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Hmong International New Year Celebration in Fresno, CA
Fresno, California
By Ge Thao
December 28, 2011: Hmong from around the world gather in Fresno for the Big Fresno International New Year on Deceber 26, 2011. A grand opening proceeding took place at 9 AM with members of distinguished guests and the Hmong community leaders from around the world. Hmong leader General Vang Pao family's members were among the attendees and ribbon cutting guests. General Vang Pao passed away in February 2011 in Clovis, California. On December 27th a memorial unveiling a memorial statue of the late General Vang Pao was introduced to the Hmong people at the New Year Celebrations and left on the Fairgrounds pavilion for everyone to see.
The New Year Celebrations was well attended despite the two Hmong New Year Celebrations concurrently occurring at the same time. Stay tuned for more pictures and developing stories. The celebrations will run through January 1, 2012 for both events. The Hmong International New Year Celebrations held at the Fairgrounds and the 18 Xeem Council held at the Fresno Sports Complex.
By Ge Thao
December 28, 2011: Hmong from around the world gather in Fresno for the Big Fresno International New Year on Deceber 26, 2011. A grand opening proceeding took place at 9 AM with members of distinguished guests and the Hmong community leaders from around the world. Hmong leader General Vang Pao family's members were among the attendees and ribbon cutting guests. General Vang Pao passed away in February 2011 in Clovis, California. On December 27th a memorial unveiling a memorial statue of the late General Vang Pao was introduced to the Hmong people at the New Year Celebrations and left on the Fairgrounds pavilion for everyone to see.
The New Year Celebrations was well attended despite the two Hmong New Year Celebrations concurrently occurring at the same time. Stay tuned for more pictures and developing stories. The celebrations will run through January 1, 2012 for both events. The Hmong International New Year Celebrations held at the Fairgrounds and the 18 Xeem Council held at the Fresno Sports Complex.
Hmong in Colorado Celebrates New Year 2011-12
By: Ge Thao
Hmong Colorado Radio
December 3, 2011
Brighton, CO: Hmong in Colorado celebrates New Year at the Adams County Fairgrounds on November 25, 2011. The event ceremony was lead by elected officials, dignataries and members of the Hmong communty to open the New Year. Denver Judge Honorable Kerry Hada was among the dignataries to cut the New Year ribbon. The New Year festivities were filled with a Hmong Miss Pageant competition, entertainments and traditional food. Ms. Mai Choua Lee won the Miss Hmong Colorado for 2011-12. More than 8,000 Hmong reported attended the event during the three days.
Hmong Colorado Radio
December 3, 2011
Brighton, CO: Hmong in Colorado celebrates New Year at the Adams County Fairgrounds on November 25, 2011. The event ceremony was lead by elected officials, dignataries and members of the Hmong communty to open the New Year. Denver Judge Honorable Kerry Hada was among the dignataries to cut the New Year ribbon. The New Year festivities were filled with a Hmong Miss Pageant competition, entertainments and traditional food. Ms. Mai Choua Lee won the Miss Hmong Colorado for 2011-12. More than 8,000 Hmong reported attended the event during the three days.
Bill, if pass would extend burial benefits to Hmong Veterans in the United States
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Sixth District, recently joined other members of Congress to introduce bipartisan legislation, H.R. 3192, honoring the service of Hmong veterans in Wisconsin and nationwide. The legislation would extend burial benefits in national cemeteries to Hmong veterans who fought alongside and supported U.S. forces during the Vietnam War era. "Hmong troops were America's determined and reliable allies in Laos," Petri said. "These veterans fought and bled in our common struggle in Southeast Asia. Extending burial benefits to those who came to the United States following the Communist takeover of Laos recognizes their sacrifice and honors their service."
Hmong men from Laos were trained and led by officers from the CIA's Special Activities Division during the Vietnam War. Tens of thousands of these men performed direct missions against North Vietnamese troops and local Communist guerillas. Following the war, thousands of Hmong veterans resettled across the United States, including in Wisconsin. In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed legislation granting them refugee status.
Currently, burial benefits are available to veterans and members of the U.S. Armed Services, their spouses and dependents, reserve officers, Public Health Service officers, Merchant Mariners from World War II and members of the Philippine Armed Forces. This legislation would add Hmong veterans to the list of people eligible for interment in national cemeteries after they undergo a verification and documentation process by the Department of Veterans Affairs to certify their service. Hmong veterans must be American citizens or legal permanent residents to be eligible.
Approximately 6,900 Hmong veterans would currently be eligible for burial benefits.
Source: http://www.htrnews.com
Hmong men from Laos were trained and led by officers from the CIA's Special Activities Division during the Vietnam War. Tens of thousands of these men performed direct missions against North Vietnamese troops and local Communist guerillas. Following the war, thousands of Hmong veterans resettled across the United States, including in Wisconsin. In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed legislation granting them refugee status.
Currently, burial benefits are available to veterans and members of the U.S. Armed Services, their spouses and dependents, reserve officers, Public Health Service officers, Merchant Mariners from World War II and members of the Philippine Armed Forces. This legislation would add Hmong veterans to the list of people eligible for interment in national cemeteries after they undergo a verification and documentation process by the Department of Veterans Affairs to certify their service. Hmong veterans must be American citizens or legal permanent residents to be eligible.
Approximately 6,900 Hmong veterans would currently be eligible for burial benefits.
Source: http://www.htrnews.com
Hmong husband and wife dead in North Carolina
By: Ben McNeely
Published: September 19, 2011
Updated: September 20, 2011 - 9:50 AM » 6 Comments | Post a Comment
A husband and wife are dead after an apparent murder-suicide at Lowe’s Home Improvement on Dale Earnhardt Boulevard.
Concord Police said that Por Ye Lor, 31, walked into the store at about 5:20 p.m. Monday and started a domestic argument with his wife, Zoua “Vivian” Xiong, 25, a cashier at the store.
Lor pulled out a gun and shot her, then turned the gun on himself.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Employees and patrons evacuated from the store said Xiong tried to run away from her husband.
The couple, who live at 1102 Arbor Dr., Salisbury, leave behind three children.
Relatives of the victims gathered outside the Lowe’s, waiting for word from police about her. When they found out the news, they broke down, hugging and consoling one another. A brother of the shooter, Sunnis Lor, told WSOC-TV he spoke with Por Le Yor earlier on Monday and said he was fine.
"He didn't tell me nothing." Lor said, "Three o'clock, I went to work and my parents called me and said something happened to my brother and sister-in-law, that's it."
Police haven’t determined a motive for the shooting, but Interim Police Chief Guy Smith said it was an isolated incident.
Lowe’s spokeswoman Karen Cobb said the incident was the result of a domestic dispute between Xiong and Lor.
“We are deeply saddened at the loss of a member of our Lowe's family,” Cobb said. “Our thoughts are with the families of both victims and our employees who worked closely with Vivian Xiong.”
Grief counselors were on hand for employees affected by the incident, Cobb said. The store re-opened Tuesday morning. Employees from neighboring stores were also on hand to cover for anyone who felt they couldn't come to work.
Contact online editor Ben McNeely: 704-789-9131
Published: September 19, 2011
Updated: September 20, 2011 - 9:50 AM » 6 Comments | Post a Comment
A husband and wife are dead after an apparent murder-suicide at Lowe’s Home Improvement on Dale Earnhardt Boulevard.
Concord Police said that Por Ye Lor, 31, walked into the store at about 5:20 p.m. Monday and started a domestic argument with his wife, Zoua “Vivian” Xiong, 25, a cashier at the store.
Lor pulled out a gun and shot her, then turned the gun on himself.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Employees and patrons evacuated from the store said Xiong tried to run away from her husband.
The couple, who live at 1102 Arbor Dr., Salisbury, leave behind three children.
Relatives of the victims gathered outside the Lowe’s, waiting for word from police about her. When they found out the news, they broke down, hugging and consoling one another. A brother of the shooter, Sunnis Lor, told WSOC-TV he spoke with Por Le Yor earlier on Monday and said he was fine.
"He didn't tell me nothing." Lor said, "Three o'clock, I went to work and my parents called me and said something happened to my brother and sister-in-law, that's it."
Police haven’t determined a motive for the shooting, but Interim Police Chief Guy Smith said it was an isolated incident.
Lowe’s spokeswoman Karen Cobb said the incident was the result of a domestic dispute between Xiong and Lor.
“We are deeply saddened at the loss of a member of our Lowe's family,” Cobb said. “Our thoughts are with the families of both victims and our employees who worked closely with Vivian Xiong.”
Grief counselors were on hand for employees affected by the incident, Cobb said. The store re-opened Tuesday morning. Employees from neighboring stores were also on hand to cover for anyone who felt they couldn't come to work.
