Laotians renew call for freedom in homeland

Click on the link to get more news and video from original source:  http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_21348997/laotians-renew-call-freedom-homeland

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By Marie Donovan , Sun Correspondent

Updated:   08/19/2012 06:59:54 AM EDT

LOWELL — Nicholas Sounphale still misses his native country, Laos.

“The country is so beautiful, so lovely,” Sounphale said.

The Littleton resident was one of about 60 people from near and far who attended the Eighth Anniversary Celebration of the Lao Heritage and Freedom Flag at City Hall on Saturday. Posters set up in front of the building bore photos of ancient Laotian treasures, including glistening Buddhist temples, intricately woven baskets of various shapes and sizes, gold statues and finely carved wooden musical instruments and textile-making utensils.

Sounphale, a now 50-year-old research and development technician who emigrated here in 1980, said despite his love for Laos, he was not in favor of the Communist government that took over in 1975.

The event celebrated the contributions of Laotians to the Lowell area while offering speakers a chance to advocate for peaceful change back home to re-install a democratic form of government. It was emceed by Linkham Xaylitdet of The Laotian Community of Lowell. It drew local officials like Mayor Patrick Murphy and City Councilors Rita Mercier and Vesna Nuon, along with native Laotians from as far as Germany.

“The Laotian community of Lowell stands in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Laos,” Murphy said.

Also in attendance to show their support were several Vietnamese immigrants who have served with the US Army Veterans Support Command and several Bangladeshi American officials.

“Thanks to the warm open arms and generous helping hands of the U.S. Government and the American people, we the Laotian Americans are who we are today: independent, free and law-abiding contributive citizens,” said United Lao Political Organization President Khamthene Chinyavong, expressing his gratitude to state officials for allowing them to uphold the Lao National Flag and the Lao Freedom and Heritage Flag so they can share their celebration with the city and the community.

The Lao Heritage and Freedom Flag features three white elephant heads on a red background.

The background represents the courage of Laotian kings and commoners who, despite hailing from 68 ethnic groups, managed to build a unified nation that they defended and protected from invaders for seven centuries, according to Bounthone Chanthalavong-Wiese, president of Alliance for Democracy in Laos.

The white elephant heads, which peer out from a white nine-level parasol, represent the pure beauty of both the land and culture of Laos, said Chanthalavong-Wiese, adding that the parasol represents the levels a person would need to climb, spiritually speaking, to reach the pinnacle that represents the heavens and Mount Meru, which Laotians tend to revere as the center of the universe.

The flag “illustrates the abundance of elephants in the country, hence ‘Lan Xang:’ the land of a million elephants,” said Chantalavong-Wiese, who said about 14 percent of the Laotian population, or more than 500,000 people, had emigrated to other countries to find safety and freedom after the Communist Party replaced the ruling constitutional monarchy.

Among them were Alygnaphon “Alit” Chanthala, who came to the event from Connecticut. Chanthala, now 34, was a leader of the student democracy movement in Laos in 1999. He said he emigrated here to join his sister after watching Communist officials attempt to arrest protesters at a rally he attended back home. Chanthala said he still misses family members back home, but that he is thankful he was able to start a new life here.

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Robert Jambon: A Bold Life & Death For Laos and Hmong

Press Release: Centre for Public Policy Analysis

Robert Jambon: A Bold Life & Death For Laos and Hmong

Wednesday, 14 December 2011, 1:20 pm
Press Release: Centre for Public Policy Analysis

December 13, 2011, Washington, D.C., Paris, France, Bangkok, Thailand and Vientiane, Laos

Le Colonel Robert Jambon

The Center for Public Policy Analysis, and a coalition of Lao and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have issued a statement today honoring the life and legacy of retired French Colonel Robert Jambon and his valiant fight for human rights and freedom for the Laotian, Hmong and Vietnamese people. The NGOs also expressed their condolences to the Jambon family. According to his final statements as reported recently by an investigation concluded by French police, Colonel Jambon sacrificed himself in Dinan, France, as a veteran of the Indochina war, where he took his own life in seeking to bring international attention to the ongoing persecution and killing of the Lao Hmong people in Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

