Pop Buell - Later Life

Later Life

The Hmong army held off the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao for many years, but with the Paris Peace Accords of 1973 U.S. military aid and most economic aid to Laos ceased. The position of the Hmong army and the Royalist government became increasingly untenable. In 1974, Pop was out of a job with the Hmong and the U.S. government. He worked briefly as a teacher in Vientiane, but the American Embassy there soon learned that his name was on a "hit list" of the Pathet Lao and the North Vietnamese who were completing their conquest of the country. Continental Air Services, Inc. pilot Les Strouse evacuated Buell from Laos by dressing him in a pilot's uniform, driving him to the airport, and flying him to Bangkok, Thailand. Everything Pop owned fit into three suitcases. Pop lived in Bangkok the rest of his life. He died December 29, 1980 while visiting a friend in Manila, Philippines. He is buried beside his wife Mattie in Edon Cemetery, Edon, Ohio.

In 1967, author John Steinbeck remarked during a visit to Laos. "I think Pop is an example of how the ancient Gods were born... Whether you believe it or not, there are still giants in the earth."