Contact online editor Ben McNeely: 704-789-9131
Hmong youth learns from childhood rebellion
By Gladys Terichow Mennonite Central Committee
KITCHENER, Ont. — As a child, Peter Her went to First Hmong Mennonite Church with his mother and younger brothers, but during his teenage years he tried to distance himself from his Hmong roots, his faith and the church.
“I didn’t want anything to do with God or with my people. I didn’t want to be Hmong. I didn’t want to be Asian. I wanted to be like everybody else. I wanted to be accepted by cool people,” he said.
Today, 22-year-old Her wants to use his education, Hmong language skills and understanding of Hmong culture to stop the trend of youth leaving the church and Christian faith.
“I definitely don’t want to see other young people go through the same problems that I did,” said Her, the eldest of six boys born to parents who came to Canada as refugees in the 1970s. Both of his parents were born in Thailand.
Her spent the summer working with youth and children at First Hmong Mennonite Church, a congregation of Hmong refugees who resettled in Canada in the 1970s.
His service assignment was made possible through Summerbridge, a Mennonite Central Committee-supported program open to people from Mennonite congregations of diverse cultural background.
The program is supported by MCC Canada, provincial MCCs and the home churches of participants. Her was among 15 program participants this summer.
Looking back, Her said his childhood rebellion led to dropping out of school and a life of drug abuse and violence.
“I worked 40 hours a week, and on weekends I would drink and have fun. But I wasn’t having fun. It wasn’t satisfying,” he said.
He started paying attention to how his co-workers lived. One man in particular, he noticed, didn’t talk about his Christian faith but lived his faith.
“His life was different than most people,” Her said. “He was loving, caring and compassionate. He had a purpose for life. He had direction. He knew where he was going, and I didn’t have that. My life was going downhill.”
From his early childhood churchgoing, Her knew he could find answers to his problems in the Bible. So he started reading the Bible and listening to sermons posted on the Internet.
Knowing that “God loves me so much, even though I have done all this crazy stuff” has given him new direction and purpose. Two years ago, he quit his job to go to school. He is a now a second-year student at Emmanuel Bible College in Kitchener.
Summerbridge enabled him to work not only with youth but also with older people.
Respecting elders, he said, is an important part of Hmong culture. Although he already speaks and reads the Hmong language, he improved his language skills and understanding of Hmong culture.
One of his goals is to return to Thailand and get to know his relatives living there.
“The Hmong population is very small, and life is hard for the Hmong minority,” he said. “I want to go back and let them know about God’s love and the peace that God can bring.”
First Hmong Mennonite Church is a congregation of about 200 people. Her’s mother and many others in the congregation were sponsored by churches through Canada’s private sponsorship program.
KITCHENER, Ont. — As a child, Peter Her went to First Hmong Mennonite Church with his mother and younger brothers, but during his teenage years he tried to distance himself from his Hmong roots, his faith and the church.
“I didn’t want anything to do with God or with my people. I didn’t want to be Hmong. I didn’t want to be Asian. I wanted to be like everybody else. I wanted to be accepted by cool people,” he said.
Today, 22-year-old Her wants to use his education, Hmong language skills and understanding of Hmong culture to stop the trend of youth leaving the church and Christian faith.
“I definitely don’t want to see other young people go through the same problems that I did,” said Her, the eldest of six boys born to parents who came to Canada as refugees in the 1970s. Both of his parents were born in Thailand.
Her spent the summer working with youth and children at First Hmong Mennonite Church, a congregation of Hmong refugees who resettled in Canada in the 1970s.
His service assignment was made possible through Summerbridge, a Mennonite Central Committee-supported program open to people from Mennonite congregations of diverse cultural background.
The program is supported by MCC Canada, provincial MCCs and the home churches of participants. Her was among 15 program participants this summer.
Looking back, Her said his childhood rebellion led to dropping out of school and a life of drug abuse and violence.
“I worked 40 hours a week, and on weekends I would drink and have fun. But I wasn’t having fun. It wasn’t satisfying,” he said.
He started paying attention to how his co-workers lived. One man in particular, he noticed, didn’t talk about his Christian faith but lived his faith.
“His life was different than most people,” Her said. “He was loving, caring and compassionate. He had a purpose for life. He had direction. He knew where he was going, and I didn’t have that. My life was going downhill.”
From his early childhood churchgoing, Her knew he could find answers to his problems in the Bible. So he started reading the Bible and listening to sermons posted on the Internet.
Knowing that “God loves me so much, even though I have done all this crazy stuff” has given him new direction and purpose. Two years ago, he quit his job to go to school. He is a now a second-year student at Emmanuel Bible College in Kitchener.
Summerbridge enabled him to work not only with youth but also with older people.
Respecting elders, he said, is an important part of Hmong culture. Although he already speaks and reads the Hmong language, he improved his language skills and understanding of Hmong culture.
One of his goals is to return to Thailand and get to know his relatives living there.
“The Hmong population is very small, and life is hard for the Hmong minority,” he said. “I want to go back and let them know about God’s love and the peace that God can bring.”
First Hmong Mennonite Church is a congregation of about 200 people. Her’s mother and many others in the congregation were sponsored by churches through Canada’s private sponsorship program.
Messiah rally leaves burning questions in Vietnam about Hmong
By Ian Timberlake (AFP) – 6 days ago
HUOI KHON, Vietnam — The charred earth left by campfires is one of the few signs that thousands of Vietnamese ethnic minority Hmong took over a remote community in early May awaiting their "messiah."
Yet many questions surrounding the incident continue to burn, and critics say government attitudes to religion are partly to blame for the country's worst known case of ethnic tension in about a decade.
Crowds of the Hmong, a mainly Christian group, camped for a week around two hillocks in the far northwest of the communist nation in what has been labelled a cult.
Although the devotees' motivation was apparently sincere, they were inspired by leaders preaching "a toxic blend" of separatism and millennialism, mixed with traditional belief in a Hmong king coming as a saviour, said a foreign diplomat.
The gathering in Dien Bien province was eventually dispersed with help from security forces, sources said, but restricted access and information has kept details hazy concerning both the Hmong intentions and the authorities' response.
"Why did they bring up the riot police and the military?" the Hanoi-based diplomat said on condition of anonymity, calling the response "heavy-handed".
"They've just been very non-transparent across the board in dealing with the issue," the diplomat added, questioning why communist authorities waited three weeks to allow foreign journalists into the area.
A team of AFP reporters made the trip to Huoi Khon village under government control on Friday, but was not allowed to conduct independent interviews or to make the journey alone.
Officials have said the Hmong were lured by unidentified "individuals with ill intentions" who spread rumors that a "king" would arrive and lead them to a promised land.
According to the British-based religious freedom group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the Hmong have "a mythical belief in their culture that a 'messiah' figure will appear and found a Hmong kingdom."
They and other sources said the prophecy of US radio preacher Harold Camping, who claimed the world would end on May 21, was a key to the gathering's timing.
The result was the country's worst case of ethic tension since about 2,000 Montagnards fled to Cambodia in 2001 and 2004 after troops crushed protests in the Central Highlands.
Ethnic relations can still be a sensitive matter in Vietnam, where a 2009 World Bank report cited "widespread cultural stereotypes" as a factor in the high poverty rate among ethnic minorities compared with the majority Kinh group.
Some of the Hmong, a Southeast Asian ethnic group, helped US forces against North Vietnam during the secret wartime campaign in neighbouring Laos, and faced retribution after the communist takeover.
"They are not seen as loyal citizens... and many Hmong view themselves as Hmong first, Vietnamese second," said CSW.
From the provincial capital Dien Bien, the gathering site at Huoi Khon village is reached by a stomach-churning six-hour drive snaking through forested mountains in one of Vietnam's poorest regions.
Ly A Tinh, who lives in the hamlet of four houses, said the Hmong sealed off two hills for their gathering. "My wife and children wanted to get vegetables but they did not let them get through," he said.
The remains of what appeared to be at least seven campfires could still be seen on one of the hills, where holes had been punched into the earth, suggesting crude structures had been built.
Discarded instant noodle wrappers, a small packet of shampoo and a torn piece of traditional cloth were among garbage left behind.
Officials say they persuaded the Hmong to return home, giving them transport and financial assistance.
"I would like to reaffirm that we didn't use any form of violence and force to deal with the situation," said Giang Thi Hoa, vice-chairwoman of the provincial government.
A military source however told AFP that "minor clashes" occurred after the army sent reinforcements, while one resident said hundreds who feared arrest fled into the forest after security forces told the crowd to disperse.
The resident said many remained in the area until well after the government said things had returned to normal, finally going home after the messiah did not appear on May 21.
On Friday, AFP saw a military truck loaded with armed soldiers travelling away from Muong Nhe district where the Hmong gathered.
It was not clear what the troops' mission was but the truck's tell-tale red army licence plate had been obscured, and the soldiers were concealed under a tarpaulin.
Provincial officials say seven unnamed people who "reacted aggressively" have been detained for investigation, and outsiders agree the government had reason to be concerned.