“The Lao and Hmong veterans salute the supreme sacrifice of Colonel Robert Jambon in seeking to offer up his life to help bring international attention to the ongoing military attacks, and human rights violations in Laos and Vietnam, directed against freedom-loving people, including the Hmong,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI), the largest Laotian and Hmong non-profit veterans organization in the United States ,with chapters and members in France and internationally.

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“Colonel Jambon wanted to help to save our Lao and Hmong people and the refugees, and ordinary people, who are being persecuted now in Laos by the military and communist regime,” Colonel Wangyee Vang stated.

“Colonel Jambon is a hero to our Laotian and Hmong people; He recently killed himself in France as an dramatic and important international statement of protest to try to help our people and to try to save those in the jungles and refugee camps in Laos and Thailand who have fled terrible religious and political persecution, genocide and bloody military attacks,” Wangyee Vang said.

“The Laotian and Hmong people will never forget Colonel Robert Jambon for his sacrifices in defense of the Royal Kingdom of Laos during the Indochina war and his efforts to bring awareness about the plight of Laotians and Hmong people who are the victims of human rights violations,” said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL).

“Colonel Robert Jambon’s life, and recent suicide in France, is an important and symbolic act of selfless love, and of calculated moral war, against systemic injustice and oppression that continues to be directed against thousands of innocent people in Laos, including the Hmong minority,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.

“Robert Jambon’s final tragic act of love, and war, for the forgotten nation of Laos, and the persecuted Lao Hmong minority people there, has been heard in Washington, D.C. and has resonated with many in the Laotian community around the world,” Smith observed.

The CPPA continues to document human rights violations in Laos and Southeast Asia regard the Hmong and other peoples. Thousands of Hmong from Vietnam were arrested, or killed, earlier this year by the Vietnam Peoples’ Army (VPA) in Dien Bien province after staging peaceful gatherings and protests. Hmong Christians in Laos have suffered increased persecution, atrocities and attacks by the Lao military and VPA forces. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

“Despite the indifference of the international community, the war in Laos is, unfortunately, not over for the Lao Hmong people,” Smith continued. “The Lao People’s Army, and the secret police of the Stalinist regime in Laos, backed by military leaders in Hanoi, continue to kill and persecute the Laotian and Hmong people in the most brutal and egregious manner resulting in many refugees fleeing to neighboring Thailand and the ongoing deaths and casualties of thousands of innocent civilians as well as political and religious dissidents.”

“Colonel Jambon’s bold death, like the self-immolation of Tibetan and Vietnamese monks, is a fiery monument to heroism and self-sacrifice on behalf of the Hmong people of Laos and Vietnam whom he loved and knew, and served with in combat on behalf of France during the first Indochina war,” Smith commented.

“The violent forced repatriation of tens of thousands of Lao Hmong refugees from Ban Huay Nam Khao in Thailand, back to the communist regime in Laos, where they fled mass starvation and genocide in recent years, remains as a stain upon the international community as well as the hearts and minds of those concerned about human rights in Southeast Asia,” Smith stated.

“Colonel Robert Jambon rightly understood the horrific crimes, and incomprehensible abuses, that are still being violently inflicted upon thousands of innocent Hmong and Laotian civilians and religious and political dissident groups in Laos,” Smith continued.

