History Commons^™

Interview With Phoumee Xiong, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Phoumee Xiong discussing his experiences during the "Secret War" in Laos in the mid-1960s to early 1970s.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Chou Vang.

Interview With Pa Sher Yang, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Pa Sher Yang discussing his experiences during the "Secret War" in Laos in the mid-1960s to early 1970s as well as refugee resettlement in Thailand and the United States.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Chou Vang; translated and transcribed by Mai Vang.

Interview With Wang Her, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Wang Her discussing his experiences during the "Secret War" in Laos in the mid-1960s to early 1970s.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Chou Vang.

Interview With Pang Her Vang, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Pang Her Vang discussing his experiences during the "Secret War" in Laos in the mid-1960s to early 1970s.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Chou Vang.

Interview With Kao Kalia Yang, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

Kao Kalia Yang was born in Ban Vinai refugee camp and came with her family to Minnesota in July 1987, when she was six years old. Attending school in St. Paul and graduating from Harding High School, Yang was accepted at Carleton College in Northfield, MN, and went on to earn an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Columbia University. In 2008 Coffee House Press published her memoir, The Latehomecomer, which tells the story of her family in Laos, the refugee camps of Thailand, and their new life in Minnesota. Central to this story is Yang’s grandmother, who embodies the …

Interview With B. Hugh Tovar, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

Bernardo Hugh Tovar was born on December 27, 1922 in Bogota, Columbia. His father was Columbian and his mother Irish. His family moved to Chicago in 1924, but his family frequently visited Columbia in his early youth. As a result he grew up bilingual. He attended Portsmouth Priory School in Rhode Island (1941), before attending Harvard, where he also learned French. His ROTC class was called to active duty in June 1943, though he was awarded a degree in 1944 because he passed his comprehensive exams. He graduated as a second lieutenant. After various assignments and training in Infantry, Artillery …

Interview With Carol Mills, Tom Ward, & Paul White, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

Paul White, Carol Mills, and Tom Ward were all USAID staff in Laos during the Secret War, and all worked closely with Edgar “Pop” Buell. In this interview each of them shares the details of how they came to work in Laos, what responsibilities they had, and their impression of Buell. They describe their own responsibilities, the various aspects of the USAID program (education, health, refugee services), different individuals involved in the operation, and the program’s eventual evacuation from Sam Thong and relocation to Ban Xoun.

Interview With Mac Thompson, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

No abstract provided.

Interview With Lee Pao Xiong, Mai Neng Vang, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

Born in Long Tieng, Laos in 1966, Lee Pao Xiong lived with his father, who had already been recruited into the Hmong army at age 12. His mother and grandparents lived nearby. After the fall of Long Tieng in May 1975, Xiong and his family spent more than a year in Thai refugee camps before migrating to the United States in 1976. Settling first in Indiana, his family moved to the Twin Cities in 1979. Xiong earned a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, an M.A. from Hamline University, and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. He has …

Interview With Dennis Grace, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

Serving at the time of the interview as Special Assistant to the President for Administrative Reforms in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Mr. Dennis Grace has a long and distinguished career in refugee affairs. After serving in the Air Force from 1965 to 1969, Grace spent four years working in Vientiane, Laos as an English teacher and translator. He later completed his BA at the University of Colorado and an MA in East Asian Regional Affairs at Harvard University. Returning to Bangkok, he spent 15 years in Bangkok as the representative of the International Rescue Committee’s …

Interview With Vint Lawrence, Paul Hillmer

Interviews

Born in New York City to what he describes as “a very privileged childhood…in every possible way,” J. Vinton (“Vint”) Lawrence attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Princeton University. Recruited by the CIA, he was sent to Laos in the very early days of “Operation Momentum,” the campaign to train and arm the Hmong to fight against Communist forces. Arriving in Laos in February 1962, Lawrence was sized up by Bill Lair, worked under Lair’s lieutenant Pat Landry to train some of the first groups of Hmong soldiers, and ultimately became one of only two CIA operatives (along with the infamous …

Interview With Xia Vue Yang, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

Vue Yang was born in Nong Het, Laos, though his family moved to Xieng Khouang province after the defeat of the French in 1954. He began school in 1958 in Long Tieng, but moved to study in Vientiane in 1961. He was later one of a small number of Lao students sent to study in Paris, where he eventually chose to study engineering. After 1973, Yang stayed in France, where he was offered—and turned down—an opportunity to earn a Ph.D. in Chemistry. After working in the United Arab Emirates, he finally came to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where his parents had settled. …

Interview With Dr. Fungchatou Lo, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Dr. Fungchatou Lo discussing Hmong culture and experiences with Hmong refugee resettlement in Thailand and the United States.

Interview With Dr. Gary Yia Lee, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

Dr. Gary Yia Lee, distinguished anthropologist and scholar, traveled from his home in Sydney, Australia to California for a funeral, then made a stop to visit family in the Twin Cities. Tou Thao, his nephew, is an alumnus of Concordia University and a founder of the Hmong Oral History Project. He prevailed on his kind uncle, despite jet lag, the exhausting effects of a three-day funeral, and many, many demands on his time (including a presentation at Concordia University on 29 December), to sit down with me. I owe many thanks-and apologies-to Dr. Lee, his wife Maylee Lee, and the …

Interview With Colonel Gao Moua, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Colonel Gao Moua discussing his experiences as a Hmong soldier working with General Vang Pao during the "Secret War" in Laos in the mid-1960s to early 1970s.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Chou Vang.

Interview With Long Yang, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Long Yang discussing his experiences during the "Secret War" in Laos in the mid-1960s to early 1970s as well as refugee resettlement in Thailand and the United States.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Chou Vang; translated and transcribed by Mai Vang.

Interview With Fong Her, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Fong Her discussing experiences with Hmong refugee resettlement in Thailand and the United States.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Vang.

Interview With Noj Her, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Noj Her discussing his experiences as a Hmong soldier and prisoner of war during the "Secret War" in Laos in the mid-1960s to early 1970s as well as refugee resettlement in Thailand and the United States.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Chou Vang.

Interview With Nhia Lor Vang, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Nhia Lor Vang discussing his experiences during the "Secret War" in Laos in the mid-1960s to early 1970s as well as refugee resettlement in Thailand and the United States.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Chou Vang.

Interview With May Lor Vang, Tou Thao

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with May Lor Vang discussing experiences with Hmong refugee resettlement in Thailand and the United States.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Tou Thao; translated and transcribed by Peter Chou Vang.

Vint Lawrence Interview, Michael Reed

Interviews

No abstract provided.