A call for autonomy would be a "red flag" to security officials, according to Australia-based Vietnam analyst Carl Thayer.
Christian and other Hmong "have borne the brunt of discrimination by local authorities", he added.
HUOI KHON, Vietnam — The charred earth left by campfires is one of the few signs that thousands of Vietnamese ethnic minority Hmong took over a remote community in early May awaiting their "messiah."
Yet many questions surrounding the incident continue to burn, and critics say government attitudes to religion are partly to blame for the country's worst known case of ethnic tension in about a decade.
Crowds of the Hmong, a mainly Christian group, camped for a week around two hillocks in the far northwest of the communist nation in what has been labelled a cult.
Although the devotees' motivation was apparently sincere, they were inspired by leaders preaching "a toxic blend" of separatism and millennialism, mixed with traditional belief in a Hmong king coming as a saviour, said a foreign diplomat.
The gathering in Dien Bien province was eventually dispersed with help from security forces, sources said, but restricted access and information has kept details hazy concerning both the Hmong intentions and the authorities' response.
"Why did they bring up the riot police and the military?" the Hanoi-based diplomat said on condition of anonymity, calling the response "heavy-handed".
"They've just been very non-transparent across the board in dealing with the issue," the diplomat added, questioning why communist authorities waited three weeks to allow foreign journalists into the area.
A team of AFP reporters made the trip to Huoi Khon village under government control on Friday, but was not allowed to conduct independent interviews or to make the journey alone.
Officials have said the Hmong were lured by unidentified "individuals with ill intentions" who spread rumors that a "king" would arrive and lead them to a promised land.
According to the British-based religious freedom group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the Hmong have "a mythical belief in their culture that a 'messiah' figure will appear and found a Hmong kingdom."
They and other sources said the prophecy of US radio preacher Harold Camping, who claimed the world would end on May 21, was a key to the gathering's timing.
The result was the country's worst case of ethic tension since about 2,000 Montagnards fled to Cambodia in 2001 and 2004 after troops crushed protests in the Central Highlands.
Ethnic relations can still be a sensitive matter in Vietnam, where a 2009 World Bank report cited "widespread cultural stereotypes" as a factor in the high poverty rate among ethnic minorities compared with the majority Kinh group.
Some of the Hmong, a Southeast Asian ethnic group, helped US forces against North Vietnam during the secret wartime campaign in neighbouring Laos, and faced retribution after the communist takeover.
"They are not seen as loyal citizens... and many Hmong view themselves as Hmong first, Vietnamese second," said CSW.
From the provincial capital Dien Bien, the gathering site at Huoi Khon village is reached by a stomach-churning six-hour drive snaking through forested mountains in one of Vietnam's poorest regions.
Ly A Tinh, who lives in the hamlet of four houses, said the Hmong sealed off two hills for their gathering. "My wife and children wanted to get vegetables but they did not let them get through," he said.
The remains of what appeared to be at least seven campfires could still be seen on one of the hills, where holes had been punched into the earth, suggesting crude structures had been built.
Discarded instant noodle wrappers, a small packet of shampoo and a torn piece of traditional cloth were among garbage left behind.
Officials say they persuaded the Hmong to return home, giving them transport and financial assistance.
"I would like to reaffirm that we didn't use any form of violence and force to deal with the situation," said Giang Thi Hoa, vice-chairwoman of the provincial government.
A military source however told AFP that "minor clashes" occurred after the army sent reinforcements, while one resident said hundreds who feared arrest fled into the forest after security forces told the crowd to disperse.
The resident said many remained in the area until well after the government said things had returned to normal, finally going home after the messiah did not appear on May 21.
On Friday, AFP saw a military truck loaded with armed soldiers travelling away from Muong Nhe district where the Hmong gathered.
It was not clear what the troops' mission was but the truck's tell-tale red army licence plate had been obscured, and the soldiers were concealed under a tarpaulin.
Provincial officials say seven unnamed people who "reacted aggressively" have been detained for investigation, and outsiders agree the government had reason to be concerned.
A call for autonomy would be a "red flag" to security officials, according to Australia-based Vietnam analyst Carl Thayer.
Christian and other Hmong "have borne the brunt of discrimination by local authorities", he added.
Hmong Traditional "tso plig" for Gen. Vang Pao in Minnesota
Announcement courtesy of Hmong Report at 7 and Suab Hmong Radio News.
Hmong Ad Hoc National Press Release
Hmong American Ad Hoc Committee of Sacramento
Post Office Box 231730
Sacramento, California 95823-0412
PRESS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sacramento, CA. Thousands of Hmong Americans and their supporters will gather at the West steps of the State Capitol building on April 22, 2011 at 8:00 am, then march to the Federal Court House Building at 501 I Street, to express their appreciation for the unwavering support provided by numerous communities and public officials over the past four years during which time the case known as the “Hmong Terrorist” case was being heard in the Federal Court. Public speaking will begin at 10:00 a.m. outside of the Federal Court House.
On June 4, 2007, over 200 hundred members of the FBI, ATF and local law enforcement agencies staged an ill-advised and hyped-up, pre-dawn arrest operation entitled “Operation Tarnished Eagle” resulting in the arrest of ten Hmong American leaders, including General Vang Pao, and retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Harrison Jack. All were arrested for allegedly conspiring to “violently overthrow the government of Laos.” Subsequent investigations lead to the arrest of two additional leaders for the same charges. News of these arrests quickly spread through Hmong American communities, which all view General Vang Pao as their leader. Given General Vang Pao’s past alliance and support of the US government and his continuing belief in, and support of, America’s values of freedom and democracy, his arrest came as a total shock to all Hmong people throughout the world, and especially Hmong American citizens.
In addition to the alleged conspiracy charges, the Hmong, as a people, were labeled as “terrorists” because of their past opposition to the corruptive and authoritarian regime in Laos; The same regime that the US government, with the help of General Vang Pao and his poorly equipped secret Hmong guerrillas, had spent billions of dollar and lost over fifty-thousand American lives, trying to prevent it from taking over Laos and Vietnam nearly fifty years ago. These dual events would set the stage for Hmong Americans and Hmong people around the world to come together to redefine ourselves and fight for our very own existence.
For the past four years, Hmong Americans have held many rallies around the country to express our feelings about the injustices perpetrated by our very own government. Here in Sacramento, California where the accused were held and the case was heard, thousands of Hmong Americans and their supporters held numerous rallies, for every court hearing, demanding that the injustices be recognized and the case be dropped. At the forefront of these rallies was the Hmong American Ad Hoc Committee, a group of volunteers from every facet of the Hmong communities, trying to bring to light the truth behind the case and the labeling as terrorist? It is our belief that we were right from the beginning that this whole case was an entrapment, motivated by our government’s desire to please the Communist regimes in Laos and Vietnam, as she tries to court them from the rising influence of their big brother, China. Now that the case has been completely dropped without explanation and legislations
written to amend at the highest level of our legislature, Hmong American Ad Hoc
committee wishes to invite the public and all levels of government official to join us for a
Day of Appreciation.
Tentative Program Schedule
7:00 AM - 9:00 AM: Parade participants arrive at the West Steps of the State
Capitol
9:00 AM –10:00 AM: March from the State Capital to the Federal Court House
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM: Speeches by key leaders, the 13 defendants, their
attorneys, and presentation of Gifts of Appreciation to the attorneys
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM: Go to Luther Burbank High School, 3500 Florin Road,
Sacramento, CA 95823 for lunch sponsored by the families of the 13 defendants
and members of the Hmong American Ad Hoc Committee of Sacramento
4:00 PM to 8:00 PM: Continue recognizing the efforts of the community at
Luther Burbank School Auditorium
Please check our website www.haahc.com for detail of the day and evening programs.
For more information please contact Dr. Sui Vang @ 916-612-3530, Chueyias Vang
@ (916) 753-4275, Tsong Tong Vang @ (916) 583-4045, Cathy Thao (916) 835-1666,
Fong Cha @ (916) 690-0154
Post Office Box 231730
Sacramento, California 95823-0412
PRESS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sacramento, CA. Thousands of Hmong Americans and their supporters will gather at the West steps of the State Capitol building on April 22, 2011 at 8:00 am, then march to the Federal Court House Building at 501 I Street, to express their appreciation for the unwavering support provided by numerous communities and public officials over the past four years during which time the case known as the “Hmong Terrorist” case was being heard in the Federal Court. Public speaking will begin at 10:00 a.m. outside of the Federal Court House.