“Colonel Jambon’s passionate and Gauguin-like suicide at the Indochina monument in Dinan, France, is a powerful symbol of devotion and understanding regarding the suffering plight of the Lao and Hmong people,” Smith concluded. “Robert Jambon’s courage in speaking truth to power to a world that has largely forgotten thousands of Lao Hmong people who have been abandoned by France and the United States in the mountains and jungles of Laos, and the refugee camps in Thailand, speaks volumes; The themes of love, war, betrayal, and the need to address the ongoing social injustice in Laos and Vietnam, resonate in the final gunshot that ended Robert Jambon’s amazing and important life”

Joining the CPPA, LVAI and ULDL in issuing a statement on behalf of Colonel Robert Jambon’s life and legacy include the United Lao for Human Rights and Democracy (ULHRD), Laos Institute for Democracy, Hmong Advance, Inc., Hmong Advancement, Inc., Lao Students for Democracy, Hmong Students Association and others.

Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders (MSF – Medecins Sans Frontieres), the CPPA and independent NGO and journalists have reported about the forced repatriation, persectution and human rights violations directed against the Lao Hmong people in Thailand and Laos.

http://www.msf.org/msf/articles/2007/07/hmong-refugees-in-thailand-are-a-population-in-danger.cfm

http://www.msf.org/msf/articles/2008/06/thailand-forcibly-returns-hundreds-of-hmong-refugees-to-laos.cfm

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/003/2007/en

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ENDS

1. Robert Jambon: A Bold Life & Death For Laos and Hmong

The Center for Public Policy Analysis, and a coalition of Lao and Hmong non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have issued a statement today honoring the life and legacy of retired French Colonel Robert Jambon and his valiant fight for human rights and freedom for the Laotian, Hmong and Vietnamese people.

Related:

French colonel ‘killed himself in pro-Hmong protest’

BBC News

Col Robert Jambon, 86, shot himself in October on the steps of the “Indochina monument” in Dinan in western France. In a suicide letter published by Ouest …

International: French ex-colonel’s suicide over plight of Hmongs‎ RFI
Ex-French colonel kills self to protest Asian minority-Hmong treatment‎ Ahram Online

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Les Hmongs saluent leur “héros” français

Le Figaro

“Les anciens combattants Lao et Hmong saluent le sacrifice suprême du colonel Robert Jambon“, a déclaré Wangyee Vang, président des anciens combattants Lao …

Dinan. L’ancien d’Indochine s’est suicidé pour le peuple Hmong‎ Le Télégramme
Hmongs : un ancien d’Indochine se suicide‎ Sur Le Feu
Un ancien d’Indochine se suicide par solidarité avec les Hmongs‎ AFP

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Đại tá Pháp tự sát là ‘anh hùng’

BBC Tiếng Việt

Đại tá về hưu Robert Jambon, 86 tuổi, đã nổ súng vào đầu tại bậc thềm của đài tưởng niệm chiến tranh Đông Dương ở thị trấn Dinan thuộc …

Đại tá Pháp tự sát ‘vì người Hmong’

BBC Tiếng Việt

Đại tá Robert Jambon, 86 tuổi, đã nổ súng vào đầu hồi tháng 10 ở bậc thềm của ‘tượng đài Đông Dương’ ở thị trấn Dinan thuộc tỉnh …

What’s in a name? On pronouncing difficult country names

View Original Source:  http://www.gadling.com/2011/09/07/whats-in-a-name-on-pronouncing-difficult-country-names/

by Rolf Potts (RSS feed) on Sep 7th 2011 at 10:00AM

When I traveled through Southeast Asia some years ago, I was amazed by the number of fellow backpackers who ridiculed me whenever I pronounced the “s” in Laos. Apparently, I was supposed to pronounce it “Lao,” just like locals do.

The thing is, those same “s”-dropping travelers never insisted on calling Bangkok by its proper name (“Krung Thep Maha Nakhon”) when they were in Thailand — and when they recalled journeys to East Asia, they mentioned Japan and Korea, not “Nihon-koku” and “Daehan Minguk”. But Laos was “Lao,” and anyone with the temerity to pronounce the “s” ran the risk of being branded a travel-greenhorn in the backpacker haunts of Vang Vieng and Muang Sing.

