ラオス秘密戦争（続）

FAC（Forward air controller; 前線航空管制官）任務に就いていたレジナルド・ハソーン少佐は状況を理解していた。わかっていないのはマクナマラと国防省だった。

"It simply was not possible with the tactics we used and the amount of pilots and aircraft we had available to us, though we ad many. Laos was bombed and bombed, but still the enemy came. We pilots knew it was a lost cause, but McNamara and the Pentagon apparently did not." (Reginald Hathorn "Here There Are Tigers", p.66)

いくらホーチミン・ルートを叩いても，状況は悪くなるばかりだった。ラオス領内に確保していた親米領域"Cricket West"は日々縮小する一方だった。

"Despite our most valiant efforts, Cricket West was slowly being eaten up by the PLO and the NVA. You could see the area shrinking daily, cratered and bare. It was bombed and burned into oblivion." (ibid., p.54)

それでもパイロットたちの奮闘は続いた。