[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 7763-7764]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO HMONG AMERICAN VETERANS

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I am honored to recognize a remarkable 
coalition of veterans today. Every year on May 15, Alaskan Hmong 
American Vietnam veterans come together to celebrate Hmong American 
Veterans Memorial Day in remembrance of General Vang Pao's final flight 
out of Laos.
  From February 1961 to May 1975, Hmong fighters from the hill country 
in Laos risked their homes, their families, and their lives to join the 
United States and South Vietnam in the fight against communist 
oppression. They undoubtedly knew that, whether they won or lost the 
war, life would never be the same for them; yet they willingly chose to 
serve. For nearly three decades, their involvement was kept a secret, 
in what is now commonly referred to as ``the Secret War.''
  Mr. Pasert Lee, a resident of the Mountain View neighborhood in 
Anchorage, AK, is one of those honorable Hmong American veterans. He 
served as a lieutenant in General Vang Pao's army and played a role in 
rescuing downed American pilots and returning them to American Forces 
in South Vietnam. He tells me that, under the leadership of the 
general, Hmong forces rescued nearly 50 pilots and were responsible for 
saving countless American lives. Many people do not realize that more 
than 40,000 Hmong were killed or wounded in support of freedom in 
Vietnam.
  May 15, 1975, marked the beginning of the exodus of the Hmong people 
from their homes in Laos. Mr. Lee, like most

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of our honorable Hmong American veterans, have never returned home--
even to visit--in fear for their lives.
  Having lost tens of thousands of our Hmong allies in support of the 
United States in Vietnam, it is appropriate that we acknowledge and 
honor the sacrifices of those like Mr. Pasert Lee and all the Hmong 
veterans who worked tirelessly to protect, rescue, and defend American 
servicemembers and downed American pilots on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The 
efforts of the Hmong people have never properly been acknowledged and, 
like many of our Vietnam veterans, were never properly appreciated.
  Today, more than 40 years after the end of ``the Secret War,'' I 
would like to commend our Hmong Americans and wish them peace and 
bountiful blessings as they remember their fallen on May 15, 2017.

                          ____________________