Oddly enough, Laos seems to be the only place where backpackers are rigid fundamentalists when it comes to nation-state pronunciation. Rarely do you find such tenacious commitment to cultural-linguistic accuracy in the travel cliques of Misr (Egypt), Shqipërisë (Albania), or Suomi (Finland). (One possible exception might be Latin America, where otherwise normal patter among English-speaking travelers is frequently offset with trilled r’s and h-sounding g’s when mentioning places like Honduras and Argentina.)

What makes Laos an exception? Since the Westernized pronunciation is just one consonant away from the local pronunciation, my guess is lazy opportunism among backpackers hoping to showcase their cultural knowledge. Whereas referring to Morocco as “al-Maghrebia” or Greenlandas “Kalaallit Nunaat” would make you seem like a jackass show-off to fellow travelers, calling Laos “Lao” allows you to avoid confusing your compatriots while still insinuating that you’ve been in-country long enough to pronounce the place as locals do. Hence, in the goofy realm of backpacker pecking order (where displays of cultural expertise reign supreme, yet all pretensions must be subtle), Laos-pronunciation is the perfect shorthand for distinguishing salty wanderers from newbies.

Interestingly, Laos provides a good example for how complicated things can get when dissecting the names of nation-states. The “s” in Laos, for example, dates back to the late 1800′s, when a number of largely autonomous, mainly Lao-speaking kingdoms (including Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak) were united under French colonial rule. The “s” was silent in French pronunciation, and only came into spoken use when Anglophones intoned it according to their own rules (much as we do when pronouncing “Paris”). Perhaps the most famous mispronunciation of “Laos” came in 1962, when President Kennedy called the nation “Lay-oss” — reportedly out of apprehension that the American people would resist sending military aid to a country that sounded like the singular of “lice.”Though it could be easy to write off the “s” in Laos as an insidious remnant of Western imperialism, place-names in Europe are similarly indicative of bygone intrusions. When a Cardiff-born traveler refers to himself as “Welsh,” he is actually using a Germanic word that means “foreigner” (as opposed to the Celtic word for Welsh, “Cymry,” which means “compatriot”). Similarly, the official Laotian name for Laos — “Meuang Lao” — probably sounds a tad strange to the 31% of native-born citizens (including the Hmong, Dao, and Khmu) who are not ethnically Lao.British historian Norman Davies has noted that place-names aren’t necessarily a fixed concept. “They change over time,” he wrote in his 1996 book Europe: A History. “And they vary according to the language and the perspective of the people who use them. They are the intellectual property of their users, and as such have caused endless conflicts. They can be the object of propaganda, of tendentious wrangling, of rigid censorship, even of wars. In reality, where several variants exist, one cannot speak of correct or incorrect forms.”

This in mind, I’ve decided I won’t worry too much about the “correct” way to pronounce Laos. Outside of backpacker circles, I’ve found that native Laotians don’t mind when I pronounce the “s” in Laos — just like citizens of ” Ellīnikī́ Dīmokratía” understand when I make reference to “Greece,” and residents of “Al Mamlaka al Urduniya al Hashemiyah” don’t scold me for calling their country “Jordan.” Were I conversing in Lao or Greek or Arabic this might be a different matter — but host cultures tend to understand that non-fluent outsiders have their own names for things. When I’m asked by local people to use local pronunciations (or when it makes communication easier) I’m happy to drop my Westernized vocabulary for something more culturally correct. This is, in fact, a normal part of the travel-education process.

I suppose it’s also part of the travel process to foist that linguistic correctness on other travelers, but this can sometimes get obnoxious. Just as rose by any other name would smell as sweet, Laos will remain of terrific place to travel, regardless of whether or not you pronounce the “s” in the company of your fellow backpackers.

