[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 96 (Tuesday, June 13, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


U.S. CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE LAO AND HMONG VETERANS COMMEMORATION 
  CEREMONY IN FRESNO, CA, MARKING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL OF 
                      SOUTHEAST ASIA TO COMMUNISM

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                       HON. GEORGE P. RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 13, 1995
  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, on May 6 in my congressional district in 
Fresno an important air show and dinner conference was held by the Lao 
Veterans of America organization to mark the 20th anniversary of the 
fall of South Vietnam and other Indochina nations to Communist 
aggression.
  Present at the air show from the Fresno area and from across the 
United States were thousands of Hmong and Lao combat veterans of the 
Vietnam war as well as their families. Also in attendance were many 
important individuals and officials including: Maj. Gen. Vang Pao, 
former commander of Military Region II in the Royal Lao Army; Gen. 
Thonglit Chokhbenbol, former commander in the Royal Lao Army; Gen. 
Nguyen Khanh, former President of the Republic of South Vietnam and 
army commander; Mike Johns, former White House speech writer for 
President George Bush; Phillip Smith, director of the Center for Public 
Policy Analysis in Washington, DC; Col. Douglas R. Moore, commander of 
the 144th Fighter Wing, Air National Guard; Lt. Col. James Arthur, wing 
executive officer, 144th Fighter Wing, Air National Guard; Jim 
Patterson, mayor of Fresno; Madame Nguyen, Vietnamese community leader 
and human rights activist; Joe Scheimer, representative of the Ravens, 
one of the organizations of United States pilots who flew covert 
military operations during America's secret war in Laos; Christopher 
Robbins, journalist and author of the important book, ``The Ravens: The 
Men Who Flew in America's Secret War in Laos''; and Robert Lung, a 
Fresno city councilman.


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