Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Laos on Sunday ahead of a major push by the Obama administration to fix a decades-old wrong: clearing up leftover Vietnam-era U.S. bombs.
Kerry's visit will help usher in a new partnership with a former wartime foe and end a dark American legacy that has lingered since the end of the Vietnam War. It also comes ahead of next month's summit in Sunnylands, California, between President Barack Obama and 10 Southeast Asian leaders, and a landmark trip by the President to Laos this fall.
While there, the President is expected to announce a major initiative to help clear leftover Vietnam-era bombs, aides told CNN.
After decades of estrangement and suspicion, relations between the tiny, Communist-ruled country and the United States have improved under Obama. Three years ago, Kerry's predecessor, Hillary Clinton, was the first secretary of state to visit Laos since 1955.
In recent years, the Obama administration has increased programs to help Southeast Asian countries along the Mekong River -- Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam -- by improving their infrastructure, health and education systems while quietly expanding U.S. influence in the region as a counterweight to China.
But for Laos, Washington's forward-looking regional agenda is held hostage to its prior actions. While then-Navy Lt. Kerry was serving in Vietnam, the CIA led a bombing campaign next door in Laos as part of what was dubbed the "Secret War."
How to clear the bombs
Cleaning up unexploded ordnance is a slow and dangerous progress, but it's one that is getting easier, thanks to advances in technology and training of those doing the clearance. The Laos government is in the process of mapping out where all of the bombs in left the country exist, informed by records supplied by the Pentagon about where U.S. warplanes dropped them. With a clearer picture, the government can identify priority areas for clearance.
Now it's a matter of resources. Currently only a small team of dedicated State Department officials, government employees and NGO workers in Laos focus on clearance activities, mine risk education and victim assistance.