Cached: http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2011/01/17/vang-pao-legacy-future-hmong-us-laos-and-world
Richard C. Kagan, Ph.D.
General Vang Pao, commander of the Hmong resistance to the Laotian and Vietnamese Communists, community leader in exile in the United States, and charismatic leader, died in California at the age of 81.
Writing in the Minneapolis Tribune, Stephen B. Young, friend and associate of General Vang, gave a personal eulogy. In addition to his emotional and loving reminiscences, Stephen declared but did not fully explain that Vang Pao was an historical hero: “He was a warrior chieftain, a throwback to ancient societies. He had the special charisma of a great founder of a dynasty. He was a Sitting Bull, a Cochise.”
Sadly, both Sitting Bull and Cochise were tragic figures: they were heroic fighters against American settlers but eventually surrendered and were abused by the American government.
Sitting Bull(1831-1890) had fled to Canada after the slaughter of General Custer and his men. Upon his return, he made peace with Washington D.C., but was shot to death by the Indian Agency Police. Cochise (1805-74) fought heroically yet unsuccessfully at Apache Pass. His relatives were taken hostage by the Army, and subsequently executed. He fled to Mexico and from there engaged in raids into New Mexico which resulted in the slaughter of thousands of settlers and Indians. He, too, surrendered and lived on a reservation where he died-possibly of stomach cancer.
I would have chosen a comparison with Quanah Parker, a Comanche chief and warrior who engaged in guerrilla warfare resulting in great slaughter of Indians and settlers for many years and finally surrendered to his arch enemy General Mackenzie. Surprisingly, the two became fast friends and the General gave support to the Comanche’s career. Quanah went into the cattle business and became very wealthy. He built a mansion and opened up his farm and residence to all guests - including poor and homeless Indians. He became active in the community: he was the Director of an Indian school, and later had a county named after him.
Vang Pao’s fate was created by the fact that the Laotian communist party would not tolerate Hmong autonomy in Laos. The futile battles that raged in Laos resulted in “killing fields” of one third of the Hmong population and the flight of another third. The rest suffered under the oppressive policies of the regime.
On the other hand, the U.S. government was initially opportunistic in arming the Hmong against the communists. This was not unlike their use of Indian tribes to fight each other. At the end of the war, Washington D.C. was reluctant to recognize its obligations to and the rights of the refugees. It treated the Hmong like it had treated many native American tribes. Vang Pao did not have support from a man like Quanah’s Mackenzie. Nor was he able to secure a broad constituency outside of the Hmong community.
Quanah was fortunate. The Indian wars subsided. The settlers could work in relative peace with the Indians. For Vang Pao, the Cold War intensified the conflict. Loyalty to anti-communism became the political test for his support from both the U.S. government and his Hmong constituency. Although he tried, as Young relates, to compromise with Laos and perhaps Vietnam, this was stymied by both the U.S. and China. Near the end of his life, the U.S. government even brought charges against him for supporting the rebels in Laos. The result was that Vang Pao was even further alienated from important support in the broader American community.
Vang Pao’s legacy will be fulfilled if there is a way for the Hmong in Laos and those abroad to live in peace and be able to attain a rich quality of life. For the historian, his is another example of the treacherous politics of colonialism, whether communist or “western,” and the struggles for independence and survival in the modern world. The love of his followers should not prevent or hinder them from looking both admiringly and critically at his life and times.
Richard C. Kagan, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus and former director of the East Asian Studies Program at Hamline University.
© 2011 Asian American Press
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Appleton-based Hmong Wisconsin Radio, to broadcast funeral worldwide of Laotian Army Gen. Vang Pao
Kor Xiong, president of Appleton-based Hmong Wisconsin Radio, is helping to organize a memorial for Vang Pao, best known to the non-Hmong community as the leader of a secret war against communist forces in Laos during the Vietnam War. (Post-Crescent photo by Wm. Glasheen)
Kor Xiong, president of Appleton-based Hmong Wisconsin Radio, is playing a role in organizing national and local memorials to Vang Pao, best known to the non-Hmong community as the leader of a CIA-sponsored secret war against communist forces in Laos during the Vietnam War.
Thousands of Hmong from across Wisconsin are expected to travel to Appleton over the course of nine days beginning Jan. 29 to mourn and honor the general, known not only for his military leadership, but also for his devotion to the education of Hmong children. Reverence for him is so strong that his name is still written and spoken in the traditional Hmong fashion — with last name before first name — instead of the English-language fashion of first name before surname that most Hmong in America have adopted.
“When Gen. Vang Pao was still in Laos it didn’t matter if it involved traveling to the bottom of the biggest hill or the top of the highest mountain. If a school needed a teacher he would find a helicopter if necessary to get a teacher to that school,” Xiong said.
Xiong is attempting to emulate Vang Pao’s desire to reach all Hmong by establishing the first Hmong satellite television station, currently known as Hmong Satellite TV, which will offer Hmong-oriented broadcast 24 hours a day.
The station was due to inaugurate service in mid-April, but Vang Pao’s death pushed the unveiling, at least temporarily, to Feb. 4.
Xiong will coordinate live, around-the-clock video coverage of Vang Pao’s memorial and funeral set for Feb. 9. An estimated 40,000 people are expected to view Vang Pao’s body in California.
People wishing to view the memorial and funeral in Wisconsin can watch via a satellite feed or on the Web at www.hmongsatellite tv.com.
Additional information
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♦ Photos: 2004: Appleton welcomes Gen. Vang Pao
♦ Photos: Hmong leader Vang Pao dies
As many as 700 Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War could travel to Appleton for the memorial service said Za Blong Vang of Appleton, chief councilor of the Hmong 18 Clan Council of Wisconsin and a local Hmong leader who fought alongside Vang Pao during the Vietnam War from 1961 through 1975.
“Gen. Vang was a good guy, a good man and a good leader of soldiers,” Blong Vang said.
Blong Vang said planning for the Jan. 29 military salute to Vang Pao is not complete.
“It will not only be groups, but we will have a memorial within Richmond Hall to allow individuals to honor the general,” Xiong said.
The Appleton memorial begins Jan. 29 with participation from Hmong military veterans and presentations by Hmong leaders.
“The first thing that will happen is Hmong veterans will salute the general,” Xiong said.
On Jan. 30, Hmong youth are encouraged to attend the memorial service.
From Jan. 31 through Feb. 4, Richmond Hall will be open each day to mourners from 9 a.m. to noon and 3 to 6 p.m.
A community dinner is set for Feb. 5 at Richmond Hall.
“We expect many people to come to the dinner so they can have a last meal with the general,” Xiong said.
Steve Wideman: 920-993-1000, ext. 302, or swideman@postcrescent.com
