Word: mekong
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...held portions of Laos with ease. In case of battle, U.S. combat troops would probably not be the first to go into action in Laos. Instead, U.S.-manned helicopters and transports would drop guerrilla forces of Thais, Pakistanis and Filipinos into the fighting sectors while U.S. troops occupied the Mekong River valley towns from Savannakhet through Paksane and Vientiane, up to Luangprabang; this would provide strong defense for the towns while freeing 12,000 Laotian soldiers for action. Meanwhile. U.S. guerrillas would move in and beef up training of the native groups...
...Xang. A branch of the Thai peoples, the Lao were driven out of southern China by Kublai Khan in the 13th century and fled south to the valleys of the Mekong behind a legendary king, Khun Borom, who rode "a white elephant with beautiful black lips and eyelids." There was, a century later, a brief foray at empire. King Fah Ngum, born with a set of 33 pointed teeth, grabbed all of present-day Laos and part of Thailand by elephant charge and labeled it all Lan Xang Horn Khao, "Land of the Million Elephants and the W'hite...
...Vatthana, a rather puritanical fellow, found himself at sharp odds with his father. King Sisavang Vong, who considered polygamy a foundation stone of the Laotian way of life. Once a year it was his father's royal pleasure to take a leisurely 40-day boat ride down the Mekong to Vientiane, picking and choosing from the new crop of maidens in the villages as he passed. The palace swarmed with royalty who were all half or full brothers and sisters of the future King...
...stronghold, the central Plaine des Jarres. But the royal soldiers were in no hurry either to move into the junction or follow the rebels east. Main reason: Prince Boun Oum and his government, composed of six relatives and numerous friends, had flown south to Paksé in the lush Mekong River valley to celebrate an annual two-day festival at the crumbling temple of Wat Phou. Prince Boun Oum offered flowers and personally supervised the lighting of fragrant sandalwood sticks...
Marching north to do battle with the Communists, Royal Laotian soldiers tossed hand grenades in the Nam Song River and jumped in afterward to scoop up the stunned banana fish that floated to the surface. They swam, roasted pigs and fish over open fires, and drank plenty of Mekong rice whisky, paid for by their commanding officer and flown in every day by Sikorsky helicopters manned by U.S. civilian pilots...