On June 4, 2007, over 200 hundred members of the FBI, ATF and local law enforcement agencies staged an ill-advised and hyped-up, pre-dawn arrest operation entitled “Operation Tarnished Eagle” resulting in the arrest of ten Hmong American leaders, including General Vang Pao, and retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Harrison Jack. All were arrested for allegedly conspiring to “violently overthrow the government of Laos.” Subsequent investigations lead to the arrest of two additional leaders for the same charges. News of these arrests quickly spread through Hmong American communities, which all view General Vang Pao as their leader. Given General Vang Pao’s past alliance and support of the US government and his continuing belief in, and support of, America’s values of freedom and democracy, his arrest came as a total shock to all Hmong people throughout the world, and especially Hmong American citizens.
In addition to the alleged conspiracy charges, the Hmong, as a people, were labeled as “terrorists” because of their past opposition to the corruptive and authoritarian regime in Laos; The same regime that the US government, with the help of General Vang Pao and his poorly equipped secret Hmong guerrillas, had spent billions of dollar and lost over fifty-thousand American lives, trying to prevent it from taking over Laos and Vietnam nearly fifty years ago. These dual events would set the stage for Hmong Americans and Hmong people around the world to come together to redefine ourselves and fight for our very own existence.
For the past four years, Hmong Americans have held many rallies around the country to express our feelings about the injustices perpetrated by our very own government. Here in Sacramento, California where the accused were held and the case was heard, thousands of Hmong Americans and their supporters held numerous rallies, for every court hearing, demanding that the injustices be recognized and the case be dropped. At the forefront of these rallies was the Hmong American Ad Hoc Committee, a group of volunteers from every facet of the Hmong communities, trying to bring to light the truth behind the case and the labeling as terrorist? It is our belief that we were right from the beginning that this whole case was an entrapment, motivated by our government’s desire to please the Communist regimes in Laos and Vietnam, as she tries to court them from the rising influence of their big brother, China. Now that the case has been completely dropped without explanation and legislations
written to amend at the highest level of our legislature, Hmong American Ad Hoc
committee wishes to invite the public and all levels of government official to join us for a
Day of Appreciation.
Tentative Program Schedule
7:00 AM - 9:00 AM: Parade participants arrive at the West Steps of the State
Capitol
9:00 AM –10:00 AM: March from the State Capital to the Federal Court House
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM: Speeches by key leaders, the 13 defendants, their
attorneys, and presentation of Gifts of Appreciation to the attorneys
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM: Go to Luther Burbank High School, 3500 Florin Road,
Sacramento, CA 95823 for lunch sponsored by the families of the 13 defendants
and members of the Hmong American Ad Hoc Committee of Sacramento
4:00 PM to 8:00 PM: Continue recognizing the efforts of the community at
Luther Burbank School Auditorium
Please check our website www.haahc.com for detail of the day and evening programs.
For more information please contact Dr. Sui Vang @ 916-612-3530, Chueyias Vang
@ (916) 753-4275, Tsong Tong Vang @ (916) 583-4045, Cathy Thao (916) 835-1666,
Fong Cha @ (916) 690-0154
Arlington Cemetery-Why Valenti but not General Vang Pao?
Fresno Bee
By By Michael Doyle / Bee Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON – Jack Valenti won his final and most heartfelt lobbying victory when he was lowered into the ground at Arlington National Cemetery.
A World War II veteran, presidential adviser and wily Hollywood power player, Valenti pressed hard to secure an Arlington burial plot – even though he didn't meet the strict eligibility criteria. His remarkable behind-the-scenes campaign outlasted three defense secretaries, records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show.
Valenti ultimately got the waiver he needed, over the resistance of the Arlington cemetery superintendent. On May 9, 2007, the former Army Air Corps bomber pilot, special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson and chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America was buried near John F. Kennedy's gravesite.
The waiver issue came to a head in January when Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and others sought one for the late Gen. Vang Pao. He led Hmong forces in Laos during the Vietnam War, supporting the U.S., though not a member of the U.S. military.
Pentagon officials denied the request. The Army did not explain the rationale behind the decision, other than to cite the recommendation of an advisory panel.
"It's B.S.," said Charlie Waters, a Navy veteran and Fresno resident who's worked closely with Vang Pao's family. "They've buried other people there, actors and actresses."
Arlington, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., sets strict standards because space is limited and the cemetery is highly desired. There are a variety of ways someone can be eligible – for instance, by being wounded in combat or winning medals including the Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross or Medal of Honor.
More than 60 Arlington burial exemptions have been granted since Jan. 1, 2005, documents obtained under FOIA show. The documents, spanning hundreds of pages, show families in pain, politicians at work and civil servants caught in the middle.
Sacramento resident Lynn Silkitis, for instance, sought in 2004 to place her late mother's remains at Arlington. Her mother's stepfather had been a Marine colonel and had been buried with his wife.
Silkitis wrote Arlington officials, noting that her mother, Nancy Williard Strausbaugh, was born in Washington to a "close-knit" family. Arlington officials granted the waiver, placing an urn containing Strausbaugh's ashes in the family grave.
"When it came to being with her mother and father, she wanted to go home," Silkitis said, "and I sent her home."
In 2005, Army officials granted an exception to the Byers family of Iowa. The parents had lost one son, Army Sgt. Casey Byers, to an improvised explosive device in Taqaddum, Iraq. Nine days later, a domestic traffic accident killed another son, Justin, who was in the Army Reserve.
An urn containing Justin's ashes was placed in Casey's grave.
Wives who have remarried following their first husbands' deaths, likewise, can be granted a place at their first husbands' Arlington sites. This happened in 2006 for the late Melbourne, Fla., resident Josephine Griffin Burmester, whose first husband was an Army chief warrant officer.
Children, too, can sometimes secure waivers.
In 2005, for instance, the dwarf son of an Army colonel was given a waiver so his cremated remains could be placed with his parents. Usually, children must still be dependents to be buried with their parents, but the Pentagon granted a waiver.
Valenti's argument included some combat heroism – he won the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service with the 57th Bomb Wing. This wasn't, however, sufficient to merit an Arlington ground burial. He did meet the easier veterans' criteria for inurnment in the cemetery's Columbarium, but he wanted something more.
Valenti first convinced Defense Secretary William Cohen to grant a waiver on Jan. 18, 2001, several days before Cohen left office.
Valenti then leveraged Cohen's unilateral decision to sway two other defense secretaries.
The documents obtained under FOIA show that Valenti's Arlington plotting was smooth, from his calling Cohen's successor, Donald Rumsfeld, "Rummy" to his handwritten note reminding Rumsfeld's successor, Robert Gates, of a lunch they once shared at CIA headquarters.
Arlington's then-superintendent, John Metzler Jr., warned in internal e-mails that Valenti's waiver would be a mistake. In another e-mail, Metzler stated simply: "WOW."
In the e-mails, Metzler said the waiver would displace another veteran who met the usual criteria. He also didn't like the unusual way in which it was sought.
Metzler, nonetheless, lost the fight.
In 2008, famed Texas heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey likewise benefited from political help. Though a World War II veteran, DeBakey was not eligible for Arlington. On his behalf, Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison sought a waiver.
An advisory panel split 3-3 over granting DeBakey an exemption. The cemetery superintendent opposed it.
Nonetheless, DeBakey received the Arlington waiver from the assistant secretary of the Army, whose boss was then-Army Secretary Pete Geren, a former Texas congressman.
"[DeBakey's] combined military and civilian accomplishments are certainly worthy to be recognized and rewarded," the Army officials wrote.
The reporter can be reached at mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com or (202) 383-0006.
By By Michael Doyle / Bee Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON – Jack Valenti won his final and most heartfelt lobbying victory when he was lowered into the ground at Arlington National Cemetery.
A World War II veteran, presidential adviser and wily Hollywood power player, Valenti pressed hard to secure an Arlington burial plot – even though he didn't meet the strict eligibility criteria. His remarkable behind-the-scenes campaign outlasted three defense secretaries, records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show.
Valenti ultimately got the waiver he needed, over the resistance of the Arlington cemetery superintendent. On May 9, 2007, the former Army Air Corps bomber pilot, special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson and chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America was buried near John F. Kennedy's gravesite.
The waiver issue came to a head in January when Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and others sought one for the late Gen. Vang Pao. He led Hmong forces in Laos during the Vietnam War, supporting the U.S., though not a member of the U.S. military.
Pentagon officials denied the request. The Army did not explain the rationale behind the decision, other than to cite the recommendation of an advisory panel.
"It's B.S.," said Charlie Waters, a Navy veteran and Fresno resident who's worked closely with Vang Pao's family. "They've buried other people there, actors and actresses."
Arlington, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., sets strict standards because space is limited and the cemetery is highly desired. There are a variety of ways someone can be eligible – for instance, by being wounded in combat or winning medals including the Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross or Medal of Honor.
More than 60 Arlington burial exemptions have been granted since Jan. 1, 2005, documents obtained under FOIA show. The documents, spanning hundreds of pages, show families in pain, politicians at work and civil servants caught in the middle.
Sacramento resident Lynn Silkitis, for instance, sought in 2004 to place her late mother's remains at Arlington. Her mother's stepfather had been a Marine colonel and had been buried with his wife.
