The Latehomecomer Essay

The memoir, The Latehomecomer, written Kao Kalia Yang, presents the oppression and persecution of the Hmong people. Yang is a Hmong woman, who was born in a Refugee Camp in Thailand. Since then, she moved to the United States, graduated from Columbia University and wrote The Latehomecomer. Her book gave her audience a glimpse into the not as recognized topic, the history of the Hmong people, when Laos by Laotian and Vietnamese soldiers forced them out of Laos and into the United States. She wants people to know the harsh times of the Hmong people, and let the future generations of Hmong know what their ancestors had to endure. Yang

Unfortunately, Vietnamese Americans make up only a small percent of the total American Population today. There are many stereotypes associated with the Vietnamese, but the truth is, we really know very little about their culture. After the Viet Nam War, many Vietnamese citizens immigrated to the United States to escape political Prosecution and poverty. Faced with a variety of obstacles and

Although many people may not be aware of the Secret War, it was a war that greatly affected the Hmong people and changed their lives forever.

The Vietnam war was an absolutely brutal time in American history. The war lasted for the majority of the 1960s and left many young men dead. The short story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and the film Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam give us just a glance into the war by giving using the three themes of fear, pressures, and blame/guilt to embody the concept of war and how it absolutely changes a person. War not only destroys countries, but it destroys people.

Life after the vietnam war was and is still today terrible because of not only laos and vietnam but because of the americans who abandoned them. A lot of hmong people moved to minnesota, 10% of the population in saint paul is hmong. Hmong people who stayed in Laos are still being killed today for what happened almost 50 years ago. life in Thailand is no longer a safe refuge for the hmong

During the Vietnam War, Hmong soldiers fought on the side of the United States against the Pathet Lao, the communist faction in the country. When the Vietnam War ended and the U.S. pulled out of the region, the Pathet Lao took control of Laos and persecuted the Hmong for being disloyal (Fadiman 1997). Hmong resisted forced assimilation at the hands of the communist government by fleeing to temporary

Family is important in every culture, it shapes people and makes them who they are.

During what is called The Secret War (1953-75), thousands of Hmong fought in the Royal Lao Army led by General Vang Pao against the communist Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese military, on behalf of the U.S. and France, who promised to let them come to the U.S. and receive veterans’ benefits if defeated. France and the U.S. broke their promise, and thousands of Hmong survivors and veterans were forced to evacuate their country by foot in the most agonizing and dehumanizing of conditions, many dying along the way. Many of them, despite all odds, managed to make it to refugee camps where conditions were also miserable. Finally, when the Hmong were forced to resettle, many were brought to the U.S., but not after some delays and without ever receiving veterans’ benefits. They were placed in certain cities in the U.S., including Merced.

In the 1960s, to the 1970s, the U.S. entered the war with the South Vietnamese against the Vietcong (which is known as the Vietnam War), but there was also an unknown ally that backed the United States during this time. They were the Hmong. “For thousands of years, the Hmong” was a self-sustaining, remote group of people who lived in the mountains of Laos (“The Split Horn: The Journey”). The Hmong were able to stay out of conflicts with others until the Vietnam War literally reached their doorsteps, in which forcing the Hmong people out of their homeland and had them seeking refuge in the U.S.

They quickly started to take control of Laos and forced their way into power. The Laotian government, instead of continuing a losing war, surrendered to prevent any further casualties, under an agreement that no one oppose the Pathet Laos forces and no one harmed. They handed over control. With the new change, the Hmong refugees flee Laos in fear of their safety. United States tried to help evacuate refugees into Thailand. The problem was that there were limited resources to accomplish this, leaving many Hmong refugees still in Laos. With the Pathet Lao, now in control and not forgetting, or forgiving the Hmong people for fighting alongside of the Americans. They now started to carry out their revenge, on the betrayers to their country. There have been stories of the Pathet Lao exacting attacks on the Hmong people by murders or gunfire. Nevertheless, that will change around the summer of 1975. Reports start coming to the United State, Stating that chemical weapon used on Hmong people in Laos. In order to move the Hmong people out of their strongholds in the mountains, The Pathet Lao had used Chemical weapons received from their communist ally Russia. This information was coming from relief workers stationed in Thailand working with Hmong Refugees. As time went on, more and more similar reports started to generate. These stories passed on from refugees making it into Thailand refugee camps. Most of who lived in the Phu Bia Mountains.

Life in Vietnam between the years of 1955 and 1975 was absolutely unbearable. On a CBC Radio, there is an interview with Dr. Taun Tran one of the refugees that escaped Vietnam and came to Canada. He had two kids that were very young at the time and came with him on his long and painful journey to Canada, his wife had to be left behind in the war zone. Dr. Taun Tran is American educated and has a Ph.D. from the University of Florida and can also speak English. He was planning an escape plan for quite some time and when he got the call he was ready to leave Vietnam, but not his wife. Dr. Tuan and his children had to go through different transportations to hide from the secret police. The children were especially sad and upset to see their mother drive away.

The subject of my interview is a 68 year elderly Vietnamese man named Minh “Bi” Ngo. Mr. Ngo has white long hair, a medium long white beard and a distinctive mole on the bottom of his left eye and a thick Vietnamese accent. He was born and raised in Vietnam on April 3rd, 1947. He is also a widow who is currently living with his daughter in Westminster, Orange County. Originally, Mr. Ngo was from the city of Buon Ma Thuot in the province of Dak Lak, Vietnam. He then immigrated to Falls Church, Virginia where he began his new life in the United States. At the time of the interview, Mr. Ngo looked very exhausted yet grateful at the same time. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Ngo through his daughter, who is a friend of my cousin. I conducted the interview on the afternoon of September 24th, which lasted for two hours. During the interview Mr. Ngo shared with me his experiences during the Vietnam war, his times in the Vietnamese Reeducation camps, his immigration to the United States, and his involvement in the Vietnamese community today. As the interview continues on, I began to comprehend a little bit more on the way it was back then and how the common folks

For forty years, the world still turns a blind eye. The majority of the world don’t know who the Hmong people are. In history textbooks, the Vietnam War isn’t really emphasized as much as the other wars. It’s usually a brief explanation of how America went to Vietnam to fight a war against communism, but they never mention or consider the “Hmong”in their history. The Hmong fought along side with the Americans against the war on communism, who was trained by CIA. They are also known as “America’s forgotten ally”. As the war goes on, America slowly loses and decides to make a truce with Vietnam in 1975. Labeling the Hmong people as “Insurgents”.

The existence of democracy and communism in both Vietnam and Laos urged the United States to take action and immediately support the Southern Vietnamese and the Hmong people. Both groups of people experienced devastating results from the war. However, the outcome for each group was different. In Vietnam, the Southern Vietnamese remained, but rebuilding their country from the war’s destruction became their most difficult issue. While in Laos, the Pathet Lao had exiled the Hmong people. This group had no supplies and no home after the war. In the end, the communists won the war, but this result did not stop resistance groups from emerging.

Family means many things to different people, yet the word itself can bring about a host of emotions from anyone who hears the word uttered. As a child growing up in the 60s and 70s the family dynamic was defined by the people we grew up with were related to by blood, and extended to the many family members of the different generations that made up the family unit.