Lee Lue
Encyclopedia
Captain Lee Lue was a Laotian
Hmong
fighter bomber pilot notable for flying more combat missions than any other pilot in the Kingdom of Laos
. Lee Lue flew continuously, as many as 10 missions a day and averaging 120 combat missions a month to build a total of more than 5,000 sorties. Lee Lue was the leader of the special group of Hmong pilots flying T-28Ds
out of Long Tieng
against the Pathet Lao
and North Vietnamese positions. The group was funded by the CIA and was part of the regular Royal Lao Air Force
, but took orders directly from MR2 Commander Gen. Vang Pao. He was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and killed over Laos near Muong Suoi on July 12, 1969.
A motto attributed to him was "Fly 'til you die."
He was posthumously promoted to Major
.
ese invaded Laos. After the war ended in 1955, Lee Lue married Jou and two years later their first child, a son named Ze, was born. Lee Lue studied in Xieng Khouang city and later enrolled in teacher training school. In 1959, he took a position as an elementary school teacher in Lat Houng. He was among a handful of Hmong teachers in the entire country. As the Secret War was escalating in 1967, Touby Lyfoung
and General Vang Pao
requested volunteers for flight training in T-28s. The training took place in Thailand. With six months of flight training, Lee Lue and another volunteer, Vang Toua, became the first two Hmong T-28 fighter pilots. Lee Lue successfully flew aerial support for ground troops and built a record number of sorties.
Away from the war, Lee Lue devoted his time to studying maps, and playing cards with his comrades. Prior to his death, Lee Lue had purchased his military uniform and was waiting to receive the rank of major. "He was excited about the promotion," said his wife Jou. Hours before his death, the area of Moung Soui was under heavy enemy attack. Gen. Vang Pao then telephoned Lee Lue, who was flying from Vientiane, to see if he carried any bombs with him as he was on his way to Long Cheng. Lee Lue's T-28 was armed. Vang Pao needed Lee Lue to take out the Pathet Lao
troops in Moung Soui as they were losing ground as well as troops. On that day, Lee Lue's T-28 was hit and his plane was later found in debris. "His death is among a few soldiers I cried to," stated Vang Pao in 2006. According to Christopher Robbin's book, The Ravens, respect for Lee Lue and his skills was shared by not just the Hmong but also seasoned American pilots. Meanwhile, Vang Toua, was lost among thick clouds and never seen again.
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
Hmong
Hmong people
The Hmong , are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China...
fighter bomber pilot notable for flying more combat missions than any other pilot in the Kingdom of Laos
Kingdom of Laos
The Kingdom of Laos was a sovereign state from 1953 until December 1975, when Pathet Lao overthrew the government and created the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Given self-rule in 1949 as part of a federation with the rest of French Indochina, the 1953 Franco-Lao Treaty finally established a...
. Lee Lue flew continuously, as many as 10 missions a day and averaging 120 combat missions a month to build a total of more than 5,000 sorties. Lee Lue was the leader of the special group of Hmong pilots flying T-28Ds
T-28 Trojan
The North American Aviation T-28 Trojan is a piston-engined military trainer aircraft used by the United States Air Force and United States Navy beginning in the 1950s...
out of Long Tieng
Long Tieng
Long Tieng is a Laotian military base located in Xiangkhouang Province. During the Laotian Civil War, it served as a town and airbase operated by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States...
against the Pathet Lao
Pathet Lao
The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists...
and North Vietnamese positions. The group was funded by the CIA and was part of the regular Royal Lao Air Force
Royal Lao Air Force
The Royal Lao Air Force was the air force branch of the Military of the Royal Lao Government in the Kingdom of Laos. The RLAF, along with the Royal Lao Navy, and the Royal Lao Army, were placed under the control of the Ministry of Defense in Vientiane....
, but took orders directly from MR2 Commander Gen. Vang Pao. He was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and killed over Laos near Muong Suoi on July 12, 1969.
A motto attributed to him was "Fly 'til you die."
He was posthumously promoted to Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
.
