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During 1961, 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. They actively recruited Hmong men and boys to fight a secret war in Laos in direct violation of the Geneva Accords. There were also bombings that happened in Laos by the CIA. Due to this, ten thousand Hmong soldiers resulted in death and the rest were forced to move into refugee camps inside Thailand. The refugee camp conditions were so unlivable that many Hmong settled in third world countries, such as the USA.

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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. Tens of thousands died, both in the fight and in the escape. America's Secret War explores the untold, turbulent history.

A TWIN CITIES PBS ORIGINAL | PREMIERED OCT 3 8 PM ON TPT 2 (National distribution via APT)

I find it remarkable that there was a war happening at the same time as the Vietnam War that has had such a profound impact on Minnesota and so few people know about it. Learning about the Secret War in Laos-next door to Vietnam-and hearing from the Hmong soldiers and families about the raw truth of the lived experience has deepened my understanding of the sacrifices people make and the complexities involved in war.
Lisa Blackstone
Director, Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: America's Secret War

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Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: America's Secret War

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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. Tens of thousands died, both in the fight and in the escape. America's Secret War explores the untold, turbulent history.

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How did Hmong people find their way to Wisconsin?

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How did Hmong people find their way to Wisconsin?

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By Duke Behnke, The Post-Crescent

Ties between Hmong people and the United States date to the early 1960s, nearly two decades before they began arriving in northeast Wisconsin.

Their story as American allies in the Vietnam War is often overlooked, forgotten or ignored.

Hmong are an ethnic group from Southeast Asia with a specific culture and language. In the 19th century, to escape imperialism, they migrated from southern China to the mountainous regions of Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

During the Vietnam War, the CIA covertly recruited and trained Hmong soldiers in Laos to fight in support of U.S. forces against the North Vietnamese and the communist Pathet Lao. The operation became known as the Secret War.

According to the Hmong American Center in Wausau, the CIA directed Hmong soldiers to:

Disrupt the North Vietnamese supply lines that ran through Laos along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Provide intelligence about enemy operations.

Guard a strategic U.S. radar station that was used to direct planes dropping bombs on North Vietnam.

Rescue downed American pilots.

Long Vue, 54, of Kaukauna was born on the Bouam Long military base in Laos. His dad and uncle defended the radar station used by U.S. forces.

"They would be up in the mountains protecting that night and day, and they could be overrun by (North) Vietnamese soldiers at any time," Vue said.

After the withdrawal of U.S. forces and triumph by the communist forces, Hmong were persecuted by the victors and forced to flee their homeland. Many spent time in refugee camps in Thailand before they were resettled in Australia, France, Canada, Germany and the United States.

Hmong refugees were legally admitted to the United States and were initially resettled by church organizations such as Catholic Charities and Lutheran Social Services, according to the Hmong American Center.

California, Minnesota and Wisconsin were leaders in accepting Hmong refugees. The first wave arrived in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It included Vue's family, who arrived in Kaukauna in 1980. The last wave came in the mid-2000s.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey, more than 58,000 Hmong people live in Wisconsin, accounting for nearly 1% of the state's population of 5.9 million.

Cities with a significant Hmong population include Milwaukee, Wausau, Sheboygan, La Crosse, Madison, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, Manitowoc, Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, Menomonie and Fond du Lac.

Outagamie County and the Hmong American Partnership of the Fox Valley are working to create a memorial at Plamann Park in Appleton to honor Hmong military veterans who served in the Secret War between 1961 and 1975.

According to the Minnesota Historical Society, between 30,000 and 40,000 Hmong soldiers were killed in combat by the end of the Vietnam War.

Vue said it's important to recognize the sacrifices of Hmong people.

"We take it for granted, especially our young generation, whether the Hmong or the American kids," he said.

Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or [email protected] Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke.

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How did Hmong people find their way to Wisconsin? The answer has roots in America's Secret War

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By Duke Behnke, The Post-Crescent Ties between Hmong people and the United States date to the early 1960s, nearly two decades before they began arriving in northeast Wisconsin. Their story as American allies in the Vietnam War is often overlooked, forgotten or ignored. Hmong are an ethnic group from Southeast Asia with a specific culture and language.

