He was married to five women but was forced to divorce four of them when he arrived in the US. Asked by the news agency Agence France-Presse to comment on his death, the Communist government of Laos said, He was an ordinary person, so we do not have any reaction., Gen. Vang Pao, Laotian Who Aided U.S., Dies at 81, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/world/asia/08vangpao.html. 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. William Colby, C.I.A. A committee unanimously voted against a request to bury Vang Pao at Arlington National Cemetery, Hmong Leadership | Chi You Di | Wu Ba Yue | Zhang Xiu Mei | Lo Blia Yao | Pa Chay Vu | Shong Lue Yang | Tou Geu Lyfoung | Touby Lyfoung, General Vang Pao | Lee Lue | Dr. Yang Dao | Senator Mee Moua | Dr. Vang PobZeb | Hmong Doctorates, Alleged plot to overthrow government of Laos. Since the June 4 federal raid, Vang Paos arrest has been the subject of mounting criticism. In 2009, charges were quietly dropped against Vang Pao. Xai is full of energy and youth in her late 70s. Its importance grew immensely during the Vietnam War, when most of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the serpentine route that North Vietnam used to funnel supplies southward, ran through Laotian territory. 'The Greatest Hero of the Vietnam War'General Vang Pao (The Hmong Legendary and Iconic leader) was born on December 8, 1929 in Nonghet, a village in northeas. General Vang Pao was a major general in the Royal Lao Army. His death was confirmed by Michael Bailey, a spokesman for the Clovis Community Medical Center. In this 45th year anniversary, it is this history of resilience and love that reminds us that we are all in this together not just to provide relief today, but to repair the systemic harms that led us here in the first place - so that together we're building a better today and tomorrow for the next generation, she said. The federal charges allege that members of the group inspected weapons, including AK-47s, smoke grenades, and Stinger missiles, with the intent of purchasing them and smuggling them into Thailand, where they allegedly would be shipped to anti-Laotian governmental resistance movement forces inside Laos. Kingsley Yang ties on an armband during the funeral procession. 19802023 The Christian Science Monitor. He began his military career as an officer in the French army in the early 1940s. KaYing Yang, director of programs and partnerships at the nonprofit Coalition of Asian American Leaders, who is Tou Long Yang's niece, called the deportations unjust, and a betrayal of the United States and its duties to refugees. [9], Vang emigrated to the United States after the communists seized power in Laos in 1975. Following Pao's meeting with communist generals and officials from Vietnam, Vang's so-called "New Doctrine" was widely opposed by many of his closest advisers, family, supporters, and former veterans, and many in the Lao and Hmong-American community. He says when he was 13, he saw a family from his village unable to pay their taxes. [51] Nonetheless, in 2012 another school district, the Fresno Unified School District, voted unanimously to name a new elementary school after him the year after his passing. On June 18, 2007, the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education voted to drop Vangs name from the new school, in light of the federal charges against him and the previous allegations. He led a guerrilla army into battle against communist troops along the Ho Chi Minh trail relieving U.S. forces of that burden and saving. There are many more secrets and tales from the past, so Lee and I call on the eldest sister. The Christian Science Monitor has expired. He was born in the Laotian jungle in 1929 and died Jan. 6 in suburban Clovis, Calif. (NEWS)", P. McEnroe & Brown, Curt (27 February 2005), Smith, Philip, Center for Public Policy Analysis, Washington, D.C. (2 September 2013) "Lao Hmong Refugee Crisis", U.S. Congressional Record, US GPO (27 October 2000), U.S. Congressional Record, U.S. Government Printing Office (24 October 2002). Numerous calls for Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to dismiss the case have yet to be answered and are presumably under consideration by the state. Tou Long Yang served alongside Vang Pao, a general in the Royal Lao Army at the time who led the CIA's "secret army" during the Laotian Civil War -- also known as the Secret War -- for nearly. The captain dictated the answers to Vang so he could join the army. The former Hmong guerrilla leader was called 'the biggest hero of the Vietnam War' but also had a long history of violence. Now they Desperately Battle for their Own Survival", "Vang Pao Met with Senior State Department Official", "Hmong Hero Faces Trial in California (audio), "Against All Odds: The Laotian Freedom Fighters", "Hmong American Leadership and Unity in the Post-Vang Pao Era", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vang_Pao&oldid=1151957156, Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Articles with dead external links from July 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2010, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2021, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from May 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2013, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. The Times in 1971 said that the C.I.A. One time, during a visit back to Laos, I woke up especially early to capture the tranquility of that morning. The term Meo Maquis was originally used by Free French and Allied intelligence officers to describe the Hmong resistance forces working against the Japanese forces occupying Indochina and China during