What Happened In The Shire?

I had heard of a bomb town while talking to one of the locals in town.  The village people collected various parts of bombs and used them for various functions within the village.  I rented a motorbike and rode out to the town.  All along the way I was amazed at the beautiful scenery and the tranquil atmosphere of the small villages and hamlets.  It is how I imagine Tolkien's Shire to look.


But then... what did humanity do here?  Why was this peaceful subsistence farming lifestyle so horrendously bombed and mutilated.  Everywhere I looked there were craters and evidence of the intense bombing carried out by the Americans.  They calculated that 1 bomb fell every 8 minutes over 9 years.  That is a lot of bombs.  And about 30% of the bombs didn't detonate/explode. Hence the huge problem of unexploded ordinance, UXO, in Laos.