Fred Branfman

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Fred Branfman (2010)

Frederick Robert Branfman (born March 18, 1942 in New York City , New York , † September 24, 2014 in Budapest , Hungary ) was an American anti-war activist and author of a number of books on the Vietnam War . In 1969, Branfman exposed the widespread bombing of Laotian civilians by the US Army during the Vietnam War.

Life

In 1969, Branfman was working as an advisor to the US government in Laos when thousands of people fled the US bombing in the Lao capital Vientiane in September 1969 . US officials whom he interviewed told him that the Americans had nothing to do with the bombs. Branfman then started his own investigation. Previously working as a translator for the international media and speaking fluent Lao, he interviewed a large number of refugees who reported on the bombings. In the fall of 1970 traveled Branfman for an interview with former US officer Jerome Brown to Bangkok . From this he learned that the US pilots dropped their bombs from great heights and used existing craters or villages as a basis for target selection. Branfman passed on his information to the two journalists Henry Kamm and Sydney Schanberg and Ted Koppel of ABC employed by the New York Times and published his own articles in Harper's Magazine , Playboy , The New Republic , Washington Post and the New York Times. On April 22, 1971, Branfman addressed the Edward Kennedy Senate Subcommittee on Refugees in Capitol Hill , Washington.

He later worked as a political advisor to California Governors Jerry Brown , Gary Hart, and Tom Hayden .

Branfman last lived in Budapest and worked as a writer. He died there on September 24, 2014 at the age of 72 from complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis .

Works (selection)

  • The Third Indochina War . Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, Nottingham 1979, ISBN 0-85124-048-8 .
  • The Old Man. A Biographical Account of a Lao Villager . University of Amherst, Amherst, Mass. 1979.
  • Voices from The Plain of Jars. Life Under an Air War . Harper & Row, New York 1972.
  • Life under the bombs. Project Air War . Harper & Row, New York 1972, ISBN 0-06-090300-7 .
  • The Village of the Deep Pond, Ban Xa Phang Meuk, Laos (International Area Studies Programs). University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. 1978.

Web links

Commons : Fred Branfman  - collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ^ A b Matt Schudel: Fred Branfman, who exposed secret US bombing of Laos, dies at 72 ( Washington Post , October 4, 2014, accessed October 6, 2014)
  2. ^ Christopher Hitchens: The Trial of Henry Kissinger Verso-Verlag, London / New York 2002, pp. 39-40
personal data
SURNAME Branfman, Fred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Branfman, Fred Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American anti-war activist and author
DATE OF BIRTH March 18, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 2014
Place of death Budapest , Hungary