Biography
Lee Lue was born in 1935 to Chong Ger Lee and his wife Pa Vang in the village of Phou Pheng in Xiangkhoang Province. In 1953, Lee Lue's family moved to Xieng Khouang city after the VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese invaded Laos. After the war ended in 1955, Lee Lue married Jou and two years later their first child, a son named Ze, was born. Lee Lue studied in Xieng Khouang city and later enrolled in teacher training school. In 1959, he took a position as an elementary school teacher in Lat Houng. He was among a handful of Hmong teachers in the entire country. As the Secret War was escalating in 1967, Touby Lyfoung
Touby Lyfoung
Touby Lyfoung was a Hmong political and military leader. Born in 1917 in Nong Het, Laos, he became the first Hmong politician to achieve national prominence...
and General Vang Pao
Vang Pao
Vang Pao was a Lieutenant General in the Royal Lao Army. He was an ethnic Hmong and a leader of the Hmong American community in the United States.-Early life:...
requested volunteers for flight training in T-28s. The training took place in Thailand. With six months of flight training, Lee Lue and another volunteer, Vang Toua, became the first two Hmong T-28 fighter pilots. Lee Lue successfully flew aerial support for ground troops and built a record number of sorties.
Away from the war, Lee Lue devoted his time to studying maps, and playing cards with his comrades. Prior to his death, Lee Lue had purchased his military uniform and was waiting to receive the rank of major. "He was excited about the promotion," said his wife Jou. Hours before his death, the area of Moung Soui was under heavy enemy attack. Gen. Vang Pao then telephoned Lee Lue, who was flying from Vientiane, to see if he carried any bombs with him as he was on his way to Long Cheng. Lee Lue's T-28 was armed. Vang Pao needed Lee Lue to take out the Pathet Lao
Pathet Lao
The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists...
troops in Moung Soui as they were losing ground as well as troops. On that day, Lee Lue's T-28 was hit and his plane was later found in debris. "His death is among a few soldiers I cried to," stated Vang Pao in 2006. According to Christopher Robbin's book, The Ravens, respect for Lee Lue and his skills was shared by not just the Hmong but also seasoned American pilots. Meanwhile, Vang Toua, was lost among thick clouds and never seen again.
See also
- Air America (airline)
- Battle of Lima Site 85Battle of Lima Site 85The Battle of Lima Site 85, also called Battle of Phou Pha Thi, was fought as part of a military campaign waged during the Vietnam War and Laotian Civil War by the Vietnam People’s Army and the Pathet Lao, against airmen of the United States Air Force 1st Combat Evaluation Group, elements of the ...
- Groupement de Commandos Mixtes AéroportésGroupement de Commandos Mixtes AéroportésThe Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aéroportés commonly referred as just GCMA, was the "Action Service" of the SDECE French counter-intelligence service active during the Cold War...
GCMA Laos - History of Laos since 1945History of Laos since 1945For Laotian history before 1945, see History of Laos to 1945.Note: this article follows the system for transliterating Lao names used in Martin Stuart-Fox's History of Laos...
- Laos MemorialLaos MemorialThe Laos Memorial is a small memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, located between the path to the JFK memorial and the Tomb of the Unknowns, in Arlington, Virginia, in the United States. The memorial commemorates the veterans of the "Secret War" in Laos....
- Laotian Civil War aka the "Secret War" in Laos
- North Vietnamese invasion of LaosNorth Vietnamese invasion of LaosThe North Vietnamese invaded Laos between 1958–1959.Souvanna Phouma announced that with the holding of elections the Royal Lao Government had fulfilled the political obligations it had assumed at Geneva, and the International Control Commission adjourned sine die...
- Vang Sue
- General Vang PaoVang PaoVang Pao was a Lieutenant General in the Royal Lao Army. He was an ethnic Hmong and a leader of the Hmong American community in the United States.-Early life:...
External links
Further reading
- Jane Hamilton-Merritt (1999). Tragic Mountains. ISBN 0253207568
- Robert Curry (2004). Whispering Death, "Tuag Nco Ntsoov": ...Our Journey with the Hmong in the Secret War for Laos ...Lub caij peb thiab Hmoob koom tes ua ntsug rog ntsiag to nyob Los Tsuas teb. ISBN 0595318096