World War II. Vang Pao had been a source of controversy for several years before the case was filed. It was a major human rights victory for the Hmong and Lao community and non-profit advocacy organizations who urged an end to forced repatriation, including the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and the Lao Veterans of America. During the 1960s and 1970s General Vang commanded the Secret Army, a highly-effective CIA-trained and supported force that fought against the Pathet Lao and Peoples Army of Vietnam. [19][20] Over time, Smith was instrumental in helping Vang to meet with key Members of Congress and senior Administration officials as well as helping to organize Congressional hearings, briefings and research missions to South East Asia. The live pig they offered was not enough for the tax collector. Air America pilots have since admitted that their planes not only transported rice, bullets and weapons, but also sacks of opium grown by the Hmong villages. Vang Pao, or 'the General,' was selected for his charisma and leadership skills, honed when the Hmong had previously allied with the French against North Vietnamese forces. Though he is somewhat less influential among younger Hmong-Americans who have grown up primarily in the United States, he has generally been considered an influential leader of U.S.-based Hmong, enjoying great loyalty for his position of leadership and respect for his military accomplishments. The youngest sister, Der, agrees. John Dominis / Time Life Pictures / Getty Images. continue to use the site without a This got me wondering about the surviving sisters of Gen. Vang Pao Lee, Xai, Ying and Der. Shower? After his guerrillas ultimately lost to communist forces, Vang Pao came 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. Family, friends and members of the Hmong community crowd the Fresno Convention Center for the funeral. Read FULL Criminal Complaints Against General Vang Pao HERE. [56][57][58][59], Amnesty International and other human rights organizations and experts testified about their research efforts, along with Members of Congress, including U.S. Vang Paos fellow friends, including Hmong, Mienh, Lao, Vietnamese, and Americans individuals who knew Vang Pao protested the arrest and rallied throughout California, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin. Traditional Hmong funeral services for Vang Pao were scheduled to be held for six days, starting February 4, 2011, at the Fresno Convention Center. But his CIA controllers urged him to keep on fighting. "Whether they're young or old, they hear his name, there's the respect that goes with it.". She noted that community-led groups are organizing food dropoffs for elders and food banks for low-income families, and ensuring a complete count for the census. Tens of thousands of them followed him in his flight to Thailand after the Communist victory in 1975. We believe news can and should expand a sense of identity and possibility beyond narrow conventional expectations. Vang Pao has been widely portrayed by his Hmong supporters and the US media as an American war hero and venerated leader of the Hmong people. Many of them fought on in the belief that their beloved general would one day return from the US to "liberate the country". 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. Federal prosecutors alleged [that Vang], then 77, and several colleagues were funding guerilla fighters still living in Laos. hide caption. Luke Frazza /AFP/Getty Images Jane Hamilton-Merritt (1993 - Indiana University Press ). [45], On 15 June 2007, defendants were indicted by a grand jury and an 11th man was arrested in connection with the alleged plot. Vang Pao was a charismatic Laotian general who commanded a secret army of his mountain people. [25][26] Vang, in close cooperation with one of his highly controversial sons, Cha Vang, reversed his long-standing position and began to publicly advocate normalization of U.S.-Laotian trade relations with Laos in a highly controversial move that involved secret meetings with communist Vietnamese military and political officials and complex and questionable financial dealings involving Cha Vang and others. He was charged under the U.S. Neutrality Act, a security clause that prohibits actions on domestic soil against foreign governments with whom Washington is at peace. Meanwhile in neighbouring neutral Laos, Washington's strategists opted for a secret war against North Vietnam, without ground troops. What were their lives like with a brother like VP? Thousands more beleaguered Vang Pao supporters fled across the Mekong and ended up in refugee camps. 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. HIS LIFE. She loves to hate. She's in her 70s but tills the land much as she did back in Laos. He was 81 . Behind the news are values that drive people and nations. Reality soon dispersed that dreamworld. Five years later, the Madison school board removed his name from a new elementary school named for him, after dissenters said it should not bear the name of a figure with such a violent history. Major General Vang immigrated to the United States after the communists seized power in Laos in 1975. 1929-2011. 