For Specials News and Updates



ecommerce provided by Yahoo! Small Business

Certified iSafeSite Member
Laos Essential Artistry Posting Page
Saturday, April 18, 2009


We recently had a 1000 prints made of a photo montage we put together of two aerial photos we took of Long Cheng over the last two years and a black and white photo of Long Cheng taken during the height of the Secret War in 1970. We received permission from Garry Jenkins to use his photo which was featured in Gayle L. Morrison's book, Sky is Falling: An Oral History of the CIA's Evacuation of the Hmong from Laos.

Last week we sent 60 of the prints to the University of Texas at Dallas for an Air America: Upholding the Airmen's Bond symposium being held today, April 18. Garry wanted each of the participants to receive one of the prints. When they were received last week we immediately heard from one of the organizers who wrote: "Peter // I want to Thank You for your picture of Long Cheng. I flew there many times in a Helio Courier - when we called it Site 98 -and on until 1973 when it was a full blown International Airport such as your photos depict. Ah, such memories your pictures bring back. Thank Again, E G Adams / Air America"

In in a second email he wrote: "Many of the guys that will be there, know this site very well and I am sure that they will find the pictures “memory instigators”. Stuff like this is SO welcome - because many of us will never see the place again ourselves. Long Cheng was just a short dirt strip [site 98] in 1962 when I first went there. After the BS required we no longer go to 98 – they renamed it 20 Alternate [after site 20 at Sam Tong] just a ways north over the ridge and it became our major “Site” in North Laos."

If you ever read about the Secret War, and there are great books like Gayle's and Roger Warner's Shooting at the Moon, you realize how important Long Cheng was and it is amazing to be able to fly so close and low over Long Cheng today. The Lao government is still wary of allowing people to visit Long Cheng, and I can only imagine what it would be like to see it from the ground. Maybe some day...

Anyways, we have 12 x 18 inch prints available for $3 each or 2 for $5. And for laminated prints the price is $5 each or 2 for $10. Please email us if you are interested in purchasing prints.


by: Laos Essential Artistry

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

Previous Posts
Archives

Home