Family, friends, comrades honor Hmong war veteran

[seemslikeadream]

Family, friends, comrades honor Hmong war veteran
By Neil Rhines
Herald Times Reporter

MANITOWOC — Pao Kue of Manitowoc was 61 when he passed away last week; ironically, it was in 1961 that he began fighting for the United States in the Secret War in Laos.

More than 100 people from Manitowoc, the Twin Cities, Detroit, Illinois and other locals attended a wake for Kue on Friday at Pfeffer Funeral Home in Manitowoc. Mourners included his wife Sxia Vang, their 10 children, as well as Kue’s brothers and former commander in the Secret War, Victor Hang.

According to the Central Intelligence Agency, the number of the Hmong army steadily grew in the early 1960s, soldiers in the Secret War. These fighters “acted as guerrillas, blowing up NVA (North Vietnamese Army) supply depots, ambushing trucks, mining roads, and generally harassing the stronger enemy force.”

Kue’s commander at the time of the incident, Hang said (through translator, Kue’s brother, Ger) that it was during very heavy fighting near enemy territory in 1965 or 1966 when Kue lost half his leg. The information they carried: How to cut off the supply train to the Viet Cong. Two American and two Laotian jets laid down suppressive fire as a Kue was rescued on a helicopter.
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http://www.wisinfo.com/heraldtimes/news/archive/local_20849406.shtml




Jack Austin Smith, a Vietnam Veteran and a retired career soldier

Writing to an American who was confused about the Hmong people, Jack Austin Smith, a Vietnam Veteran and a retired career soldier, wrote the following in 1996 (quoted from his e-mail to me, with permission):

The war in Vietnam was fought on several fronts and I served in two them. The main American battle ground was in the Southern end of South Vietnam. In order for the North Vietnamese forces to fight us there, it was necessary for their supplies and troops to go through Laos and Cambodia on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and Laos was controlled by a Pro-Communist Government at that time. Therefore America was not allowed to have any forces on the ground, although we were allowed to bomb and attack North Vietnamese troops with our aerial forces. About 99% of the combat forces on the ground were Hmong irregulars who were persuaded by Americans to forget about being neutral, and to fight the N. Vietnamese regulars (not relatively poorly trained Viet Cong guerrilla forces). We supplied air cover, but every combat trooper knows aircraft can't take and hold ground. We depended on the Hmongs to do this. Without modern arms, without medical help.
After the fall of Saigon we pulled out of Southeast Asia and left the Hmongs to continue the fight without air support. When we left, the Hmong had to fight both the Laotians and the N. Vietnamese. They could not fight tanks, heavy artillery and aircraft with rifles. A great many Hmongs were slaughtered in their villages. Many were slaughtered at airfields where they waited for evacuation planes that never came. A few were able to fight every foot of the way across Laos and cross the Mekong River into refugee camps in Thailand where they were further mistreated by rather corrupt UN and Thai officials. Out of a estimated 3,000,000 prewar Hmong population less than 200,000 made it to safety. One other ill informed or stupid writer said "they were all gone" meaning, I guess, that the combat Hmongs were all dead, they are wrong. Most of the survivors are in Australia, France and here among us.

Now I don't know about those heroes who have never heard a shot fired in anger, but I am embarrassed that my country so mislead these people. The Hmongs gave up literally everything for us: their country, their homes, their peaceful way of life, most of their families, everything that we would cherish. We promised them our continued support and then we bugged out.

You mentioned having relatives who fought in Vietnam and I hope they all survived. However their chances would have been much less if the Hmongs hadn't intercepted over 50% of the N. Vietnamese troops and supplies. If you truly loved your relatives, you should be grateful for the Hmongs' sacrifices.
http://www.jefflindsay.com/hmong.shtml