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. (NEWS)(SERIES: THE COVERT WARS OF VANG PAO)", Lovering, Daniel, Associated Press (AP) (13 January 2014)"Former enemies wage battle over U.S. trade with Laos", Kennedy, Tony and McEnroe, Paul, Minneapolis Star Tribune (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. If you have questions about your account, please She died four years ago, but people used to tell me that if she had been born a boy, she would have been the one tapped by the CIA to help them during the Vietnam War. Military officials salute the casket of Gen. Vang Pao during his funeral procession in Fresno, Calif., on Feb. 4. General Vang Pao was one of the greatest military commanders during the Secret War in Laos, a part of the Vietnam conflict, from 1960 to 1975. Credit: Wikipedia Wikipedia After fighting as a teenager against the Japanese in World War II and the North Vietnamese in the 1950s, Vang Pao became the first Hmong to achieve the rank of general . New. That's why I never told friends and neighbors about my family's history. He made adult diapers for $7 an hour, he said, while his wife worked from home stapling earrings for sale onto pieces of paper. He and his wife, May Song Vang, whom he married in 1973, initially moved to Montana before settling in California. The term "Mo Maquis" was originally used by Free French and Allied intelligence officers to describe the Hmong resistance forces working against Japanese forces occupying Indochina and China during World War II. Since the 4 June 2007 federal raid, the arrests became the subject of mounting criticism. He was 81. Vang Pao (Hmong: Vaj Pov, born 1929) is a former Major General in the Royal Lao Army. Following the issuance of the warrants, an estimated 250 federal agents representing numerous U.S. federal law enforcement and other agencies conducted simultaneous raids on homes, offices and other locations throughout central and southern California, arresting Vang and nine other individuals. Vang didn't deny the charge, but countered that the CIA was well aware of his plans to send American weapons to his former comrades in arms. I decided to record her. 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. Xang Vang, the general's chief translator who fought by his side, said Vang Pao died Thursday night following a battle with pneumonia, which he caught while traveling in central California to preside over two Hmong New Year celebrations. Following Vang's arrest, Smith advocated in Washington, D.C. for the case to be dropped against Vang and other Hmong leaders. PRESSZOOM (2 January 2009), U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos. Vang Pao was born in Xieng Khouang province, in north-eastern Laos. The defendants face possible life prison terms for violation of the U.S. Neutrality Act and various weapons charges. Former Hmong Gen. Vang Pao (right) in May 2000 during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. There are so many stories to tell, she says, but right now this is a time to mourn. The one non-Hmong person among the nine arrested, Harrison Jack, a 1968 West Point graduate and retired Army infantry officer, allegedly attempted to recruit Special Operations veterans to act as mercenaries in an invasion of Laos. By 1968, 30% of the new recruits were only 14 years old. Following this appearance, on 6 April 2009, federal prosecutors denied all allegations of fabrications in the motion. He was 81. Anyone can read what you share. [23][24], In late November 2003 and early 2004, Vang shocked many of his closest advisers and supporters, and began to mysteriously, and abruptly, reverse his previous position in opposition to U.S. economic sanctions against the communist government of Laos. She says the Hmong in the U.S. are now without leadership, that her brother was the uniting force behind 18 clans. During the 1950s, Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh guerrillas, and Lao and Cambodian nationalists united in a struggle to defeat the French empire in Indochina. 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. [13][pageneeded] He was one of the eight founders of the organization in 1981, along with Prince Sisouk na Champassak, General Phoumi Nosavan and General Kouprasith Abhay. [33][34] By 200405, independent journalists investigating complex financial relations, ethics probes, and scandals surrounding Cha Vang and various lawsuits. general. Former Laotian General Vang Pao at the Hmong International New Year's Celebration in Fresno, Calif. Pao, a former general in the Royal Army of Laos who led thousands of Hmong mercenaries. "Vang Pao was a great man and a true American hero. Their resilience today -- particularly in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic -- has taken the form of advocacy for the vulnerable, Dinh said. NPR reporter Doualy Xaykaothao speaks with her great-aunts Gen. Vang Pao's sisters in Fresno, Calif. Lee starts talking about her brother and then tells me a secret: Her brother did not marry eight wives to unite the many Hmong clans, as legend has it. subscription. This website uses cookies to General Vang Pao was born in December 1929 in a village in northeast Laos, had six years of sporadic schooling and worked as an interpreter for French colonial forces fighting the Japanese in World War II. [7] After World War II, French Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aroports (GCMA) authorities recruited Vang as a lieutenant during the First Indochina War to combat the Viet Minh (archive video on YouTube by Col. Jean Sassi). [30][31][32], Many of Vang's former veterans and their families, whose relatives were still being persecuted and killed in Laos, opposed Vang's change of stance on the issue of Normalized Trade Relations (NTR), or Most Favored Nation Trade Status (MFN), with Laos. He kept searching, Lee says, for someone like his first wife, apparently his true love, who died unexpectedly. The community has also been grappling with deportations, a threat that has grown in recent years. "You call yourself a journalist, fooling around like this it's crap!". did not command the generals army at any level, because his pride