The tears kept coming until dawn, and when the sun rose, he left his family without a word, and went to join the French Army, which was the occupying colonial force at the time. He was also known as General Vang Pao to the people in the Hmong community. ", Baenen, Jeff, Associated Press (AP), (28 May 2004)"Hmong Military Leader's Influence Waning", Estrada, Heron Marquez and Xiong, Chao, Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minnesota, (2 May 2004) "Attacks on Hmong a puzzle; The roots of recent violence aimed at a general's affiliates are being probed. The Hmong are a tribe in the fog-shrouded mountains separating Laos from southern China, and they were natural allies for the C.I.A. In the shadows of the Vietnam War, the CIA conducted a secret war in Laos that relied on Hmong soldiers to prevent the threat of communism from spreading deeper into Southeast Asia. Vang Pao was a general in the official Laotian Army, the chief of a secret army financed by the Central Intelligence Agency and the undisputed leader of the varied factions of his people, the Hmong. That man was my great-uncle, the late Gen. Vang Pao. Later, he fell under suspicion by both Hmong groups who supported the Royal Lao Government (including members of Vang Pao's army) and by those Hmong who supported the communist Pathet Lao. By 1968, 30% of the new recruits were only 14 years old. [10] He remained widely respected by his fellow Hmong and was an esteemed elder of the American Hmong people, many of whom experienced the war or the reprisals that followed. Further information on covert war in Laos: Kaufman, Marc, Knight-Ridder / Tribune News Service (8 April 1996) "Hmong refugees will now be allowed to enter the U.S.", Washington, Wayne, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota) (17 April 1996) "Agencies say influx of Hmong will go smoothly", The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) "NEW WAVE OF LAOTIAN REFUGEES ON THE WAY HUNDREDS EXPECTED TO COME TO STATE" (18 April 1996), Barber, Ben, Washington Times (Washington, D.C.) (22 April 1996), Scoop Independent News, Auckland, New Zealand (17 February 2011) "Vietnam, Laos Nationalist Fighter Honored By Lao Hmong", Kennedy, Tony and McEnroe, Paul (5 July 2005)"THE COVERT WARS OF VANG PAO; Ex-guerrilla's gamble for peace backfires; With his empire unraveling, Gen. Vang Pao met with the enemy, a tactic that to his people felt like a total betrayal. The monsoon rains had just begun, the farm animals were waking, and Grandma, well, she did what she does best speak her mind. 19802023 The Christian Science Monitor. The CIA arranged for flights to bring Vang Pao and his Hmong supporters to the US as refugees via airbases in Thailand. Ramsey County voters to elect Minnesota's first Hmong county commissioner [11] Though he was somewhat less influential among younger Hmong-Americans who have grown up primarily in the United States, he generally was considered an influential leader of U.S.-based Hmong, enjoying great loyalty for his position of leadership and respect for his military accomplishments. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. I tell them I promise to be the keeper of their stories, so they smile proudly and agree to meet again soon. Behind the news are values that drive people and nations. General Vang Pao, who battled diabetes and heart problems, died aged 81 of pneumonia with heart complications on January 6, 2011, at Clovis Community Medical Center. Vang Pao - Wikipedia He was also known as General Vang Pao to the people in the Hmong community. [2] He was a leader of the Hmong American community in the United States.
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