The Secret War In Laos

Our Speakers:

Kaying Thao-Yang: Kaying is currently an ELL teacher at Sheldon High School in the Elk Grove USD. She escaped Laos, fled to a refugee camp in Thailand, and eventually made her way to California. As a Hmong refugee, she speaks out on the need for staff to know who is sitting in front of them in their classrooms and next to them in their staff and board rooms. To learn more about Kaying, listen to her interview in the Time of Remembrance Oral Histories Project.

Joe K. Liow-Phan: Joe is currently a middle school mathematics teacher in the Sacramento City USD, an Adjunct Professor, University of San Francisco (USF), Teacher Education Sacramento Campus, and President of Iu Mien American National Coalition (IMANC). After surviving the escape from Laos and enduring life in a refugee camp, in 1980 he arrived in Fargo, North Dakota, then moved to Seattle, Washington, and then on to Sacramento, California (1983). Joe went on to college and graduate school, writing his doctoral thesis on The Acculturation Process of Iu Mien High School Students. To learn more about Joe, listen to his interview in the Time of Remembrance Oral Histories Project.

Lorie Hammond: Lorie is an author (Building Parent Engagement in Schools) and professor emeritus, California State University, Sacramento. While still in the classroom as a 6th grade teacher in Washington Unified School District, she worked with the newly arrived Mien student population and community. To learn more about Lorie, listen to her interview in the Time of Remembrance Oral Histories Project.

Yee Yang: Yee currently serves as an elementary school principal with Sacramento City Unified School District. He has also served as an assistant principal, bilingual resource teacher, and classroom teacher. Yee is a current member with the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and firmly believes in equity and social justice for all students. He is currently involved with the California Office to Reform Education (CORE) and serves as a local improvement facilitator in his school district. His earlier works include writing the first Hmong Foreign Language framework for Luther Burbank High School, mentoring in Refugee Children’s Assistance Programs, and writing curriculum and providing training for the Hmong Summer School Program in Sacramento City Unified School District. Yee is a current doctoral student in the educational leadership development program at California State University of Sacramento, aspiring to help lead improvement work in education for the State of California.

Resources:

Note: Please visit Elk Grove USD's Time of Remembrance website for additional resources.

Articles

• Hmong High School Students in Afterschool: Effects on Achievement, Behavior, and Self-Esteem - Recommended by Yee Yang, article presents findings on students who did and did not participate in afterschool programs in two high schools in the Central Valley of California.

• "My son was also killed by police in Minneapolis" (story of a young Hmong man) - Recent article from the BBC, connects Hmong story to George Floyd's murder.

Lessons

• The Forbidden Treasure – From Elk Grove Unified School District and the Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium. Hyperdoc lesson introduces students to the folktale genre through See Lor’s beautifully told Hmong folktale. (Note: aligned to grade 2 Common Core State Standards, but also appropriate for grade 3.)

• On Coming to America – Small Moments, Big Meanings Hyperdoc - This lesson was inspired by Dr. Lorie Hammond's Small Moments, Big Meanings activity.

• I’m American Too – I’m American Now – From Elk Grove Unified School District and the Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium. Lesson invites students to compare and contrast interviews from WWII and the Vietnam War (Secret War).

• The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) – From PBS, a lesson for high school students to teach the human consequences of the Secret War.

• Legacies of War – The Legacies of War organization is a U.S.-based educational and advocacy organization “working to address the impact of conflict in Laos during the Vietnam War-era, including removal of unexploded ordnance (UXO).” Their curriculum is for middle and high school students.

Websites

• History of California’s Assembly Bill AB 78 – Introduction to the legislation and accompanying resources

• CIA Air Operations in Laos – Explanation of “supporting the ‘Secret War.'”

• The Iu Mien and the Secret War in Laos - A 5-minute introduction to the Mien and Hmong involvement in the Secret War ("A good FYI").

• Legacies of War Multimedia Interactive – Powerful site to learn from first-hand accounts of “Secret War” survivors.

• 40 Years after Secret War in Laos Bombies Continue to Kill Laotians – Interview with an all-women bombie clearance team, dealing with aftermath of U.S. dropping million cluster bombs (bombies).

Videos

• Hmong Role in the Secret War – This video was edited by Xiong Vang of MN. With his permission it was played at the “Celebrate with Steve Ly” Event (Elk Grove, CA). This clip was shown to promote the compliance of CA schools and AB 78.

• Laos: The Not So Secret War (1970) – From the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) website, “this film is a Columbia Broadcasting Service (CBS) exploration of the history of the “secret” war in Laos, the Central Intelligence Agency’s involvement in the war, and U.S foreign policy toward the country.”

• Moving Mountains: The Story of the Yiu Mien – The Yiu Mien’s involvement in the Vietnam War forced this Laotian mountain tribe to flee its homeland. This film is an intimate look at these Asian refugees who originally settled in the Pacific Northwest. Through the words of elders, and rare archival footage of the Mien in their mountain homeland, their ancient culture is brought to light. Past and present are interwoven, revealing complex realities of Americanization as seen through the eyes of the Mien. Click here to preview 1-minute Moving Mountains movie trailer.

• The Hmong and the Secret War - From PBS, the documentary explores questions about the Secret War in Laos and the circumstances that brought the Hmong to America.

Books

• The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman's book is a beautiful introduction to "a Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures."

• The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir - Kao Kalia Yang’s tribute to her grandmother, the remarkable woman whose spirit held them all together in their search for a place to call home, having fled the war-torn jungles of Laos to the overcrowded refugee camps of Thailand and onward to America.

• Hog's Exit: Jerry Daniels, the Hmong, and the CIA - Gayle L. Morrison's book is invaluable resource for anyone interested in the Secret War in Laos, the history of the CIA, U.S. interventions overseas, the Hmong people and their culture, and how the Hmong came to America.

• The Ravens: The Men Who Flew in America's Secret War in Laos - Christopher Robbins' book documents "a handful of elite Air Force pilots, wearing anything but uniforms and piloting unarmored, small, prop-driven aircraft, fought a secret war..." in "the other theater - a small nation called Laos, next door to Vietnam, bordered by the Ho Chi Minh Trail..."

• A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain: Stories - Robert Olen Butler's Pulitzer Prize lyrical and poignant collection of stories about the aftermath of the Vietnam War and its impact on the Vietnamese.

• Inside Out and Back Again - Thanhha Lai's YA novel is a coming-of-age story based on her childhood experience as a refugee—fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and immigrating to Alabama.