and temper would have never permitted it. Now, under these new policies of deportation, they will be deported.. Later, as a major general he commanded the Royal Lao Army's Military Region II, which he fought to . Many of Vang's former veterans formed the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. and the Lao Veterans of America Institute, with offices in Fresno, California, Washington, D.C. and other locales. That following month, on May 11, 2009, Vang Pao returned to federal court in Sacramento, California with his lawyers to argue the motion. Senator Norm Coleman, at the special Congressional Forums on Laos held in the U.S. Congress and Library of Congress. At the funeral hall, I meet the other two surviving sisters, Xai and Der. you are agreeing to our, We underestimated China, US official says after reports of J-20 stealth fighter, Defense budget: to cut $100 billion, Army and Marines will shrink, Spain welcomes Chinese investment even with strings attached, One month free trial to the Monitor Daily. improve functionality and performance. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. He was 81. The government arrested the defendants before understanding all the evidence because they felt a threat was imminent, he said. Monitor journalism changes lives because we open that too-small box that most people think they live in. Nobody will be left behind. About 35,000 Hmong died in battle. [73][74][75], In March 2011, following Vang's death, the CPPA issued an editorial, published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, critical of the decision by the U.S. Secretary of the Army not permitting Vang's burial in Arlington National Cemetery. As the Bee adds: "Over 100 people crowded into the outpatient care center at Clovis Community Medical Center to grieve the loss of a beloved leader, who some saw as the George Washington of the Hmong.". All 12 have pleaded not guilty since their arrests in 2007. Judge Frank Damrell stated, after hearing the arguments for the motion, that there was not sufficient evidence from the defense to justify a dismissal. This is the first time the sisters of Gen. Vang Pao have been asked to speak publicly about their brother, and about their lives. And when they did, VP took their husbands away to become soldiers alongside him. Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, said Vang did not express any embarrassment over this cheating. The government of Laos, along with the governments of Vietnam, the Peoples Republic of China, Cuba and North Korea are the worlds few remaining bastions of communism. Among the hardest hit by this Secret War were the Hmong of northern Laos. Vang Pao later admitted that his Hmong soldiers suffered appalling losses fighting around the Plain of Jars, in Xieng Khouang province. This opened the door for the CIA to take charge in the 1960s. ), In March 2011, following Vang Pao's death, Smith wrote an editorial critical of the decision to not allow him to be interred in Arlington National Cemetery. 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. [citation needed], On 18 September 2009, the federal government dropped all charges against Vang Pao, announcing in a release that the federal government was permitted to consider "the probable sentence or other consequences if the person is convicted. Would they be like my grandmother? Hmong General Vang Pao, a courageous and powerful leader, worked in tandem with the CIA to conduct covert operations in Laos. Xiong was at the hospital with a growing crowd of mourners. Thousands of sobbing mourners in military uniform and traditional Hmong dress paid their final respects Friday to the late Gen. Vang Pao, a U.S. ally in the Vietnam War whose proposed burial at . The Lao and Hmong refugees were allowed to resettle in the United States, France, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. IE 11 is not supported. Vang Pao (Hmong: Vaj Pov; 8 December 1929 - 6 January 2011) was a Lieutenant General in the Royal Lao Army. Ying is weak, has a bad knee, but manages to smile constantly when she talks to me. The impact of the hardships Yang and many refugees experienced adjusting to America continue to affect the Southeast Asian American refugee community, experts say. Her name is Ying, and she claims she's about 100. You dont have a Christian Science Monitor 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. When I turn on my recorder, she says this is her chance to become famous. Tou Long Yang served alongside Vang Pao, a general in the Royal Lao Army at the time who led the CIAs secret army during the Laotian Civil War -- also known as the Secret War -- for nearly the entire duration of the conflict. [2] He was a leader of the Hmong American community in the United States. He needed to ensure his familys survival, but it was heartbreaking to leave everything he owned and knew behind, he said. He said he has healed from his experiences and adapted to life in America, yet still misses his home country decades later. He remains widely respected by his fellow Hmong and is an esteemed elder of the American Hmong people, many of whom experienced the war or the reprisals that followed. The former CIA chief William Colby once called him "the biggest hero of the Vietnam war". He was invited to speak at the U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos, with Members of Congress, about the persecution of the Laotian and Hmong people on several occasions in the U.S. Congress from 1999 to 2003. [citation needed], While taking an entrance examination, the captain who was the proctor realized that Vang knew almost no written French. "As a young man, he had fought against the Japanese during