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Established in December 1975, this camp was located in the Pak Chom District of Loei province. It housed refugees from the Hmong and lowland Lao ethnic groups, and at its peak in 1986, 90% of the 42,858 residents were Hmong. Many Hmong were residents here after the Secret War with the Laos. Conditions here were unbearable as there was no electricity, running water, and was overcrowded. My mother and her family were one of the residents in Thailand refugee camps before they were legally allowed to immigrate into the USA.

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PHASE #3 OBJECTIVES

Beginning in the middle 1970's, many displaced refugees of the war in Laos began flowing into neighboring Thailand. International Aide and Refugee camps began emerging and many refugee camps became famous and infamous. For more than 20 years, many of these camps were home to generations of Hmong people as they awaited a foster country to immigrate to or just lived with uncertainty.

Most people in general, many do not have a complete picture of geographic layout of the refugee camps. Through this exhibit, we hope to explain through photos, artifacts and informative displays:

1. Identify the locations of as many or all of the Refugee camps
& how many years each existed

2. Discuss brief history, tragedies & hardships of life in each refugee camp

3. Stories about families torn apart by the camps

4. Leadership, structure and culture that developed while
living inside a camp

5. Recognize the role of many NGOs or churches and how they helped many
through this transition

6. The lasting or disappearing effects of the Refugee camps

Presented by Sacramento Team

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A Celebration of Hmong History, Heritage & Identity

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Paja Thao
Paja Thao is a member of the Hmong tribe, an ethnic minority group known for their strong work ethic, communal self-reliance and independent spirit. He was born in a small village in the mountains of Laos about 65 years ago (the Hmong did not keep birth records or celebrate birthdays in Laos, so his age is an estimate.)

Like many other Hmong, Paja Thao served as a soldier of the Hmong army against communist forces in Laos for three years before returning to his village. When the communists prevailed, he was forced out of his village forever. Former Hmong soldiers and their families were targeted in particular. Paja, his wife and their six children abandoned their farm and fled into the jungle. They walked for 15 days until they reached Nam Yao, a refugee camp in Thailand. Without a homeland to return to, they lived with thousands of other refugees for eight years.

In America
On August 17, 1984, the Thao family arrived in America sponsored by Paja's cousin. The family found themselves in an alien world, living on the eighth floor of high-rise tenement house in Chicago, Illinois. In 1985, Paja and his family moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, home to a large Hmong population. He is the father of 13 children. The oldest son still lives in Laos.

Today, Paja continues as a respected leader and healer in the Appleton community. Each weekend he is called to perform elaborate shamanic rituals for the young and old.

The Vietnam War
For thousands of years, the Hmong have maintained a distinctive culture, including dress, oral literature and religion, valuing their autonomy and close-knit community above all. In pre-war Laos, the ethnic identity of the Hmong remained intact, because they lived high in the mountains and had little contact with other people. They farmed in the highlands and harvested enough crops for their own needs. Opium was their only cash crop.

In the late 1960s, when the Vietnam War spread into Laos, the United States recruited the Hmong to fight against communism. Wanting to hold on to their land and the independence they had maintained for thousands of years, the Hmong saw communism as a threat to their autonomy. Hmong soldiers, totaling over 30,000 men, fought the ground war, flew combat missions, directed air strikes, rescued downed American flyers, fought behind enemy lines, gathered intelligence on the movements of North Vietnamese troops and more. They suffered heavy casualties for their brave involvement in the war: Hmong soldiers died at a rate ten times as high as that of American soldiers in Vietnam.

Before the war, between 300,000 and 400,000 Hmong lived in Laos. Although there is disagreement over how many died during the war, estimates range from one tenth to half of the Hmong population was killed. Some were soldiers, but most of the dead were civilians felled by mortar fire, land mines, grenades, postwar massacres, hunger and disease. One hundred and fifty thousand Hmong have fled Laos since their country fell to communist forces in 1975.

After the War
Displaced from their villages, which were either bombed out or burned by the North Vietnamese and the new Lao communist regime, many Hmong became refugees in their own country. U.S.-sponsored food drops - fifty tons of rice a day - fed more than 100,000 Hmong, whose land and livestock had been destroyed by the war.

