The Ravens: The True Story of a Secret War (36 page)

War bled the Meo nation of its men until only children remained to fill the ranks. A child holds a white phosphorous marking rocket before it is loaded on a Raven O-1 Bird Dog.
(Pic: Private collection of Michael Cavanaugh)

Prince Mangkhra Phouma, the son of the prime minister, poses with a Meo soldier on the Plain of Jars in 1969. The boy had been singled out for distinction for his high number of enemy ‘kills’.
(Pic: Private collection of William Keeler)

Many of the Meo boy soldiers were so young they were scarcely bigger than their weapons.
(Pic: Private collection of Chad Swedberg)

Republic F-105 ‘Thunderchief’ - nicknamed ‘the Thud’
(Pic: USAF photo)

Air Force CH-3 helicopter used in Jolly Green Giant search-and-rescue operations.
(Pic: USAF photo)

An A-1 Skyraider, flown by the Air Commandos out of the secret Nakhon Phanom air base across the Mekong in Thailand.
(Pic: Mesaris collection)

A Raven using a T-28 as an FAC plane. Note the marking rockets under the wing and grease-pencil, bomb-damage-assessment notes covering the cockpit.
(Pic: Mesaris collection)

The golden gun - a .45 revolver - and its hand-tooled holster.
(Pic: Cavanaugh collection)

Chuck Engle and “spook” relax against a bomb between missions.
(Pic: Mesaris collection)

The Raven bar, tastefully decorated with parachutes. A favourite hang-out of Air America pilots and Ravens - the bears lived in a cage just outside.
(Pic: EAPLS Archives)

The presentation by Mike Cavanaugh of Ross Perot’s golden .45 to Gen. Vang Pao. From left: U Va Lee “The Indian”, Mike Cavanaugh, Gen. Vang Pao, Burr Smith “Mr Clean”.
(Pic: Cavanaugh collection)

Lee Lu, the Meo fighter pilot with five thousand combat missions, regarded by his American peers as one of the very best.
(Pic: Cavanaugh collection)

The funeral of Lee Lu. Gen. Vang Pao walks in front of the coffin while his comrades-in-arms gather around.
(Pic: Cavanaugh collection)