Patuxai Monument Vertical Runway Laos

During the Vietnam War, the United States provided Laos with funds and concrete to expand an airport in Vientiane that could serve as a base for U.S. fighter jets. The money and materials arrived before any contract was signed, so the Royal Laotian Government decided to use them differently. Instead of building the runway, they constructed Patuxai, a large war memorial honoring soldiers who died in World War II and the struggle for independence from France. The monument’s origin as a diverted airport project earned it the nickname “vertical runway.”

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