Deuane Sunnalath
Laotian military personnel
Lieutenant (later Colonel) Deuane Sunnalath (Lao: ເດືອນ ສຸນນະລາດ, 1927–1978) led a schism within neutralist forces fighting in the Laotian Civil War. After following Captain Kong Le through his 1960 coup that established a third side in the war, Deuane led a walkout from Kong Le's Forces Armee Neutraliste (Neutral Armed Forces) in April 1963. Deuane would lead his disaffected Patriotic Neutralists into an alliance with the Communists, while the remaining Neutralists in FAN would favor the Royalists. Deuane would eventually become the Deputy Minister of Education in the Provisional Government for National Union on 9 April 1974.
Service under the French
Lieutenant Deuane Sunnalath (alternative spelling Deuane or Deuan Sounnarath) was born in Vientiane, the Kingdom of Laos in 1927. He originally served as an interpreter for the French military at their Vung Tau training center during the First Indochina War. In December, 1953 Aspirant Deuane and Vang Pao led a 100-man Lao contingent undergoing military training at Khang Khay, the Kingdom of Laos. Once commissioned, Deuane proved a bright, flamboyant, mercurial but capable officer. At various times, he led the Groupement de Commando Mixtes Aeroportes (Mixed Airborne Commando Group), and ran the commando training course for the Royal Lao Army.
Service with the paratroopers
Deuane continued to serve in the Lao military after the French defeat, becoming a company commander in Bataillion Parachutistes 2 (Parachute Battalion 2) under Captain Kong Le.
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This entry incorporates text from “Deuane Sunnalath” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.