The 1968 invasion of Laos occurred in early 1968 when the United States launched a classified incursion into Laos to both destroy the communist guerrillas in the region, as well as to locate the crash site of a Soviet commercial plane that had been shot down by the CIA while carrying the Nova 6 chemical weapon. The Americans set up their base along the Mekong River and sent a flotilla of PBRs to head upriver, covered by armored vehicles and infantry on the riverside roads and by helicopters in the air. The PBRs used their turrets and missile launchers to destroy North Vietnamese Army vehicles, watchtowers, weapon emplacements, sampans, and to eradicate concentrations of infantry, and they fought their way upriver with the help of the infantry and helicopters. The MACV-SOG team of Frank Woods, Alex Mason, and Joseph Bowman disembarked near the crash site of the plane, but their escorts were picked off by snipers in the trees, and they had to fight their way past communist insurgents as they made their way towards the site. In addition, Mi-35 Hinds appeared and downed several American helicopters, and Spetsnaz operatives rappelled from the helicopters to engage in a shootout with the Americans. The SOG team found nothing on the plane except for American weapons and a map showing the location of General Lev Kravchenko's compound, and they would be captured after a shootout with the Pathet Lao from the plane's wreckage. The invasion failed due to the inability of the Americans to locate the Nova 6, neutralize Kravchenko, or inflict lasting damage on the communists, and the SOG team would be held at Sekong until it made its escape.
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