World War II, and with the French against the North Vietnamese in the 1950s. Gen. Vang Pao, the controversial but revered Hmong leader who was a key ally to the United States during the Vietnam War, died Thursday in Clovis, Calif. Tou Long Yang served in the Laotian Civil War and then migrated to America to make $7 an hour. [citation needed], Thousands of Vang's former ethnic Laotian and Hmong veterans, and their refugee families, in the United States also formed the non-profit veterans and advocacy organizations the Lao Veterans of America and the Lao Veterans of America Institute. ng tng c mnh danh l vua Mo ti Thng Lo t nm 1960. U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos, U.S. Congress, Center For Public Policy Analysis, Doctors Without Borders, Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF) (1 May 2008), Agence France Press (AFP) & Asia One News, (13 May 2011), Agence France Press (AFP) (9 January 2011) "California funeral planned for Hmong general", Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aroports, 2007 Laotian coup d'tat conspiracy allegation, History of the Hmong in Fresno, California, "Vang Pao, Laotian General Who Aided U.S., Dies at 81", "Revered Hmong leader Vang Pao stands tall in two worlds", "The life of General Vang Pao, Hmong guerrilla leader", "May Song Vang, widow of Gen. Vang Pao, dies at 62", "Hmong community, military leader Vang Pao dies at 81", "Hmong community reacts with alarm to charges against Vang Pao", http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18164641.html, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62628182.html, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-69595349.html, "3,500 Laotians Head for U.S. after 20 Years in Thailand", http://www.nysun.com/editorials/vang-pao-escapes/86878, http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1102/S00609/vietnam-laos-nationalist-fighter-honored-by-lao-hmong.htm, "Suspect in alleged Laos plot had friends, influence on Capitol Hill", Vietnam vet to get US honors after burial snub, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-133816289.html, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-89481454.html, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-95001293.html, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-116193843.html, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-91813746.html, "Amnesty Urges Laos to Treat Hmong Humanely", "U.S. Secretary of State says he will talk to U.N. chief about Hmong in Laos", http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-110671550.html, "ST. PAUL; VANG PAO FOUNDATION; Chamber says money was for trade missions", 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. Those factors contribute to the communitys continued socioeconomic struggles 45 years later, according to experts. Many Southeast Asian American refugees continue to struggle nearly half a century later, but have also made strides in various spheres. So, during the nine-year bombing campaign the U.S. carried out against Laos from 1964 to 1973 making it the most heavily bombed nation per capita in history Yang said he was in charge of calling some of the 2 million tons of artillery that rained on the country. He is an ethnic Hmong and a leader of the Hmong American community in the United States. Vang . 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. log out. Judge Frank Damrell stated, after hearing the arguments for the motion, that there was insufficient evidence from the defense to justify a dismissal. Some 40,000 mourners converged in downtown Fresno, Calif., to attend his elaborate six-day funeral. True for all or most cases. The charges were dropped two years later. [53], On 9 March 2009, Vang's lawyers filed a motion seeking to dismiss the charges against him. Affecting or concerning all or most people, places, or things; widespread. There will be a lot of chaos for a little while, until things get settled.". Vang Pao, a charismatic Laotian general who commanded a secret army of his mountain people in a long, losing campaign against Communist insurgents, then achieved almost kinglike status as. Family members pray during the Buddhist ceremony for Vang. His official sentence of death was issued in 1975, the year Vang Pao fled Laos to take refuge in America. His fellow friends, including Hmong, Mienh, Lao, Vietnamese, and Americans individuals who knew Vang protested the arrests, rallying in California, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Vang, aided by his adviser, Philip Smith, and influential American diplomatic allies, Members of Congress, and vast numbers of Hmong-Americans, helped halt the forced United Nations-sponsored repatriation back to Laos of thousands of Laotian and Hmong refugees in Thailand. The one non-Hmong person among the nine arrested, Harrison Jack, a 1968 West Point graduate and retired Army infantry officer, allegedly attempted to recruit Special Operations veterans to act as mercenaries in an invasion of Laos. [65], Diana Aguilera of the Fresno Bee wrote that May Song Vang, who was Vang Pao's wife at the time of his death, "became the face of the Hmong community" after Vang Pao died. Our work isn't possible without your support. As an adult, it was just as hard to talk about the war. [46], Prior to his arrest, Vang was scheduled to have an elementary school in Madison, Wisconsin named after him, a proposal that met with opposition over historian Alfred W. McCoy's allegations that Vang had been involved in war crimes and drug trafficking,[47] with Hmong scholars Gary Yia Lee[48] and Jane Hamilton-Merritt, as well as former Air America Association president Jack Knott, strongly disputing his claims.