[flickr image via Ian @ The Paperboy]

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

John H Kester Sep 7th 2011 3:22PM

You’re making a bit of a false comparison here because you’re comparing the shortened English names with the complete formal native names of each country. Yes, Japan is colloqially “Japan,” but it’s formally “The State of Japan” which is exactly what “Nihon [Japan] koku (country)” means. And in common Japanese parlance, the locals would say, “Nihon” or “Nippon” in the same way we commonly use “Japan.” This is not to say that your average English-speaking backpacker will refer to “Japan” as “Nihon,” but the Japan/Nihon-koku parallel is unfair.

Similarly, Jordan isn’t really “Jordan,” it’s the “Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan” — again, a translation of the full formal Arabic name that you mention, “Al-Mamlakah al-Urduniyyah al Hāšimiyyah.” A trip to Google Translate reveals the short-form name, “Al-Urdun.” I would wager that Jordanians prefer an economy of words in their daily speech just as we do and that they employ “Al-Urdun” in casual conversation. Again, I’m not saying an American backpacker in Jordan would call it “Al-Urdun,” but even a Jordanian wouldn’t commonly speak about “Al-Mamlakah al-Urduniyyah al Hāšimiyyah” so your comparison doesn’t work.

Importantly, even the subject of your post, “Laos,” is formally called the “Lao People’s Democratic Republic” in English and “Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao” in Laotian. People in Laos naturally use a short form name, “Muang Lao” (as you mention), or “Pathet Lao,” so you’ve mixed a short form Laotian name with long-form names of the other countries that you use to support your case. It might be unique to backpackers in Laos to make use of the local state-naming lingo (although I doubt it), but you’ve confused the issue by comparing informal Laotian state-naming with the formal nomenclature of other states.

Lao Immigrant Family Learns Son Died in Afghan Helicopter Crash

View Original Source:  http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/08/10/lao-immigrant-family-learns-son-died-in-afghan-helicopter-crash/

Sengchanh Douangdara of South Sioux City holds a portrait of her son, John Douangdara, on Monday. John Douangdara was among U.S. Navy SEALs killed in action Saturday when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan. (Journal photo by Tim Gallagher)

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 at 10:20 am UTC

A Lao immigrant family in the United States says one of their members was among the 30 U.S. troops who died last week in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

Sengchanh Douangdara has told reporters in Sioux City, Iowa, she was notified of her son’s death by military officials on Saturday.

The son, John Douangdara, 26, was a master at arms in the elite Navy SEALs, where he worked as a dog handler. The mother said she had not known John was part of the Seal unit but that he loved his work and died doing the job he chose.

Sengchanh Douangdara said she immigrated from Laos 31 years ago and has four more children living in the United States. Her oldest child, Chan Follen, said the family is proud John died fighting for the country that embraced the family and gave them the opportunity to pursue the American dream.

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Family says Navy SEAL from South Sioux among dead

Associated Press3:05 p.m. CDT, August 8, 2011

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb.—

A U.S. Navy SEAL from South Sioux City was among the 30 American troops killed when a military helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, family members said.

Sengchanh Douangdara told the Sioux City Journal that military officials notified her of her son’s death on Saturday. The newspaper said Monday that Master at Arms, Class 1 John Douangdara, 26, was a lead dog handler for the elite unit.

“I know he loved his job, it was a job he chose,” his mother said.

Douangdara, a 2003 graduate of South Sioux City High School, was aboard a Chinook helicopter that the military said was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade in eastern Afghanistan. Twenty-two elite SEAL personnel, Air Force troops, an Army air crew and eight Afghans were killed. Military officials said the troops were on a mission to assist forces pursing a Taliban leader.

“We are proud Johnny fought for the country that embraced our family and gave us the opportunity to reach for the American dream,” said Chan Follen, the oldest of five children in the family, which came to the United States from Laos three decades ago.

There was no answer to a telephone call from The Associated Press to the Douangdara family in South Sioux City on Monday. There was no phone listing for Chan Follen in the area.

At least two troops from Nebraska were killed in the helicopter crash.

