[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 26, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S267]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING GENERAL VANG PAO

 Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, today I commemorate the 
recent passing of an iconic figure from a bygone era--a man who, with 
the help of his loyal Hmong people, kept what some estimate to be as 
many as 70,000 North Vietnamese soldiers from deploying through Laos to 
kill Americans during the Vietnam war.
  General Vang Pao, the military leader of the mountain-dwelling 
Laotian Hmong during this era, was already at war with Pathet-Lao 
communist forces in Laos when the United States began working with him. 
The goal of the U.S. in Laos at the time was to prevent North 
Vietnamese from using Laos as a supply line for their attacks on South 
Vietnam along what was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Unfortunately 
for the Hmong, who lived in the mountainous jungles between Laos and 
North Vietnam, their homes were located along this trail.
  Vang Pao told the New York Times in 2008 that ``There were three 
missions that were very important that were given to us and to me . . . 
One was stopping the flow of the North Vietnamese troops through the Ho 
Chi Minh Trail to go to the south through Laos. Second was to rescue 
any American pilots during the Vietnam War. Third, to protect the 
Americans that navigated the B-52s and the jets to bomb North 
Vietnam.''
  Bill Lair, Vang Pao's contact with the CIA, recounted Vang Pao 
saying, ``You give us the weapons, and we'll fight the communists.'' 
And so began a covert war in Laos in which thousands of Vang Pao's 
Hmong soldiers gave their lives, always persevering despite very heavy 
casualties.
  To his mountain people and even to some of his CIA contacts, Vang Pao 
had a larger-than-life status. He shared meager food rations with his 
troops, commanded from the field instead of his headquarters, and led 
troops on the frontlines of battles, where he suffered bullet wounds to 
his arm and chest.
  Vang Pao was known to have stated, ``If we die, we die together. 
Nobody will be left behind.'' These words proved tragic as the Vietnam 
war came to an end. U.S. forces evacuated Vang Pao and his leadership 
but were unable to mount an evacuation of the majority of his people. 
Vang Pao and his top associates were forced to leave Laos as over 
20,000 of their compatriots stood on an airstrip in the mountains, 
waiting to be evacuated by their U.S. supporters as the enemy quickly 
approached. The evacuation never occurred. Thousands were left behind 
and killed as communist forces completed their invasion.
  Today, many Hmong reside in poverty-stricken resettlement villages in 
Laos. A few thousand still remain in the mountains, where there are 
allegations that they have been persecuted in recent years. And many 
have resettled in the United States. Minnesota, California, Wisconsin, 
and Rhode Island are proud to have Hmong call our States their home.
  In 1997, the Clinton administration authorized a plaque to be placed 
at Arlington National Cemetery stating that the valor of General Vang 
Pao's troops would never be forgotten. As my colleague from Minnesota 
told Minnesota's Star Tribune, there would be a few thousand more names 
on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial were it not for the efforts of the 
Hmong. Today, we in the Senate and thousands of Hmong throughout the 
world remember the bravery and dedication Vang Pao and his troops 
exercised while fighting to uphold democracy and protect the lives of 
so many young Americans at War in Southeast Asia.

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