In February 1973, the Vientiane Agreement was signed, calling for a cease-fire in Laos, a coalition government and the end of U.S. air support. American relief programs ceased, and the Lao's People Party declared the Hmong enemies of the state. Between 1,000 and 3,000 Hmong, mostly high ranking army officers and their families, were airlifted to Thailand, while thousands more who had fought for the CIA or remained neutral in the war were left behind. In a ravaged country strictly controlled by the North Vietnamese, many Hmong were forcibly relocated to lowland areas and assigned to state-owned collective farms. More than 10,000 Lao intellectuals, civil servants, teachers, police officers and other suspected royalist sympathizers were interned in "seminar camps" for forced labor and political indoctrination. Fearing retribution and famine, most chose to migrate to Thailand on foot, journeys on which many Hmong died from disease, starvation, exposure and drowning while crossing the Mekong River which borders Laos and Thailand.

Refugee Camps
Once in Thailand, most Hmong were placed in Ban Vinai camp on the Thai/Lao border in the northeast part of the country near the Mekong. The camp had no electricity, running water or sewage disposal, and was severely overcrowded. At its peak in 1986, Ban Vinai had 42,858 residents, 90 percent of whom were Hmong. The Thai government closed Ban Vinai in 1992.

Immigration to the United States
Because of their American military ties, many Hmong who left the refugee camps chose to come to the United States. The best educated Hmong and Lao were allowed entry into America first. The U.S. government gradually allowed more refugees as years passed. Around 200,000 Hmong currently live in the United States, most of whom reside in Minnesota, central California and Wisconsin.

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Paja Thao Paja Thao is a member of the Hmong tribe, an ethnic minority group known for their strong work ethic, communal self-reliance and independent spirit. He was born in a small village in the mountains of Laos about 65 years ago (the Hmong did not keep birth records or celebrate birthdays in Laos, so his age is an estimate.)

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More than 1 million people have died from COVID-19 in the US since the virus first emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Cases have been detected in most countries worldwide, and on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a pandemic. Due to its origin beginning in China, hate crimes against Asian Americans have begun to rise as well during that time. About one-third of Asian adults (32%) say they personally know an Asian person in the U.S. who has been threatened or attacked because of their race or ethnicity since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. Many people in our community have been threatened and discriminated since then.

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Following the coronavirus outbreak, reports of discrimination and violence toward Asian Americans increased. A previous Pew Research Center survey of English-speaking Asian adults showed that as of 2021, one-third said they feared someone might threaten or physically attack them. English-speaking Asian adults in 2022 were also more likely than other racial or ethnic groups to say they had changed their daily routines due to concerns they might be threatened or attacked.

In this new 2022-23 survey, Asian adults were asked if they personally know another Asian person in the U.S. who had been attacked since the pandemic began.

Asian adults who personally know an Asian person who has been threatened or attacked since COVID-19

About one-third of Asian adults (32%) say they personally know an Asian person in the U.S. who has been threatened or attacked because of their race or ethnicity since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

Whether Asian adults know someone with this experience varies across Asian ethnic origin groups:

About four-in-ten Chinese adults (39%) say they personally know another Asian person who has been threatened or attacked since the coronavirus outbreak. Similar shares of Korean adults (35%) and those who belong to less populous Asian origin groups (39%) - those categorized as "other" in this report - say the same.

About three-in-ten Vietnamese (31%), Japanese (28%) and Filipino (28%) Americans and about two-in-ten Indian adults (21%) say they know another Asian person in the U.S. who has been the victim of a racially motivated threat or attack.

Additionally, there are some differences by regional origin groups:

Overall, similar shares of East and Southeast Asian adults say they know another Asian person who's been threatened or attacked because of their race or ethnicity (36% and 33%, respectively).

A somewhat smaller share of South Asian adults say the same (24%).

There are also differences across nativity and immigrant generations:

U.S.-born Asian adults are more likely than Asian immigrants to say they know another Asian person who has been threatened or attacked during the COVID-19 pandemic (40% vs. 28%, respectively).

Among immigrants, those who are 1.5 generation - those who came to the U.S. as children - are more likely than the first generation - those who immigrated as adults - to say they know someone with this experience (37% vs. 25%).

And among U.S.-born Asian Americans, 44% of second-generation adults say this, compared with 28% of third- or higher-generation Asian adults.

Whether Asian Americans personally know another Asian person who was threatened or attacked because of their race or ethnicity since the beginning of the pandemic also varies across other demographic groups:

Age: 44% of Asian adults under 30 years old say they know someone who has been threatened or attacked during the pandemic, compared with 18% of those 65 and older.

