Legend in war-torn Laos and Cambodia

Dr Charles L ``Jiggs'' Weldon, a self-styled country doctor who spent a generation helping sick and wounded people during wars in Laos and Cambodia, has died in Chiang Rai after a lengthy illness, his family said.

``Doc'' Weldon and his family arrived in Laos from their native America in 1965, and he remained until the end of the anti-communist effort.

He fought his own wars with bureaucrats and soldiers on all sides, trying to provide health and education, particularly to the Hmong hilltribes swept up in the wars.

He faced down a cholera epidemic by vaccinating 1,500 villagers in a single day, and was often the only source of medical care for thousands of civilian refugees as they were chased by the North Vietnamese army.

To a small group of people _ Lao officials, Air America crews and others of the ``secret war'' _ Dr Weldon was a legend by the time of the communist victory in 1975.

He settled in Chiang Rai after the war, along with his daughter Rebecca and her family. He was a familiar figure in the North.

In 1999, shortly before he became ill, Dr Weldon published his personal memoirs, Tragedy in Paradise: A Country Doctor at War in Laos. It was a remarkably intense recollection of his own part in the often bitter, usually tragic conflict.

The family is holding a Buddhist vigil at their home, and the cremation will be held in Chiang Rai on Friday.