Frederick Robert Branfman (March 18, 1942 – September 24, 2014) was an American

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

activist and author of a number of books about the

Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

who exposed the covert bombing of Laos by the US. Working as the Director of Project Air War in 1969 he wrote about the U.S. bombing in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

, which he claimed was directed at civilians.

Life

Branfman was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1942. He received in bachelor's degree from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in political science and his master's degree in education from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Branfman worked as a policy advisor for former California governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. ...

and

Tom Hayden Thomas Emmet Hayden (December 11, 1939October 23, 2016) was an American social and political activist, author, and politician. Hayden was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and intellectual activist in the 1960s, authoring th ...

. Branfman was working as an educational advisor for the U.S. government in

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, when in September 1969 thousands of refugees fled into the Laotian capital of

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

. Working as a translator for international media, he began to interpret thousands of villagers' stories, telling of planes dropping bombs. Told by U.S. officials in Laos that Americans had nothing to do with the bombs, Branfman became consumed with the desire to understand what was happening. Gathering details, he journeyed to Washington and spoke at a special session of the U.S. Senate Committee on Refugees, exposing the U.S. government's covert activities. In his last years, Branfman worked as a writer, living in Santa Barbara and Budapest. His articles have appeared in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'', ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'',

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

and ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

''. He contributed to the Glendon Association. He also contributed to the traveling exhibition Legacies of War, that was created to raise awareness about the history of the Vietnam War-era bombing in Laos. In the acclaimed 2007 TV documentary, now released on DVD, ''Most Secret Place On Earth: CIA's Covert War In Laos'' Branfman is one of those who speak to camera. He died in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary, of

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

(ALS) in 2014 at the age of 72.

Books

* ''The Third Indochina War'', Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, , * ''The Old Man: A Biographical Account of a Lao Villager''.
''Voices from The Plain of Jars, Life Under an Air War''
Harper & Row 1972. Reprinted by the University of Wisconsin Press with a new introduction in 2010. * ''Life under the bombs, Project Air War'', Harper & Row, 1972, , * ''The Village of the Deep Pond, Ban Xa Phang Meuk, Laos'', International Area Studies Programs, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1978, ASIN: B0000E92G5

References

External links

* Fred Branfman

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 1998 * Fred Branfman

The Huffington Post, 29. April 2007 * Fred Branfman
Indochina: The illusion of withdrawal
May 1973 * Fred Branfman
We Must All Be Prepared to Torture

Antiwar.com Antiwar.com is a website that describes itself as devoted to non-interventionism and as opposing imperialism and war. It is a project of the Randolph Bourne#Randolph Bourne Institute, Randolph Bourne Institute. The website states that it is "fight ...

, January 26, 2006
Fred Branfman, ¡Presente!
on Huffington Post, October 3, 2014

The Economist obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Branfman, Fred 2014 deaths American male writers American anti-war activists 1942 births Deaths from motor neuron disease Writers from New York City University of Chicago alumni Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Activists from New York City