Silkitis wrote Arlington officials, noting that her mother, Nancy Williard Strausbaugh, was born in Washington to a "close-knit" family. Arlington officials granted the waiver, placing an urn containing Strausbaugh's ashes in the family grave.
"When it came to being with her mother and father, she wanted to go home," Silkitis said, "and I sent her home."
In 2005, Army officials granted an exception to the Byers family of Iowa. The parents had lost one son, Army Sgt. Casey Byers, to an improvised explosive device in Taqaddum, Iraq. Nine days later, a domestic traffic accident killed another son, Justin, who was in the Army Reserve.
An urn containing Justin's ashes was placed in Casey's grave.
Wives who have remarried following their first husbands' deaths, likewise, can be granted a place at their first husbands' Arlington sites. This happened in 2006 for the late Melbourne, Fla., resident Josephine Griffin Burmester, whose first husband was an Army chief warrant officer.
Children, too, can sometimes secure waivers.
In 2005, for instance, the dwarf son of an Army colonel was given a waiver so his cremated remains could be placed with his parents. Usually, children must still be dependents to be buried with their parents, but the Pentagon granted a waiver.
Valenti's argument included some combat heroism – he won the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service with the 57th Bomb Wing. This wasn't, however, sufficient to merit an Arlington ground burial. He did meet the easier veterans' criteria for inurnment in the cemetery's Columbarium, but he wanted something more.
Valenti first convinced Defense Secretary William Cohen to grant a waiver on Jan. 18, 2001, several days before Cohen left office.
Valenti then leveraged Cohen's unilateral decision to sway two other defense secretaries.
The documents obtained under FOIA show that Valenti's Arlington plotting was smooth, from his calling Cohen's successor, Donald Rumsfeld, "Rummy" to his handwritten note reminding Rumsfeld's successor, Robert Gates, of a lunch they once shared at CIA headquarters.
Arlington's then-superintendent, John Metzler Jr., warned in internal e-mails that Valenti's waiver would be a mistake. In another e-mail, Metzler stated simply: "WOW."
In the e-mails, Metzler said the waiver would displace another veteran who met the usual criteria. He also didn't like the unusual way in which it was sought.
Metzler, nonetheless, lost the fight.
In 2008, famed Texas heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey likewise benefited from political help. Though a World War II veteran, DeBakey was not eligible for Arlington. On his behalf, Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison sought a waiver.
An advisory panel split 3-3 over granting DeBakey an exemption. The cemetery superintendent opposed it.
Nonetheless, DeBakey received the Arlington waiver from the assistant secretary of the Army, whose boss was then-Army Secretary Pete Geren, a former Texas congressman.
"[DeBakey's] combined military and civilian accomplishments are certainly worthy to be recognized and rewarded," the Army officials wrote.
The reporter can be reached at mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com or (202) 383-0006.
Hmong searching for a home
by Antonio Graceffo
March 27, 2011
More than thirty-five years after the end of America’s War in Indochina, America’s greatest allies are hunted like animals.
I was recently approached by a Hmong representative, asking me to get the word out to the world. There are over 300 Hmong families hiding in the jungle of Laos, hunted by the Lao and Vietnamese armies. For more than 35 years, they have been constantly on the move, unable to plant rice or to raise their families with any reasonable degree of peace or safety. They have very little food or weapons, no medicine and no outside support.
The Hmong from the jungle need a place to call home.
Of the hundreds of Hmong who have surrendered to the Lao government forces over the last decade, none were ever seen or heard from again. The recent policy of the Thai government has been to remove Hmong from the refugee camps in Thailand and send them back to Laos.
Almost none of the Hmong refugees returned to Laos were ever heard from again.
These people are not just the soldiers of General Vang Pao’s Hmong army who fought for the CIA in the Secret War in Laos. Now, they are the children and grandchildren, born long after the conflict, but born into a continuing state of war.
If they remain in the jungle, the Hmong will die of starvation, slow disease, and eventual execution by the Laos military. If they surrender, they fear they will be killed. If they flee to Thailand, they know they will be sent back.
Where can the Hmong go? How can they find a place to call home?
Historical Background
To understand the Hmong, and where this problem came from, we have to go back to before the 1950’s, when the French were battling to preserve their colonies in Indochina.
During the Second World War, the French Indochina colonies of Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos were occupied by the Japanese. Various resistance armies developed, fighting against the Japanese. In Vietnam, the leader of the resistance forces was Ho Chi Minh, who was supported by the American OSS (the predecessor of the CIA).
When the war ended and the French came back to reclaim their colonies, they met a lot of hostility from their former colonial subjects, who felt that France had betrayed them. The resistance forces shifted from fighting the Japanese to fighting the French. This fighting would eventually become the First Indochina War. The primary battlefield was in Vietnam, where the French fought a losing war against Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces.
In Laos, the French GCMA, special operations command, recruited Vang Pao, a Hmong leader, as a Lieutenant in the French army.
“The French took the Hmong to northern Laos to fight for the French army,” the Hmong representative explained to me. He was at once telling me the story of his people and that of his own family. His father and his uncles had been high ranking officers in the Hmong army. “That was general Vang Pao and people like my father. Vang Pao was a Lieutenant at that point. He was in the French army, not the Laos army. He commanded only Hmong troops.”
Vang Pao would later become a general, and work directly with US-backed Air America and the Ravens.
“Two thousand Hmong were actually taken to Vietnam to fight in the battle of Dien Bien Phu.”
Dien Bien Phu was a supposedly impregnable mountain stronghold where the French suffered their final defeat in their war to keep the Vietnam colony. In the French Foreign Legion as well as in the regular French military, it is considered a great badge of honor to have fought at this historic battle.
And the Hmomg were there.
After the fall of France, Communist regimes struggled to take control of Vietnam and Laos. Vang Pao joined the Royal Laos Army, fighting the communists, and eventually became the first Hmong to achieve the rank of general.
“The Hmong were pro French,” explained the Hmong representative. “They didn’t like the communists. They lived in their mountains, and they didn’t like anyone to ask them what they did. They didn’t want anyone telling them what to do. The French left them alone, but the communists wanted to control them.”
A civil war in Laos was fought between the Royals on one side and the communists on the other, with the tribal people caught in the middle. The Americans had their eye on the war in Laos, fearing the Domino Effect, whereby if one country fell to communism, communism would spread across Southeast Asia. President Kennedy actually identified Laos as the key to stopping Communism. While US military advisers were being sent to Vietnam, US agents were exploring options in Laos.
“In 1960, the American colonel Colby came to see Vang Pao.” Originally, the Americans met with another Hmong leader, Touby Ly Fong. “But People told them to see Vang Pao because Touby Ly Fong, but was pro French. And that was not good for the Americans. Before he left Laos colonel Sasi gave 2,000 weapons to Vang Pao and Touby Ly Fong. He told them they would need these weapons someday. After Colby went to see him, Vang Pao said, ‘go make the weapons ready.’”
“When the Americans came back, in 1961 they asked Vang Pao to fight the communists.”
During the more than a decade of US involvement in the war in Laos, the Hmong served alongside Air America and the Ravens, the US clandestine forces. To this day, veterans will tell you that the Hmong were some of the toughest allies the US has ever had.
The royal government of Laos fell, and the communists claimed victory in 1975. Vang Pao was resettled to the US at that time. According to the Hmong representative, “The Americans gave the Hmong a choice of going to the refugee camps in Thailand or to stay in the fort.”
“Vang Pao left orders with the colonel, who stayed behind, to keep fighting. But he told the colonel to move the battlefront closer to the Thai border. This way, it would be easier to send weapons and support to Hmong rebels to keep up the fight. They remained there and kept fighting until 1976 and 1977. After 1975, a lot of Hmong wanted to go to America. They knew if they went to the Thai camps they could go to America. But the communists were hunting them. The Communists wanted to capture the Hmong soldiers and send them to reeducation camps. So the Hmong ran back to the jungle and kept fighting.”
“For more than thirty years, there have been small groups of Hmong living in the jungle, still fighting for democracy. The first group to surrender was in 2000 when the first journalist brought out the story about the Hmong living in the jungle. Nearly all of the Hmong in the refugee camps in Thailand are from 1975-1977.”
“Before the year 2000 I sent satellite phones to the ones still in the jungle, and we got information from them. They were waiting all of those years for Vang Pao and for the Americans to come save them. They had no news from the outside world. They stayed, and fought and waited, as General Vang Pao had told them to.”
After the 2000 journalist report about the Hmong in the jungle, the Laos and Vietnamese forces tightened up their control on America’s former allies.
Today, “The Hmong still in the jungle have to move constantly. They can’t grow rice. They can’t do anything. They move every four or five days. The rainy season is a little safer, because no one can get in or out (of the inhospitable jungle area). Occasionally, maybe they can stay somewhere for a month. But always, they are moving. The area is about 1,000 KM or more. So they move constantly.”
