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 Major
General Vang Pao
He began his military career with the age of 13 during World War II, providing
food for the occupying Japanese army in the Nonghet area. Later, when
Laos gained its independance in the early 1950s, he became an infantry
soldier with the Territorial Army under French Command. His exploits in
fighting the Viet Minh soon earned him officer's stripes and a reputation
for bravery, dedication and skills as a military strategist. He quickly
advanced to the rank of Major General in the Royal Lao Army, the highest
rank ever held by a Hmong soldier, and gained widespread respect and admiration
among his people in the Hmong villages throughout the mountains of northern
Laos.
It was only natural, then, that when the United States military working
through its Central Intelligence Agency sought to enlist men from the
mountain villages to serve as ground troupes in the Vietnam War, they
would turn to Major General Vang Pao for help. And he provided more than
help. He traveled to villages throughout the area making personal appeals
for Hmong males (and those from other tribes and groups as well) to, as
Cher Yang Vang put it, "Help the Americans. They are our their friends
and need help and would give the same kind of help to us if the situations
were reversed." Vang Pao, affectionately know as Zak Pov (pronounced Va
Poe), was so much respected and admired by his people that he was able
to enjoin 60% of them as allies of the United States.
His initial "Armee Clandestine," or secret army, numbered around 7,000
and grew to nearly 30,000 before the Vietnam War ended. Although his troupes
were widely regarded as the most efficient fighting force in the war,
and despite their efforts in saving hundreds of downed U. S. pilots, their
efforts were not enough. In 1975 the United States withdrew completely
from the military conflict. They flew Major General Vang Pao and his officers
(including Cher Yang Vang) to refuge in Thailand. Other Hmong soldiers
were literally abandoned to find safety for themselves and their families
however they could. Hundreds died at the hands of the North Vietnamese
and vengeful Pathet Lao soldiers.
The defeat that sent some 120,000 Hmong refuges to safety in other countries,
mostly in the United States, did nothing to diminish the trust and admiration
the Hmong soldiers he led still hold for him. Today his opinions and decisions
are still enormously influential in the Hmong communities of the United
States. They believe that if "Zak Pov" (VA POE) had been given the full
support the United States military promised, they would have won the war
and there would have been no Hmong refugees forced to seek refuge in America
or anywhere else.
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