, about the halt of de-mining work in southeast Asia and why it is essential for American influence in China's backyard.

Battle Lines Podcast, ft. Sera Koulabdara

"After War, Leftover Bombs Kill. Trump Froze Funding for Cleaning Them Up."

Feb 5, 2025

Some “demining” groups have already been forced to suspend operations.

By Sophie Hurwitz, Mother Jones, ft. Sera Koulabdara

"U.S. Campaign expresses deep concern over suspension of funds for mine clearance and victim assistance"

Jan 29, 2025

The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines – U.S. Cluster Munition Coalition is deeply concerned about the global impact of President Trump’s 90 day stop work order for U.S. foreign assistance programming that suspends U.S.-funded mine clearance programs.

U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines

The Japanese tech that could one day make Southeast Asia landmine-free

Oct 7, 2024

The eyes of a trio of Cambodian deminers widen as they watch Motoyuki Sato demonstrate the latest upgrades to one of the world’s most advanced landmine detectors.

By Anton L. Delgado, ft. Danae Hendrickson

Legacies of War Strives for a Legacy of Peace

Jul 16, 2024

As a young child in Champassak Province, southern Laos, after coming home from school one day, Sera Koulabdara heard loud banging...

By Marc Yablonka, Hmong Daily News

"US Cluster Munition Transfers Raise Humanitarian Concerns"

Apr 4, 2024

As the US Cluster Munition Coalition recommends, President Biden should to immediately halt the transfer of cluster munitions given the significant humanitarian, human rights, and political risks involved.

By Sera Koulabdara and Mary Wareham, Humanitarian Disarmament

"Ukraine's vaunted 'bread basket' soil is now toxic"

Feb 29, 2024

Two years of war has left roughly one-third of its territory polluted, with dire potential consequences for the world's food supply

By Dr. Olena Melnyk, Sera Koulabdara, Responsible Statecraft

"Kissinger memorial draws angry protesters of Israel war. Vietnam War families can relate."

Jan 30, 2024

POW/MIA families won't forget that presidential adviser Henry Kissinger helped Richard Nixon not only to manipulate a war but also to abandon U.S. troops.

By Heather Atherton, USA Today

"What would you do, if your mother had a secret that she kept from you?"

Jan 25, 2024

Meet Jessica Pearce Rotondi...These documents brought to light a family ghost: her uncle Jack, who disappeared during the CIA-led “Secret War”...

By
Shikha Shahdeo, ft. Jessica Pearce Rotondi

"The US Bombed My Country Thanks to People like Henry Kissinger"

Dec 5, 2023

From Vietnam to Laos to Cambodia, Henry Kissinger's legacy of devastation and war still lives on after his death.

By Khamsone Sirimanivong, Pajouablai Monica Lee, Inkstick Media

"Dispatch: The invisible killer haunting Laos 50 years after the Vietnam War"

Nov 26, 2023

Laos was heavily bombed between 1964 and 1973 and unexploded munitions are littered, dormant but deadly, across much of the country

By Sarah Newey, ft. Sera Koulabdara, The Telegraph

USCMC Press Release: Questions Regarding Recent U.S. Transfer Cluster Munitions to Ukraine

Sep 11, 2023

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

Sera Koulabdara, Chair, U.S. Cluster Munition Coalition and CEO, Legacies of War (sera@legaciesofwar.org); Steve Goose, Chair of the International Cluster Munitions Coalition (gooses@hrw.org)

U.S. provided Ukraine with cluster bombs to fight Russia. Survivors say they should never be used

Aug 19, 2023

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

Nick Logan, CBC News

'It is a year of remembrance': The legacy of cluster bombs in Laos fifty years on

Aug 14, 2023

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

Tom Crann and Ngoc Bui, All Things Considered: Minnesota Public Radio

Hmong community recalls devastation of cluster bombs as Biden promises bombs for Ukraine

Aug 2, 2023

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.

Hibah Ansari, ft. Sera Koulabdara, Sahan Journal

"Ukraine once fed 400 million people worldwide. Freezing aid worsens global crisis."

Feb 23, 2025

Ukraine, a top grain exporter because of its fertile soil, is now the most heavily mined country. The cost to demine it is expected to exceed $30 billion.

By Dr. Olena Melnyk and Sera Koulabdara, USA Today

"Mine Action Fellows Open Letter to Secretary of State Honorable Marco Rubio"

Feb 13, 2025

As Mine Action Fellows, we urge you to immediately lift the 90-day stop-work order on U.S. foreign assistance programming, which has suspended the U.S. funded demining efforts.

From: Global Youth Mine Action Fellows

"Joint Letter from Ambassadors (retired) to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam: U.S. 90 Day Freeze on Foreign Aid"

Feb 5, 2025

Open Letter to Secretary of State, Hon. Marco Rubio

Press Release

"From Cambodia to Colombia, US aid freeze defuses landmine removals"

Feb 4, 2025

US decision to pause global mine-clearing programmes is a death sentence for vulnerable communities of some 70 countries and territories, campaigners tell TRT World.

By Baba Umar, TRT World, ft. Sera Koulabdara

"‘A Good Chance People Are Going to Die’, as U.S. Halts Funding for Mine Clearing"

Jan 28, 2025

Large swaths of land in Southeast Asia are littered with unexploded bombs dropped by American forces during the Vietnam War.

By Sui-Lee Wee and Anton L. Delgado,The New York Times, ft. Sera Koulabdara

Meet H.E. Amb. Anouparb Vongnorkeo, 8th Permanent Representative of the Lao PDR to the UN

Aug 14, 2024

Join our Youth Advocacy Ambassador, Layla Lahlou, as she interviews H.E. Ambassador Anouparb Vongnorkeo, 8th Permanent Representative of the Lao PDR to the United Nations (UN).

