Laos: The Legacy

The locals call them ‘bombies’ – small bombs only about the size of a tennis ball. But, these tiny munitions have left a deadly legacy in Laos. The United States dropped a staggering 260-million bombies on Laos during the Vietnam War - the equivalent of a bombing mission every eight minutes for nine years. Many didn’t explode on impact, leaving Laos contaminated with millions of unexploded ordnance. Forty years after the end of the war, the ‘bombies’ are still taking lives and limbs – many of the victims are children. Now, a brave band of women is going where others fear to tread, to find and destroy the explosives that litter their precious land.