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Xai Nou Vang

Many Hmong men and boys joined General Vang Pao's troops to escape poverty.

Aired 10/03/2017 | Rating TV-PG

America's Secret War: Minnesota Remembers Vietnam

Xai Nou Vang

Clip: Special | 4m 26sVideo has Closed Captions

Many Hmong men and boys joined General Vang Pao's troops to escape poverty.

Xai Nou Vang, former Special Guerilla Unit Captain and bodyguard to General Vang Pao, joined General Vang Pao's troops to escape poverty—the same choice that many Hmong men and boys made. In 1975, the CIA ordered General Vang Pao to make a clandestine escape from his headquarters in Long Tieng to Thailand, leaving behind Xai Nou and thousands of his Special Guerilla Unit soldiers.

Aired 10/03/2017 | Rating TV-PG

America's Secret War: Minnesota Remembers Vietnam is presented by your local public television station.

Distributed nationally by American Public Television

America's Secret War Preview

Video has Closed Captions

Hmong testimonial of the CIA's Secret War in Laos and escaping a brutal communist regime. (1m)

CIA

Video has Closed Captions

CIA operatives worked hand in glove with the Hmong and General Vang Pao during the Secret (3m 16s)

The Domino Theory

Video has Closed Captions

The CIA recruited Hmong people to fight as surrogates of the U.S. armed forces. (6m 31s)

Dr. Mai Na Lee

Video has Closed Captions

As the Secret War ended, Hmong people were hunted by the Communist Pathet Lao. (8m 3s)

Ganghis Khang

Video has Closed Captions

Ganghis Khang talks about the poor living conditions of Ban Vinai Refugee Camp (1m 39s)

The Her Family

Video has Closed Captions

Trying to survive meant living in constant fear and being faced with difficult choices. (3m 7s)

Lee Pao Xiong

Video has Closed Captions

Having grown up in Long Tieng, Lee Pao Xiong was no stranger to war even as a child. (4m 56s)

Long Tieng

Video has Closed Captions

Among the hardest hit by the Secret War were the Hmong people of northern Laos. (3m 17s)

Nhiacha Vang

Video has Closed Captions

Nhiacha Vang relives a punishing battle in which he was critically injured by enemy fire. (4m 59s)

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