The Nebraska National Guard confirmed Monday that Sgt. Patrick Hamburger, 30, of Grand Island, was among the dead. He was a flight engineer with the Army National Guard’s Company B, 2nd Battalion 135th General Support Aviation unit, which is based in Grand Island.

AP-WF-08-08-11 2302GMT

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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South Sioux City, Neb., man among Navy SEALs killed Saturday

View original Source:  http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/south-sioux-city-neb-man-among-navy-seals-killed-saturday/article_901a411a-c219-11e0-b157-001cc4c03286.html

By TIM GALLAGHER, Courier Lee News Service

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. — The family of a U.S. Navy SEAL serving in Afghanistan confirmed the death of their son and brother on Saturday in a helicopter crash in Wardak province.

The city is located just across the river from Sioux City, Iowa.

Sengchanh Douangdara, the mother of U.S. Navy SEAL John Douangdara, said military officials approached her home at 10 a.m. Saturday to deliver the news of her son’s death. Master at Arms, Class 1 John Douangdara, 26, was a dog handler for the elite military unit.

The 2003 South Sioux City High School graduate was aboard a Chinook helicopter with 37 others when the aircraft was shot down during an anti-Taliban operation in the Tangi Valley.

Thirty U.S. troops were killed, including nearly two dozen members of the U.S. Navy SEALs. Seven Afghan soldiers and an Afghan interpreter also were killed in the deadliest incident for U.S. forces since the start of the decadelong war.

“I didn’t even know Johnny was a Navy SEAL,” his mother said. “I know that he loved his job, it was a job he chose.”

The family’s sadness was tempered with pride that their brother and son had served his country, a country that welcomed these Laotian immigrants 31 years ago.

“We are proud Johnny fought for the country that embraced our family and gave us the opportunity to reach for the American dream,” said Chan Follen, the oldest of five children in the family.

Sengchanh and Phouthasith Douangdara fled Communist forces in their native Laos in 1979. After the birth of their first child, daughter Chan, they immigrated to the U.S., part of a large contingent of refugees at the time who escaped Laos.

Johnny was born four years later, the third of five children the couple would raise in South Sioux City.

“He was the middle child, very quiet,” sister Chan said. “He loved school activities.”

Johnny was small in stature, growing to only 5 feet, 7 inches. He participated in wrestling in junior high, but not in high school. Mock trial became his favorite activity at South Sioux City High School.

“I hate to say this, but he was a geek,” older brother Pan Douangdara said. “He loved computers.”

He grew to love the military as well, building upon a relationship with a recruiter who began communicating with him in high school. Johnny earned the credits needed to graduate during the fall semester of his senior year at South Sioux City High. He graduated and headed to Basic Training.

“Us older siblings offered to help him pay for college, but he said the military is what he wanted to do,” Chan Follen said.

Even on the drive to Basic Training, Johnny told his older brother that someday he’d be working on a nuclear submarine.

Evidently, his passion for dogs interrupted that career track. When John Douangdara died on Saturday, he reportedly was handling a dog he had trained for work with the Navy SEALs in Afghanistan.

His family didn’t know the specifics of his work or that he was a member of the elite SEALs. When he spoke, he didn’t share information about his work or the missions he completed in five overseas tours.

He was last at home in June to attend the wedding of sister Chan, who exchanged vows at Bev’s on the River, the last wedding before floodwaters struck Sioux City. He spent the week eating barbecue, swimming and partying with family members.

“It was a celebration, both for my wedding and for Johnny being back home,” Chan said.

The last time he’d had such an extended stay with family occurred in 2009, when the family traveled back to Laos. Johnny paid for his trip and his mother’s. The trip gave him a chance to spend time with his grandfather, Bo Khomvouttavong, who served as a captain in the Royal Laos Army more than three decades ago.

