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Cluster Bomb Legacy
Retired US Air Force officer Mike Burton, the board chairman of Legacies of War, an organization that raises awareness about the history of the bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War, now chairs the US Campaign to Ban Landmines & Cluster Munitions Coalition.
Episode 2561 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about why USAF Vietnam Vet Mike Burton regrets his part in the dropping of cluster bombs during the Vietnam War. The featured story is titled, US veteran in Vietnam War regrets dropping cluster bombs. It appeared in the Global Times. The Global Times of Beijing, China was launched in April 2009. According to its website, the Global Times takes great pains to present facts and views that could help the readers better understand China.
Mike Burton was commissioned in the USAF in 1962 and spent the early years of his Air Force career in Special Operations. He was assigned to the 56th Air Commando Wing in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand in 1966 as the US was building up its bombing missions into Laos. The 56th was heavily involved in interdiction warfare against the Ho Chi Minh Trail that ran through Laos.
Back in episode 2554 of this podcast the issue of cluster bomb use by the US during the American Vietnam War was discussed. It was pointed out that 280,000 tons of cluster bombs were dropped over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the War. Unfortunately 80,000 of those dropped cluster bombs did not detonate. To this day, thousands of people in those countries have died or been maimed by unexploded cluster bomb-lets.
It was pointed out in the episode that our president has decided the US will provide Ukraine with cluster bombs because the US is running short of ammunition. In episode 2554 it was suggested that the decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine is madness.
Mike Burton participated in the delivery of cluster bombs in the war. Today he regrets his part in the bombing.
Burton said this about the situation: “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 US veterans like myself.”
Listen to episode 2561 and discover more about why USAF Vietnam Vet Mike Burton regrets his part in the dropping of cluster bombs during the Vietnam War.