“A journalist broke the story about 196 Hmong who surrendered. And no one has been able to find them since. They are presumed dead.”
Up until today, there are still Hmong in refugee camps in Thailand, who have been there since 1975. The last official Hmong camp was only closed in 2009, although a few Hmong remain in Thailand, in refugee camps with Burmese refugees. According to a representative of the aid organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres, “Hundreds have been forcibly returned by the Thai authorities, and face almost certain persecution.”
According to a recent film documentary on the Hmong still living in the jungle, of all of the Hmong who either surrendered to the Laos authorities or were forcibly repatriated by Thailand, only 63 have been verified as still living.
“Yes, I am sure they killed them in the jungle somewhere, and we don’t know. The Communists don’t want the Hmong to get out.”
“The Thais sent a lot of Hmong back and as far as I know, no one has been able to contact them.”
“This is the diplomacy between Laos and Thailand. A lot of Hmong from the cities or even Hmong from Thailand went to live in the refugee camp. They said, ‘we are from the jungle.’ I think there were 2000 families from the jungle and 2000 from the city and from Thailand, because they wanted to go to the United States. So many Hmong went to America and they have money.”
Today, there are around 300,000 Hmong people living in the United States.
“They can help their family. The Hmong in the mountains are poor. But if you are in USA and have $100 dollars you can buy a buffalo for your father or grandmother living here.”
“These Hmong caused a lot of problems for the Thai and Laos government. If they had sent all of the Hmong to America, maybe 20,000 more Hmong would show up claiming to be from the jungle.”
In Laos, the situation of the Hmong is even more precarious. “Officially the war still exists between the Hmong and the communists,” said the representative.
According to a number of journalistic reports, the Laos government denies the existence of the Hmong in the jungle.
“There are 300 families still in the jungle, but they are not one group. They are separated.”
We are not just talking about old men, old soldiers. These are families; sons and in some cases grandchildren born after the war. Born in a jungle camp, born into a conflict and growing up in a state of a war which the rest of the world thinks has been over for nearly forty years.
I asked the representative if the death of Vang Pao in January, 2011 had changed anything for the Hmong living in the jungles of Laos.
“Now, General Vang Pao is dead. Most of the colonels are dead. But the Hmong in the jungle, they wait. Some are willing to surrender, but they cannot surrender to the communists. They are afraid. So, they want to come to Thailand, but if you look at Mekong now, it is heavily fortified to prevent the Hmong from sneaking into Thailand.”
Source: http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com
March 27, 2011
More than thirty-five years after the end of America’s War in Indochina, America’s greatest allies are hunted like animals.
I was recently approached by a Hmong representative, asking me to get the word out to the world. There are over 300 Hmong families hiding in the jungle of Laos, hunted by the Lao and Vietnamese armies. For more than 35 years, they have been constantly on the move, unable to plant rice or to raise their families with any reasonable degree of peace or safety. They have very little food or weapons, no medicine and no outside support.
The Hmong from the jungle need a place to call home.
Of the hundreds of Hmong who have surrendered to the Lao government forces over the last decade, none were ever seen or heard from again. The recent policy of the Thai government has been to remove Hmong from the refugee camps in Thailand and send them back to Laos.
Almost none of the Hmong refugees returned to Laos were ever heard from again.
These people are not just the soldiers of General Vang Pao’s Hmong army who fought for the CIA in the Secret War in Laos. Now, they are the children and grandchildren, born long after the conflict, but born into a continuing state of war.
If they remain in the jungle, the Hmong will die of starvation, slow disease, and eventual execution by the Laos military. If they surrender, they fear they will be killed. If they flee to Thailand, they know they will be sent back.
Where can the Hmong go? How can they find a place to call home?
Historical Background
To understand the Hmong, and where this problem came from, we have to go back to before the 1950’s, when the French were battling to preserve their colonies in Indochina.
During the Second World War, the French Indochina colonies of Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos were occupied by the Japanese. Various resistance armies developed, fighting against the Japanese. In Vietnam, the leader of the resistance forces was Ho Chi Minh, who was supported by the American OSS (the predecessor of the CIA).
When the war ended and the French came back to reclaim their colonies, they met a lot of hostility from their former colonial subjects, who felt that France had betrayed them. The resistance forces shifted from fighting the Japanese to fighting the French. This fighting would eventually become the First Indochina War. The primary battlefield was in Vietnam, where the French fought a losing war against Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces.
In Laos, the French GCMA, special operations command, recruited Vang Pao, a Hmong leader, as a Lieutenant in the French army.
“The French took the Hmong to northern Laos to fight for the French army,” the Hmong representative explained to me. He was at once telling me the story of his people and that of his own family. His father and his uncles had been high ranking officers in the Hmong army. “That was general Vang Pao and people like my father. Vang Pao was a Lieutenant at that point. He was in the French army, not the Laos army. He commanded only Hmong troops.”
Vang Pao would later become a general, and work directly with US-backed Air America and the Ravens.
“Two thousand Hmong were actually taken to Vietnam to fight in the battle of Dien Bien Phu.”
Dien Bien Phu was a supposedly impregnable mountain stronghold where the French suffered their final defeat in their war to keep the Vietnam colony. In the French Foreign Legion as well as in the regular French military, it is considered a great badge of honor to have fought at this historic battle.
And the Hmomg were there.
After the fall of France, Communist regimes struggled to take control of Vietnam and Laos. Vang Pao joined the Royal Laos Army, fighting the communists, and eventually became the first Hmong to achieve the rank of general.
“The Hmong were pro French,” explained the Hmong representative. “They didn’t like the communists. They lived in their mountains, and they didn’t like anyone to ask them what they did. They didn’t want anyone telling them what to do. The French left them alone, but the communists wanted to control them.”
A civil war in Laos was fought between the Royals on one side and the communists on the other, with the tribal people caught in the middle. The Americans had their eye on the war in Laos, fearing the Domino Effect, whereby if one country fell to communism, communism would spread across Southeast Asia. President Kennedy actually identified Laos as the key to stopping Communism. While US military advisers were being sent to Vietnam, US agents were exploring options in Laos.
“In 1960, the American colonel Colby came to see Vang Pao.” Originally, the Americans met with another Hmong leader, Touby Ly Fong. “But People told them to see Vang Pao because Touby Ly Fong, but was pro French. And that was not good for the Americans. Before he left Laos colonel Sasi gave 2,000 weapons to Vang Pao and Touby Ly Fong. He told them they would need these weapons someday. After Colby went to see him, Vang Pao said, ‘go make the weapons ready.’”
“When the Americans came back, in 1961 they asked Vang Pao to fight the communists.”
During the more than a decade of US involvement in the war in Laos, the Hmong served alongside Air America and the Ravens, the US clandestine forces. To this day, veterans will tell you that the Hmong were some of the toughest allies the US has ever had.
The royal government of Laos fell, and the communists claimed victory in 1975. Vang Pao was resettled to the US at that time. According to the Hmong representative, “The Americans gave the Hmong a choice of going to the refugee camps in Thailand or to stay in the fort.”
“Vang Pao left orders with the colonel, who stayed behind, to keep fighting. But he told the colonel to move the battlefront closer to the Thai border. This way, it would be easier to send weapons and support to Hmong rebels to keep up the fight. They remained there and kept fighting until 1976 and 1977. After 1975, a lot of Hmong wanted to go to America. They knew if they went to the Thai camps they could go to America. But the communists were hunting them. The Communists wanted to capture the Hmong soldiers and send them to reeducation camps. So the Hmong ran back to the jungle and kept fighting.”
“For more than thirty years, there have been small groups of Hmong living in the jungle, still fighting for democracy. The first group to surrender was in 2000 when the first journalist brought out the story about the Hmong living in the jungle. Nearly all of the Hmong in the refugee camps in Thailand are from 1975-1977.”
“Before the year 2000 I sent satellite phones to the ones still in the jungle, and we got information from them. They were waiting all of those years for Vang Pao and for the Americans to come save them. They had no news from the outside world. They stayed, and fought and waited, as General Vang Pao had told them to.”
After the 2000 journalist report about the Hmong in the jungle, the Laos and Vietnamese forces tightened up their control on America’s former allies.
Today, “The Hmong still in the jungle have to move constantly. They can’t grow rice. They can’t do anything. They move every four or five days. The rainy season is a little safer, because no one can get in or out (of the inhospitable jungle area). Occasionally, maybe they can stay somewhere for a month. But always, they are moving. The area is about 1,000 KM or more. So they move constantly.”
“A journalist broke the story about 196 Hmong who surrendered. And no one has been able to find them since. They are presumed dead.”
Up until today, there are still Hmong in refugee camps in Thailand, who have been there since 1975. The last official Hmong camp was only closed in 2009, although a few Hmong remain in Thailand, in refugee camps with Burmese refugees. According to a representative of the aid organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres, “Hundreds have been forcibly returned by the Thai authorities, and face almost certain persecution.”