Upon learning of his death, the family erected a memorial in their living room on East 15th Street in South Sioux City. The modest split level home now features a candle that has burned since Saturday morning. The candle is surrounded by fresh flowers, fresh fruit, pictures of Johnny and food that is changed three times per day. The memorial follows Buddhist religious traditions involving the recently deceased.

The candle will remain lit until John Douangdara’s remains are laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Chan Follen said the funeral will take place sometime within the next two weeks.

A U.S. flag moved in the breeze Monday as family members shared their memories. None shed a tear during an hourlong interview.

“I don’t think my brother would call himself a hero,” Chan Follen said. “He was doing his job, doing what he believed in. But in our hearts, he’ll always be our hero.”

Copyright 2011 wcfcourier.com. All rights reserved.

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Laotian American family grieves son’s sacrifice as a Navy SEAL

AsianWeek

The Douangdara family mourns the loss of their Laotian American son, John Douangdara, who died last weekend in Wardak province, Afghanistan after insurgents shot down a Chinook Helicopter transporting thirty US troops to a rescue mission. …

Hmong community awaits U.S. decision on leader’s burial

As they seek a federal waiver allowing Gen. Vang Pao to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, the issue brings up flashbacks of aiding the U.S.’s ‘secret war’ and a simmering sense of betrayal.

Hmong men pray during a nightly vigil for Gen. Vang Pao in Fresno. After commanding Hmong forces aiding in the U.S.'s 'secret war' in the jungles of Laos , Vang Pao became a revered leader of the expatriate community in California's Central Valley. (Allen J. Schaben, Los Angeles Times / January 24, 2011)

Cached:  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-vang-pao-20110124,0,6200695,full.story

By Diana Marcum, Los Angeles TimesJanuary 24, 2011 

Reporting from Fresno —

The evening shadows have to fall just right. And the grave shouldn’t be on a slope.

In traditional Hmong culture, the burial site matters for eternity, to the living and the dead and the spirit world that connects them.

So the old Hmong men — once young soldiers in a CIA-backed “secret” war in the jungles of Laos — light candles for Gen. Vang Pao, their leader in that war, and hope that he will be allowed to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.They fought a war on behalf of the Americans and lost everything: their land, their way of life, their country and the lives of tens of thousands of their people. This is what is left to them: hoping for a grave site on hallowed American military ground.

The question of Vang Pao’s final resting place has become a reckoning of one of the most shadowy chapters of the Vietnam era and a coda to a strange legal case. Because Vang Pao did not directly serve in the U.S. military, it will take a waiver from the federal government for the man former CIA Director William Colby once called “the biggest hero of the Vietnam War” to be buried at Arlington — the same government that three and a half years ago arrested Vang Pao as a terrorist.

Several lawmakers, led by Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno), have asked for the waiver to be granted. An answer is expected this week.

Until Vang Pao’s arrest, many former Hmong soldiers were invisible. In Fresno, home to one of the largest Hmong communities, they stayed within their own enclaves, depending on their children and grandchildren — and on the man they called General — to navigate the outside world for them.

In Laos, they were clan and village leaders of the Hmong, an ethnic minority who lived high up in cloud-shrouded mountains. They were Vang Pao’s loyal, ferocious soldiers who attacked the Ho Chi Minh trail, the main artery between North and South Vietnam. They directed American planes where to bomb and rescued pilots downed in Laos.

“But in America, they feel like nothing. They are poor refugees” said Paula Vang, a spokeswoman for a Hmong veterans group. “Still, they are the General’s soldiers and they fought for America. This gives them identity.”

In 2007, Vang Pao and 11 others were accused of trying to buy $10 million worth of AK-47s and Stinger missiles from an undercover federal agent in an alleged plan to overthrow the communist government of Laos. Courtroom sketches showed a 78-year-old Vang Pao, obviously ill, his ankles shackled together.

Shock waves moved through the Hmong community. In the Cold War years, Vang Pao had openly called on the U.S. to liberate Laos but now he was an elder statesmen, speaking at New Year’s celebrations across the country, pleading with the U.N. to help Hmong still hiding and starving in Laotian jungles 35 years after the war. Had he really turned to plotting a violent coup?

