Charles Weldon, 82; Physician Figured in ‘Secret’ U.S. War in Laos
Charles Weldon, 82, a country doctor from Louisiana who became a well-known figure in the “secret” U.S. war in Laos, died Nov. 22 in Thailand of prostate cancer.
The globe-trotting Weldon was best-known for his work in Laos, where he was chief medical officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development from 1963 to 1974.
He described his experiences in a memoir published in 1999, “Tragedy in Paradise: A Country Doctor at War in Laos.”
Weldon was part of a huge -- but, at the time, officially unacknowledged -- effort by the United States to fight a Communist takeover of Laos by native Pathet Lao rebels and their allies from North Vietnam.
He was born in 1920 in St. James, La. He joined the Marine Corps during World War II and fought in the Pacific theater.
After the war, Weldon attended medical school in New Orleans, graduating from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in 1951.
He went on to hold a series of medical posts with various government agencies.
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