According to a recent film documentary on the Hmong still living in the jungle, of all of the Hmong who either surrendered to the Laos authorities or were forcibly repatriated by Thailand, only 63 have been verified as still living.
“Yes, I am sure they killed them in the jungle somewhere, and we don’t know. The Communists don’t want the Hmong to get out.”
“The Thais sent a lot of Hmong back and as far as I know, no one has been able to contact them.”
“This is the diplomacy between Laos and Thailand. A lot of Hmong from the cities or even Hmong from Thailand went to live in the refugee camp. They said, ‘we are from the jungle.’ I think there were 2000 families from the jungle and 2000 from the city and from Thailand, because they wanted to go to the United States. So many Hmong went to America and they have money.”
Today, there are around 300,000 Hmong people living in the United States.
“They can help their family. The Hmong in the mountains are poor. But if you are in USA and have $100 dollars you can buy a buffalo for your father or grandmother living here.”
“These Hmong caused a lot of problems for the Thai and Laos government. If they had sent all of the Hmong to America, maybe 20,000 more Hmong would show up claiming to be from the jungle.”
In Laos, the situation of the Hmong is even more precarious. “Officially the war still exists between the Hmong and the communists,” said the representative.
According to a number of journalistic reports, the Laos government denies the existence of the Hmong in the jungle.
“There are 300 families still in the jungle, but they are not one group. They are separated.”
We are not just talking about old men, old soldiers. These are families; sons and in some cases grandchildren born after the war. Born in a jungle camp, born into a conflict and growing up in a state of a war which the rest of the world thinks has been over for nearly forty years.
I asked the representative if the death of Vang Pao in January, 2011 had changed anything for the Hmong living in the jungles of Laos.
“Now, General Vang Pao is dead. Most of the colonels are dead. But the Hmong in the jungle, they wait. Some are willing to surrender, but they cannot surrender to the communists. They are afraid. So, they want to come to Thailand, but if you look at Mekong now, it is heavily fortified to prevent the Hmong from sneaking into Thailand.”
Source: http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com
Picture gallery of GVP funeral for 2.6.11
Thousands poured in for GVP funeral
Feb. 6, 2011 @ 11 AM Fresno, California
By Ge Thao
Hmong Colorado Radio
Thousands of Hmong poured in to GVP funeral at the Fresno Convention Center. It is the third day of a six (6) day funeral. Men, women, children from all over the world came to the funeral wearing black and white attire honoring the former General. Today's event included a Buddhist Ceremony in the morning followed by dignitaries and distinguished guests. Message for condolecences included, former Royal Highness Tiao Sauryavong Savang, and Lao dignataries, Phangna Khamphay Abbay.
More speeches will be conducted later in the day, that included, John Keker, General Vang Pao's Attorney and members from the various Hmong and non-Hmong organizations around the world.
Stay tuned with Hmong Colorado Radio for up to minutes on the funeral.
By Ge Thao
Hmong Colorado Radio
Thousands of Hmong poured in to GVP funeral at the Fresno Convention Center. It is the third day of a six (6) day funeral. Men, women, children from all over the world came to the funeral wearing black and white attire honoring the former General. Today's event included a Buddhist Ceremony in the morning followed by dignitaries and distinguished guests. Message for condolecences included, former Royal Highness Tiao Sauryavong Savang, and Lao dignataries, Phangna Khamphay Abbay.
More speeches will be conducted later in the day, that included, John Keker, General Vang Pao's Attorney and members from the various Hmong and non-Hmong organizations around the world.
Stay tuned with Hmong Colorado Radio for up to minutes on the funeral.
General Vang Pao Funeral Pictures 2.5.2011
Hmong leader General Vang Pao has died
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Vang Pao, a revered former general in the Royal Army of Laos who led thousands of Hmong guerrillas in a CIA-backed secret army during the Vietnam War, has died. He was 81.
After immigrating to the United States once the communists seized power in Laos in 1975, Vang Pao was venerated as a leader and a father figure by the large Hmong refugee populations who resettled in California's Central Valley, Minneapolis and cities throughout Wisconsin.
Vang Pao died Thursday after being hospitalized for about 10 days, said Michelle Von Tersch, a spokeswoman for Clovis Community Medical Center. The Fresno Bee has reported that he was ill with pneumonia.
As a teenager in World War II, Vang Pao fought the Japanese, who were attempting to take over Laos.
In the 1950s, he joined the French in the war against the North Vietnamese who were dominating Laos and later worked with the CIA to wage a covert war there.
Former CIA Chief William Colby once called Pao "the biggest hero of the Vietnam War," for the 15 years he spent heading a CIA-sponsored guerrilla army fighting against a communist takeover of the Southeast Asian peninsula.
After his guerrillas ultimately lost to communist forces, Vang Pao immigrated to the U.S., where he was credited with brokering the resettlement of tens of thousands of Hmong, an ethnic minority from the hillsides of Laos.
"He's the last of his kind, the last of the leadership that carries that reference that everyone holds dear," said Blong Xiong, a Fresno city councilman and the first Hmong-American in California to win a city council seat. "Whether they're young or old, they hear his name, there's the respect that goes with it."
Xiong was at the hospital with a growing crowd of mourners. He said he spoke briefly with family members, who were planning a memorial service, but had no details on what caused Vang Pao's death.
Regarded by Hmong immigrants as an exiled head of state, Vang Pao made frequent appearances at Hmong cultural and religious festivals and often was asked to mediate disputes or solve problems.
In 2007, however, he was arrested and charged with other Hmong leaders in federal court with conspiracy in a plot to kill communist officials in his native country. Federal prosecutors alleged the Lao liberation movement known as Neo Hom raised millions of dollars to recruit a mercenary force and conspired to obtain weapons.
Even after his indictment, he appeared as the guest of honor at Hmong New Years celebrations in St. Paul and Fresno, where crowds of his supporters gathered to catch a glimpse of the highly decorated general as he arrived in a limousine.
The charges against Vang Pao were dropped in 2009 "after investigators completed the time-consuming process of translating more than 30,000 pages of pages of documents," then-U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown said in a written statement. The government arrested the defendants before understanding all the evidence because they felt a threat was imminent, he said.
In November, a federal judge in Sacramento threw out parts of the case against 12 other defendants. They include retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Youa True Vang and 11 members of California's Hmong community, many of whom fought for the U.S. during the Vietnam War. All 12 have pleaded not guilty since their arrests in 2007.
"Vang Pao was a great man and a true American hero. He served his country for many years in his homeland, and he continued to serve it in America," said attorney William Portanova, who represents one of the remaining Hmong defendants. "To think that these elderly men would be in a position to try to overthrow a country is, on its face, almost laughable."
Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento, said she had no immediate comment.
Vang Pao had been a source of controversy for several years before the case was filed.
In 2002, the city of Madison, Wis., dropped a plan to name a park in his honor after a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor cited published sources alleging that Vang Pao had ordered executions of his own followers, of enemy prisoners of war and of his political enemies.
Five years later, the Madison school board removed his name from a new elementary school named for him, after dissenters said the school should not bear the name of a figure with such a violent history.
But such criticism meant little to Hmong families who looked to Vang Pao for guidance as they struggled to set up farms and businesses in the U.S. and assume a new, American identity. The general formed several nonprofits to aid the refugee communities and set up a council to mediate disputes between the 18 Hmong clans, whose president he hand-picked for decades.
"He's always been kind of the glue that held everyone together," said Lar Yang of Fresno, who featured an interview with Vang Pao last month in the Hmong business directory he publishes annually. "He's the one that always resolved everything ... I don't think it can be filled by one person at this point. There will probably be a search for identity. There will be a lot of chaos for a little while, until things get settled."
------
Don Thompson in Sacramento contributed to this report.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
After immigrating to the United States once the communists seized power in Laos in 1975, Vang Pao was venerated as a leader and a father figure by the large Hmong refugee populations who resettled in California's Central Valley, Minneapolis and cities throughout Wisconsin.
Vang Pao died Thursday after being hospitalized for about 10 days, said Michelle Von Tersch, a spokeswoman for Clovis Community Medical Center. The Fresno Bee has reported that he was ill with pneumonia.
As a teenager in World War II, Vang Pao fought the Japanese, who were attempting to take over Laos.
In the 1950s, he joined the French in the war against the North Vietnamese who were dominating Laos and later worked with the CIA to wage a covert war there.
Former CIA Chief William Colby once called Pao "the biggest hero of the Vietnam War," for the 15 years he spent heading a CIA-sponsored guerrilla army fighting against a communist takeover of the Southeast Asian peninsula.
After his guerrillas ultimately lost to communist forces, Vang Pao immigrated to the U.S., where he was credited with brokering the resettlement of tens of thousands of Hmong, an ethnic minority from the hillsides of Laos.