Supporters gathered in Fresno and Sacramento. Old soldiers who had never cried in front of their families now wept openly. They rolled up their pant legs and pulled up their shirts to show bullet wounds and missing limbs. If the American government had arrested Vang Pao, did that mean their service to the country held no value?

Past and present collided. Many Hmong had flashbacks, dwelling on those they had seen die. America had betrayed the Hmong before, they said, when Saigon fell in 1975 and tens of thousands of Hmong rushed to Long Tien, the CIA headquarters in Laos, looking for American planes that never came to evacuate their allies. The Hmong were executed by communist troops, drowned crossing the Mekong River and killed by disease in squalid refugee camps.

Cha Vang, 61, a former soldier, found himself dwelling on the past and exploding over small things in the present. Before, he said, he was “never this kind of man.”

“Before 2008 I was happy. I think there is no country on Earth like the United States. I always listened to the General. He led me from war to the middle class,” said Cha Vang, who runs a janitorial business with his wife in Clovis. “After 2008 I have been confused and angry.”

Lately, he has been reliving the same day over and over in his mind. It was July 1971 and he was 20 years old, the guy on the radio telling American pilots where to bomb. He only spoke “Army English”: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie; Incoming. His orders were to rescue any downed American pilot, no matter how many Hmong casualties it took.

In the Plain of Jars region, Cha Vang called for planes to bomb enemy snipers. Two F-4 fighter planes came in. One was shot down. Cha Vang could see the pilot’s parachute and enemy troops rushing toward him. He led his men to the pilot.

“It was the hardest, most dangerous 10 minutes of my life. So many bullets flying around you every minute, but we got the pilot out and to a helicopter. No one died. Sometimes 10 or 20 Hmong would die to save a pilot.”

Cha Vang wants to find that one pilot from that one day. He said he needs to know that something from the war still matters.

In 2009, prosecutors dropped charges against Vang Pao. On Jan. 10, four days after Vang Pao’s death, they dropped charges against the others.

Critics complain that the case dubbed Tarnished Eagle was a bizarre sting operation. It included a federal agent posing as a gun dealer, pushing for a plan to overthrow Laos — a plan provided by an unemployed Fresno screenwriter that featured mercenaries overtaking Vientiane, the capitol of Laos. No money or guns ever changed hands.

U.S Atty. Ben Wagner released a statement defending the handling of the case.

“While some defense attorneys have raised claims of misconduct, I believe the case was investigated and prosecuted properly and professionally.… The agents and attorneys who worked on this case have done so with honor and good faith,” Wagner wrote. His office declined further comment.

Seng Vue, 72, was facing life in prison if convicted. In his Fresno apartment, he rests his hands on a walker. He suffered two strokes during his month and a half in jail.

He said he spent the time in his cell rethinking his past and the Hmong decision to help the U.S. Maybe thousands of Hmong soldiers should never have died to save American pilots. Maybe America was never their friend, he said. He remembers a French priest in his village begging them not to take up arms.

But then, Seng Vue’s face darkens and his body quakes with sobs. The Hmong love America, the Hmong died for America, he said. Vang Pao is the leader of the Hmong. He should be buried in Arlington National Cemetery so the world can see that he is an American hero, he says.

“It is a small gesture if they do, but if they don’t, it is forever true they don’t care about the many Hmong who fought and died,” said Vue, almost spitting with scorn.

Sombat Vue, 34, an Iraq war veteran who is translating for his father, is shaken by his father’s outrage.

“The past is always there. But this anger is new,” he said. “When I was growing up it was always ‘Woo-hoo America.’ I hope if they do bury General Vang Pao at Arlington, it also buries some of my father’s hurt.”

metrodesk@latimes.com

Marcum is a special correspondent.

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