Gender: Asian women are somewhat more likely than men to say they know an Asian person in the U.S. who has been threatened or attacked during the COVID-19 pandemic (35% vs. 28%, respectively).

Party: 36% of Asian Democrats and Democratic leaners say they know another Asian person who has been threatened or attacked because of their race or ethnicity, higher than the share among Republicans and Republican leaners (25%).

Heightened anti-Asian discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic

These survey findings follow a spike in reports of discrimination against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of federally recognized hate crime incidents of anti-Asian bias increased from 158 in 2019 to 279 in 2020 and 746 in 2021, according to hate crime statistics published by the FBI. In 2022, the number of anti-Asian hate crimes decreased for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak, to 499 incidents. Between March 2020 and May 2023, the organization Stop AAPI Hate received more than 11,000 self-reported incidents of anti-Asian bias, the vast majority of which involved harassment, bullying, shunning and other discrimination incidents.

Additionally, previous research found that calling COVID-19 the "Chinese Virus," "Asian Virus" or other names that attach location or ethnicity to the disease was associated with anti-Asian sentiment in online discourse. Use of these phrases by politicians or other prominent public officials, such as by former President Donald Trump, coincided with greater use among the general public and more frequent instances of bias against Asian Americans.

In their own words: Asian Americans' experiences with discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic

In the 2021 Pew Research Center focus groups of Asian Americans, participants discussed their experiences of being discriminated against because of their race or ethnicity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants talked about being shamed in both public and private spaces. Some Asian immigrant participants talked about being afraid to speak out because of how it might impact their immigration status:

Many participants talked about being targeted because others perceive them as Chinese, regardless of their ethnicity:

Amid these incidents, some participants talked about feeling in community and kinship with other Asian people:

Some connected discrimination during the pandemic to other times of heightened anti-Asian discrimination. For example, one woman connected anti-Asian discrimination during COVID-19 to the period after Sept. 11:

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4. Asian Americans and discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Following the coronavirus outbreak, reports of discrimination and violence toward Asian Americans increased. A previous Pew Research Center survey of

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PBS NewsHour
As the U.S. continues its battle against COVID-19, it is also battling a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans. A recent report found that hate crimes against Asian Americans in major U.S. cities surged by nearly 150 percent in 2020 -even as the number of overall hate crimes fell. Stephanie Sy looks at how the violence has marred one community, and how they are coming together in its wake.

Aired: 03/16/21

Rating: NR

Problems Playing Video? Report a Problem |

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PBS NewsHour | Asian Americans face more discrimination in wake of COVID | Season 2021 | PBS

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Asian American community battles surge in hate crimes stirred from COVID-19

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During new year, which is celebrated mostly in November and December among Hmong Americans, shamans send off their spirit guides to regenerate their energy for another season of healing. Male heads of households who embrace traditional animist practices perform soul-calling ceremonies, venerate ancestor spirits and invoke the protection of good spirits. The majority of the approximately 300,000 Hmong in the United States are animists and believe that spirits live throughout the physical world. Fresno holds an annual Hmong New Year Event at the end of the year where my family.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BoW91Fctig

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Fresno Hmong New Year 2023-2024:  Lots of people on last day!

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The largest Hmong-American community event

in the U.S. happens right here in Fresno County!

The Hmong Cultural New Year Celebration will be held at the Fresno Fairgrounds from December 28, 2023 through December 31, 2024.

Location: 1121 S Chance Ave, Fresno, CA 93702

Celebrating Cultural Identity, Unity & Dignity

Hmong New Year is the biggest cultural event within the Hmong community which marks the end of another year of hard work and a time for giving thanks. Each year, thousands of people from all over the country come to Fresno to take part in this annual tradition. The New Year festivities include several activities, performances and food vendors. The Hmong, Inc., which hosts the event, says it's part of their mission for cultural preservation and development.

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The Hmong Cultural New Year Celebration will be held at the Fresno Fairgrounds from December 28, 2023 through December 31, 2024. Location: 1121 S Chance Ave, Fresno, CA 93702 Celebrating Cultural Identity, Unity & Dignity Hmong New Year is the biggest cultural event within the Hmong community which marks the end of another year of hard work and a time for giving thanks.