By Legacies of War's Youth Advocacy Ambassador, Layla Lahlou

"How Laos Can Lead ASEAN on Environmental Issues"

Apr 19, 2024

As the world’s most bombed country per capita, Laos knows all too well of the dangers that lurk just inches beneath its soil.

By: Sera Koulabdara, Inkstick Media

Legacies of the Vietnam War - Scars of War in Indochina

Mar 29, 2024

What are the impacts and lasting effects of the bombardments of Agent Orange, napalm, and other explosive ordnance on Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam? How has this affected the country and its people?

Columbia University, Weatherhead East Asian Institute

"From Conflict to Compassion: A Veteran's Tale - Mike Burton"

Feb 13, 2024

In 1962, Mike Burton was commissioned in the US Air Force. Stationed in Thailand, he worked in intelligence and was...

By The Plunge with Garrett Hayes, ft. Mike Burton

"Legacies of War - Unexploded Munitions in Southeast Asia"

Jan 25, 2024

Danae talks about the organization's beginnings, current focus, and future plans.

By Everyday Nonviolence Podcast, ft. Danae Hendrickson

"Growing up as a Lao American"

Jan 25, 2024

Dr. Palina Louangketh is a former Lao refugee from Pakse, Laos who moved with family to Boise-Idaho, during the Vietnam war-era bombing in Laos.

By Shikha Shahdeo, ft. Dr. Palina Louangketh

"'My blood boils': Kissinger's bitter legacy in Southeast Asia"

Dec 2, 2023

As global tributes to late US diplomat Henry Kissinger poured in, his death stirred fury across Southeast Asia.

By: Rose Troup Buchanan, Ft. Sera Koulabdara, France 24

"Some military families are still awaiting their veteran’s return — 50 years later"

Nov 10, 2023

This year marks 50 years since the last prisoner of war was released from captivity in Operation Homecoming in 1973.

By Heather Atherton, The Sacramento Bee

Witness to history: US veteran in Vietnam War regrets dropping cluster bombs, feels hurt to see Ukraine repeat the nightmare

Aug 31, 2023

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

Hu Yuwei and Wang Wenwen, ft. Mike Burton, Global Times

Laos 50 Years On

Aug 17, 2023

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.

Beyond Bombs with JJ Chalmers

Declassified: A Conversation with Legacies of War

Aug 10, 2023

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

The SEAD Project

Past

“Meet SapSap, a Racine-Area Laotian Restaurant With a Cause”

Dec 3, 2021

The Asian fusion restaurant in Racine County serves up meals with the goal of educating people about Laos’ history and culture and raising awareness about the effects of Secret War in Laos.

By Jonathon Sadowski, Upnorth News

“America’s Secret War in Laos Uncovered”

Sep 9, 2016

More bombs were dropped on Laos than over Germany and Japan in WWII combined.

ByBob Woodruff and Karson Yiu, ABC News

“Obama to Announce $90 Million Package to Clear Laos’ Unexploded Bombs”

Sep 6, 2016

President Barack Obama said Tuesday that US has an “obligation” to help Laos recover from a brutal secret bombing campaign that destroyed parts of the Southeast Asian nation.

By Elisa Labbott, CNN

“U.S. Bombs Dropped Decades Ago in Laos Still Killing People”

Sep 5, 2016

A U.S. secret operation in Laos that ended 43 years ago is still creating fresh wounds.

By Adriana Diaz, CBS News

“Why Biden must reverse Trump policy on landmines now”

Apr 8, 2021

These destructive weapons continue to kill decades after formal cessations of hostilities.

By Sera Koulabdara, Responsible Statecraft

“After War, A New Legacy of Peace in Laos”

Sep 7, 2016

When I was 6 years old, my family fled Laos, a country in Southeast Asia the size of Minnesota. As refugees welcomed by the United States, my parents’ wish for their children was to not look back, but to take every opportunity provided in our new homeland to live a happy, fulfilled life .

By Channapha Khamvongsa, The Medium

“Obama Heads to Laos for ASEAN Summit, Historic Visit”

Sep 5, 2016

The deadly legacy of U.S. bombings over Laos during the Vietnam War still lingers to this day.

By Ron Allen, NBC News

“Obama to Address Lethal Legacy of Secret War in Laos”

Sep 5, 2016

Yianyang Bounxieng remembers playing with bombs as a child growing up in Xieng Khouang...

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Reuters

“The Fight to Demine Laos”

May 11, 2017

While imagery of the “American War” in Vietnam was being blasted across newspaper front pages, radio stations, and televisions in the U.S., the Nixon administration and the CIA were secretly showering its neighbors, the small, land-locked Laos, and Cambodia, with millions of bombs...

By Claire Knox, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

“The Heroes Behind Obama’s Historic Announcement in Laos”

Sep 6, 2016

The United States will devote $90 million to finding and disposing of 50-year-old unexploded bombs.

By John Cavanagh, The Nation

“My Friends Were Afraid of Me: What 80 Million Unexploded US Bombs did to Laos”

Sep 5, 2016

For two years after the accident, Yei Yang refused to leave his home.

By Rebecca Wright, CNN

"Barack Obama lands in Laos for first U.S. presidential visit"

Sep 5, 2016

President Obama arrives in Vientiane, Laos for the first time.

By Josh Lederman and Kathleen Hennessey, The Associated Press

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CONTACT US

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1001 Avenue of the Americas

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New York, NY 10018

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