"He's the last of his kind, the last of the leadership that carries that reference that everyone holds dear," said Blong Xiong, a Fresno city councilman and the first Hmong-American in California to win a city council seat. "Whether they're young or old, they hear his name, there's the respect that goes with it."
Xiong was at the hospital with a growing crowd of mourners. He said he spoke briefly with family members, who were planning a memorial service, but had no details on what caused Vang Pao's death.
Regarded by Hmong immigrants as an exiled head of state, Vang Pao made frequent appearances at Hmong cultural and religious festivals and often was asked to mediate disputes or solve problems.
In 2007, however, he was arrested and charged with other Hmong leaders in federal court with conspiracy in a plot to kill communist officials in his native country. Federal prosecutors alleged the Lao liberation movement known as Neo Hom raised millions of dollars to recruit a mercenary force and conspired to obtain weapons.
Even after his indictment, he appeared as the guest of honor at Hmong New Years celebrations in St. Paul and Fresno, where crowds of his supporters gathered to catch a glimpse of the highly decorated general as he arrived in a limousine.
The charges against Vang Pao were dropped in 2009 "after investigators completed the time-consuming process of translating more than 30,000 pages of pages of documents," then-U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown said in a written statement. The government arrested the defendants before understanding all the evidence because they felt a threat was imminent, he said.
In November, a federal judge in Sacramento threw out parts of the case against 12 other defendants. They include retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Youa True Vang and 11 members of California's Hmong community, many of whom fought for the U.S. during the Vietnam War. All 12 have pleaded not guilty since their arrests in 2007.
"Vang Pao was a great man and a true American hero. He served his country for many years in his homeland, and he continued to serve it in America," said attorney William Portanova, who represents one of the remaining Hmong defendants. "To think that these elderly men would be in a position to try to overthrow a country is, on its face, almost laughable."
Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento, said she had no immediate comment.
Vang Pao had been a source of controversy for several years before the case was filed.
In 2002, the city of Madison, Wis., dropped a plan to name a park in his honor after a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor cited published sources alleging that Vang Pao had ordered executions of his own followers, of enemy prisoners of war and of his political enemies.
Five years later, the Madison school board removed his name from a new elementary school named for him, after dissenters said the school should not bear the name of a figure with such a violent history.
But such criticism meant little to Hmong families who looked to Vang Pao for guidance as they struggled to set up farms and businesses in the U.S. and assume a new, American identity. The general formed several nonprofits to aid the refugee communities and set up a council to mediate disputes between the 18 Hmong clans, whose president he hand-picked for decades.
"He's always been kind of the glue that held everyone together," said Lar Yang of Fresno, who featured an interview with Vang Pao last month in the Hmong business directory he publishes annually. "He's the one that always resolved everything ... I don't think it can be filled by one person at this point. There will probably be a search for identity. There will be a lot of chaos for a little while, until things get settled."
------
Don Thompson in Sacramento contributed to this report.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
Hmong leader General Vang Pao is doing well and Healthy
By Ge Thao
Hmong Colorado Radio | January 2, 2011 @ 12:00 PM
There were rumors circulated throughout the world that General Vang Pao has passed away on December 31, 2010. That information is INCORRECT. According to sources close to General Vang Pao, reports are that he has checked in at a local hospital (perhaps, in Fresno, CA) for treatment of seasonal flu like symptoms and is doing well and healthy.
We are hoping to connect with a source(s) for a complete story on this development. Stay tuned with HCR for further details and development.
Read article and listen to Suabhmongradio.com for details on this below.
By Richard Wanglue
Suab Hmong Radio
Suab Hmong and Hmong Report At 7 apologize for miss-informed the Hmong community about Gen. Vang Pao that he passed away. This is not true. The true is that Gen. Vang Pao is well and he will be released from the hospital soon.
Click here to listen to Suab Hmong Radio LIVE TalkShow with Arron Vang, a Hmong leader and a radio TalkShow in Sacramento, CA, and Atary Xiong, Executive Producer for Hmong Report At 7 in Sacramento, CA to clarify the rumor.
Click here to watch Suab Hmong News Channel at Youtube.
------------------
Suab Hmoob thiab Hmoob Report At 7 thov txim txog ntawm qhov xov xwm peb tau tshaj tawm txog ntawm Hmoob tus thawj coj Nais Phoos qhov hais tias nws tau tso peb tseg. Qhov nov tsis muaj tseeb. Nais Phoos Vaj Pov tseem muaj txoj sia nyob tsuas yog nws tau khaub thuas me ntsis xwb.
Nyem nod mloog tau kev sib tham nrog rau Arron Vaj, Hmoob ib tug thawj coj thiab ib tug hais lus rau haus xov tooj cua nyob rau hauv nroog Sacramento, CA, nrog rau Atary Xyooj, tus tswj kev tshaj tawm duab yees mus kev nyob rau Sacramento, CA.
Nyem nod mus saib tau Suab Hmoob Xov Xwm Duab Yees Mus kev.
Yog koj muaj lus dab tsi, koj hu tau rau Suab Hmoob rau ntawm 224-333-1132.
Hmong Colorado Radio | January 2, 2011 @ 12:00 PM
There were rumors circulated throughout the world that General Vang Pao has passed away on December 31, 2010. That information is INCORRECT. According to sources close to General Vang Pao, reports are that he has checked in at a local hospital (perhaps, in Fresno, CA) for treatment of seasonal flu like symptoms and is doing well and healthy.
We are hoping to connect with a source(s) for a complete story on this development. Stay tuned with HCR for further details and development.
Read article and listen to Suabhmongradio.com for details on this below.
By Richard Wanglue
Suab Hmong Radio
Suab Hmong and Hmong Report At 7 apologize for miss-informed the Hmong community about Gen. Vang Pao that he passed away. This is not true. The true is that Gen. Vang Pao is well and he will be released from the hospital soon.
Click here to listen to Suab Hmong Radio LIVE TalkShow with Arron Vang, a Hmong leader and a radio TalkShow in Sacramento, CA, and Atary Xiong, Executive Producer for Hmong Report At 7 in Sacramento, CA to clarify the rumor.
Click here to watch Suab Hmong News Channel at Youtube.
------------------
Suab Hmoob thiab Hmoob Report At 7 thov txim txog ntawm qhov xov xwm peb tau tshaj tawm txog ntawm Hmoob tus thawj coj Nais Phoos qhov hais tias nws tau tso peb tseg. Qhov nov tsis muaj tseeb. Nais Phoos Vaj Pov tseem muaj txoj sia nyob tsuas yog nws tau khaub thuas me ntsis xwb.
Nyem nod mloog tau kev sib tham nrog rau Arron Vaj, Hmoob ib tug thawj coj thiab ib tug hais lus rau haus xov tooj cua nyob rau hauv nroog Sacramento, CA, nrog rau Atary Xyooj, tus tswj kev tshaj tawm duab yees mus kev nyob rau Sacramento, CA.
Nyem nod mus saib tau Suab Hmoob Xov Xwm Duab Yees Mus kev.
Yog koj muaj lus dab tsi, koj hu tau rau Suab Hmoob rau ntawm 224-333-1132.
Ethnic Hmong famous for unique earrings
By Pham Ngoc Bang | dtinews.vn | December 13, 2010
Ethnic women in the northwest region are famous for their unique earrings which are traditional forms of art.
For women in the northwest, jewelry, especially earrings, play an important part in their life. Jewelry is not only for fashion but also for showing their personality, their class, and even a mysterious weapon to defend themselves from devils and prevent illnesses.
Women of the ethnic Hmong people usually wear earrings made from white silver. There are many made from aluminum for those with a small budget.
Earrings have various sizes and shapes including question marks, spirals, circles, crescents and more.
Patterns carved on the rings are usually 5-petal flowers, bird, and other geometries. They also decorate the rings with flowers or farming tools.
Those with big earrings are considered healthy and hardworking. During special occasions like festivals, all women wear the biggest earrings they can.
Admire some of the unique and beautiful earrings of ethnic Hmong women:
Ethnic women in the northwest region are famous for their unique earrings which are traditional forms of art.
For women in the northwest, jewelry, especially earrings, play an important part in their life. Jewelry is not only for fashion but also for showing their personality, their class, and even a mysterious weapon to defend themselves from devils and prevent illnesses.
Women of the ethnic Hmong people usually wear earrings made from white silver. There are many made from aluminum for those with a small budget.
Earrings have various sizes and shapes including question marks, spirals, circles, crescents and more.
Patterns carved on the rings are usually 5-petal flowers, bird, and other geometries. They also decorate the rings with flowers or farming tools.
Those with big earrings are considered healthy and hardworking. During special occasions like festivals, all women wear the biggest earrings they can.
Admire some of the unique and beautiful earrings of ethnic Hmong women:
