In 1961 a war broke out. This war is known as the Secret War. Laos was an important country during this time due to communism. If Laos had fallen to communism, it would have been the gateway to turning other SEA countries into communist countries. No one was supposed to be in Laos but because the Northern Vietnamese was using Laos as a staging area, the United States military decided to send the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to Laos in 1961 (PBS, 2019). The CIA had recruited many Hmong men and young boys as old as 10 or 11 as allies. Many of the Hmong did not have a choice to choose because no matter what side they chose, there were consequences (PBS, 2019).

The secret war went on for many years. It was 1975 when the United States withdrew their troops from Laos leaving many Hmong behind (Gerdner, 2015). Once the Americans left Laos, the communist group in Laos known as the Pathet Lao was on a mission to annihilate all the Hmong people who aided the United States. Hmong people were left to fend for themselves. Many fled and migrated to Thailand in hopes of immigrating to the US. If Hmong families were captured they would be killed if they did not surrender and cooperate with the Pathet Lao. If they did surrender and cooperated, they were sent to seminars and re-education camps (PBS, 2019).