Hmong in America : Journey from a Secret War

by Pfaff, Tim

• ISBN13: 9780963619136
• ISBN10: 0963619136
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-31
• Publisher: Chippewa Valley Museum

Summary

In 1961, U.S. President Kennedy sent CIA operatives into northern Laos to recruit a secret army to fight communist forces in Laos and Vietnam. For fifteen years, Hmong highlanders attacked the Ho Chi Minh Trail, guarded U.S. radar installations, and acted as the frontline defense of Laos. In 1975 the Americans withdrew. Thousands of Hmong families fled to Thailand. After months or years in refugee camps, most resettled in the United States. There they faced the imposing challenge of starting a new life in a highly industrialized, technology-driven society with radically different cultural values and practices.

Author Biography

Tim Pfaff, curator of Public Programs at the Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, served as principal writer for the team that developed the Hmong in America project.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 5
Introduction
Who Are the Hmong?	p. 7
The Journey of Chia Koua Xiong	p. 8
Across the Mountain Tops of Laos	p. 11
The Secret War	p. 29
Exodus to Thailand	p. 49
Becoming Hmong Americans	p. 65
Epilogue	p. 85
Notes	p. 86
Selected Annotated Bibliography	p. 89
About the Chippewa Valley Museum	p. 97
Index	p. 98
Maps	p. 99
Acknowledgements	p. 100
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