A Refugees Journey

Sophal Ear, PhD

Assistant Professor
US Naval Postgraduate School
9 November 2011
The views expressed do not reflect the views of the Department of Navy or the Department of Defense.
My Marching Orders
PowerPoint talk about my life and career after
dinner in honor of the students of color who
will visit the Purdue campus for our
Multicultural/Historically Black Institution
Visitation program
But I could never have imagined
this back in 1995
Two years before Harry Potter!
A dozen years before I got on Facebook
I was just like you, an undergrad
about to head off to grad school.
Fast-Forward to August 2011
I had just given a talk at the Faculty
Club of my alma mater in honor of
the McNair Scholars Program (Id
been a McNair Scholar in 94-95).
Dr. Dwight
Lewis was in
the audience
and we started
a conversation.
Needless to say,
good things
happen when you
know Dr. Lewis
Lesson #1: Get to
know Dr. Lewis.
And so, on
October 16
th
, I
received a letter
from Dr. Lewis
inviting me to
join you tonight.
The month since was as much
planning as the US invasion of Iraq!
(I can say this with some authority
because I teach courses to junior
military officers on how to rebuild
countries after conflict.)
Rewind to a couple of months
The June 4-10 print edition of
No less than the
act itself, the
politics of
genocide can be
heartbreaking.

Yours Truly

So genocide will
be something Ill
touch on today.

But how did I get to where I am?
A Refugees Journey in Five Acts
1. Cambodia
2. Vietnam
3. France
4. America
5. The World
I had six minutes to tell my story.
Today, I have a little more time to
reflect on my familys and my own
journey.
MY WIFE, 8 MONTHS PREGNANT
MOM
BILL
GATES
Act 1: Cambodia
There are no American combat
troops in Cambodia. There are no
American combat advisers in
Cambodia. There will be no
American combat troops or
advisers in Cambodia. We will aid
Cambodia. Cambodia is the Nixon
doctrine in its purest form.

President Richard Nixon,
November 1971
April 17
th
, 1975
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Evacuation of 2 million people
from Phnom Penh in three days
59
Once upon a time ... there was a regime so evil that it created an
antisociety where torture was currency and music, books, and love
were abolished. This regime ruled for four years and murdered
nearly 2 million of its citizens, a quarter of the population.
CAMBODIA
Michael Paterniti (2009)
Up to 16,000
62
66
67
One day in late-1975, circa
sunset
On the third day of our journey
towards Vietnam
1935-1975
Act 2: Vietnam
A VIETNAMESE CITIZEN,
A GOOD SAMARITAN
MOM
ME MY UNCLE AND AUNT
Act 3: France
A FRENCH CITIZEN,
A GOOD SAMARITAN
Act 4: America
A TUTOR AND
GOOD SAMARITAN
A Very Large University in California
A GRADUATE SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATOR
AND GOOD SAMARITAN
A Small University in New Jersey
Good Samaritans* have littered
my life.
* A person who gives help or
sympathy to someone in distress.
This room is full of good Samaritans,
behind me, in fact are all the people
on whose shoulders I stand.
Lesson #2: We can all be good
Samaritans to others.
To those whom
much is given,
much is
expected.
--John F. Kennedy
Act 5: The World
Back to my alma
M.S., M.A., Ph.D.
There is no more noble endeavour
than the fight for social and global
justice, and for peace and
development.
Mark Malloch Brown
The Responsibility to Protect is a new
international security and human rights
norm to address the international
communitys failure to prevent and stop
genocides, war crimes, ethnic cleansing
and crimes against humanity.
137
HOLOCAUST: 11-17 MILLION
141
RWANDA: 800,000-1,000,000
144
BOSNIA: 200,000+
148
DARFUR: 300,000+
Returning to Cambodia and the
Khmer Rouge Tribunal
TUOL SLENGS DIRECTOR, DUCH, CONFESSED
AT KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL IN CAMBODIA, 2009.

VERDICT: GUILTY

DEATHS: 12,273+

SENTENCE: 35 YEARS
(REDUCED TO 19 FOR
TIME ALREADY SERVED)
APPEALING.
MADOFF: 150 YEARS
KILLED: 0; US$65 BILLION FRAUD
NOT APPEALING.
155
Judge Denny Chin ...
noted that 20 or 25
years would effectively
be a life sentence, but
he reasoned that the
symbolism of the
longer term was
important, given the
enormity of the
crimes.
New York Times
28 June 2011
My mom, Cam Youk Lim
June 1936-October 2009
A photomosaic of
my mother, who had
seven years of
formal schooling,
spoke five
languages,
and saved lives.
20 Lives Saved
Steven Sophal Ear, born March 2009
Steven at two years, seven months
Caitlyn Lim Ear, born March 2011
Thank you.