7/23/2017 Hmong Timeline | Minnesota Historical Society

Hmong Timeline
4,000-3,000 BCE
Oral tradition and evidence from archives and archaeological finds suggest that Hmong people originated near
the Yellow and Yangtze rivers in China. Known as industrious farmers, the Hmong are credited with being
among the first people to cultivate rice and to spread this staple throughout Asia. For the next several thousand
years, the Hmong struggled to gain independence as Imperial China suppressed uprisings by smaller kingdoms
and ethnic minorities in the quest to unite all people of China

Around 1790 to the 1860s

For centuries, the Hmong lived autonomously in remote areas of China, retaining a unique culture despite
ongoing conflicts with Imperial China. Major uprisings, such as the Miao Rebellion (1795–1806) and the Taiping
Rebellion (1850-64), occurred when Chinese rulers used military might to suppress the Hmong and other ethnic
minorities. These conflicts resulted in a mass exodus by the Hmong into the mountainous regions of Southeast
Asia—areas known today as Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and Vietnam.

We always knew that our history was rooted in China. However, our ancestors never got along with the
Imperial Chinese. They invaded our lands. Killed our people. This went on for hundreds of years. Many
Hmong leaders and their families, including my great-grandparents, moved to Laos to escape being
persecuted.

CHER CHA VANG, former military major and Hmong leader, Minneapolis, interview 2006

From Hmong at the Turning Point, 1993, by Dr. Yang Dao

1893-1940
In 1893, the Kingdom of Laos became a “protectorate,”or colony, of France, as part of what was known as
French Indochina. The Hmong of Laos—perhaps as many as 30,000—were heavily taxed and oppressed by
French and Laotian authorities. Xieng Khouang Province was the region of greatest Hmong influence in Laos.
Other provinces that had concentration of Hmong includes Luang Prabang, Phongsaly, Sam Neua, and
Xayaboury. By the early 1900s, the French and Laotian authorities were letting Hmong leaders, especially from
the Moua, Lee, and Yang clans, deal directly with Hmong issues.

The Laotians wanted one kilo of opium per household. . . . They even took our livestock and money. . .
. Some of the parents had to sell their children to pay for the taxes. Some parents were so upset they
committed suicide by taking poison.
PA SENG THAO, in Paul Hillmer, A People’s History of the Hmong, 2010

Since the beginning, the King of Xieng Khouang had always given the authority to the Chao Mouang
[Mayor] of Ban Bane to administer the Hmong people in the Nong Het area. When the Hmong people
increased in numbers and became prosperous, an old Chao Mouang of Ban Bane decided to
nominate a Hmong person to be the Phutong (local official) to help him administer the Hmong people Portrait of a Hmong girl in Laos, 1920s. Courtesy Noah Vang, St. Paul
in the Hmong villages.

The Hmong Phutong worked very hard. He quickly settled every small dispute so that the villages
could make their living peacefully. The Hmong people were very happy. They like the Phutong very
much and honored him like a father.

TOUBY LYFOUNG, in Dr. Touxa Lyfoung’s Touby Lyfoung: An authentic account of the life of a Hmong man in the troubled land of
Laos (1996)

1940-45: World War II

During World War II--known by elders in the Hmong community as the Japanese War--the Hmong of Laos were
divided into two factions due to internal clan conflicts. Most Hmong stayed loyal to the French and the Royal
Lao Government; the rest joined the Communist Party, Neo Lao Hak Xat (renamed Pathet Lao). The pro-

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French Hmong showed fierceness against the Japanese by rescuing the king in Luang Prabang, who was
being held by Japanese forces while they were extending their reach over Southeast Asia. As a result, several
Hmong leaders won national political positions. Touby Lyfoung, with his brothers Toulia Lyfoung and Tougeu
Lyfoung, were the first successful Hmong politicians in the Lao government. Under Touby Lyfoung’s leadership,
Hmong assisted and hid French soldiers from the Japanese military. The Hmong were officially recognized as
citizens of Laos in 1947.

Hmong elder in the Plain of Jars, Xieng Khouang Province, Laos, early
1900s. Courtesy Carl Lorence, Pennsylvania

1945-54
At the end of World War II, the French attempted to reassert control over their former colonies in Southeast
Asia, but were fiercely opposed by Chinese-backed Communist forces in Vietnam and Laos. Many Hmong
were drawn into the new war that engulfed the entire region. During the 1954 battle at Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam,
about 500 Hmong soldiers were sent from Laos to assist the French. They were days away from the front line
when the French surrendered to the Communist Viet Minh; this effectively ended French rule in Southeast Asia.
The Geneva Accords in 1954 divided Vietnam into two separate countries. North Vietnam was formed as a
communist country, while South Vietnam, a democracy, soon gained American support after the French. Within
Hmong society, clan leaders became proactive both politically and militarily in the Lao government.

Hmong soldiers, led by Touby Lyfoung (second from left), with a French
officer during French occupation of Indochina in Xiengkhoungville, Laos,
September 1945. Courtesy Vajtsuas Shouayang, France

1961
A coup d'état in 1960 in the Lao capital, Vientiane, deepened the country’s political instability. As a result, newly
elected US president John F. Kennedy authorized the recruitment of ethnic minorities in Laos to participate in
covert military operations against the spread of communism. CIA agent Bill Lair met with the young Hmong
military officer Vang Pao to discuss supporting US objectives in Laos. A sharp increase in the number of
Hmong troops, supported by American military and CIA advisers, along with huge drops of military supplies,
signaled the start of what is now called the Secret War.

I want to make it clear to the American people, and to all of the world, that all we want in Laos is
peace, not war—a truly neutral government, not a cold war pawn, a settlement concluded at the
conference table and not on the battlefield. Our response will be made in close cooperation with our
allies and the wishes of the Laotian government. We will not be provoked, trapped, or drawn into this
or any other situation but I know that every American will want his country to honor its obligations to
the point that freedom and security of the free world and ourselves may be achieved.
Pres. John F. Kennedy in March 1961. In the early years of his
presidency, he also dispatched CIA personnel to Laos. The maroon-
color shaded region on the map was MR II, commanded by Gen. Vang
Pao, and was the area where the heaviest fighting in Laos took place.
Courtesy The John F. Kennedy Library

PRES. JOHN F. KENNEDY, Press conference, State Department, March 23, 1961

Communism was spreading in our part of the world—pouring into Laos, Cambodia, and South
Vietnam. We had to find a way to stop them. The US had the vision to stop them from spreading into
these countries. I aligned with the US because they were the most powerful country in the world at that
time. The United States had won World War I and World War II, and I assumed that winning the
Vietnam War would be no problem.”

GEN. VANG PAO, St. Paul, interview 2006

1963
Of the 300,000 Hmong people living in Laos, more than 19,000 men were recruited into the CIA-sponsored
secret operation known as Special Guerrilla Units (SGU) while some enlisted as Forces Armees du Royaume,
the Laotian royal armed forces. Each soldier was paid an equivalent of three dollars a month. Air America—the
“private” airline contracted by the CIA—dropped 40 tons of food per month. King Sisavang Vatthana of Laos
appointed Touby Lyfoung to his advisory board.

The US funded new schools throughout the remote regions of Laos, which opened opportunities to Hmong
girls. As the war escalated, some Hmong girls were trained as nurses and medics to care for wounded soldiers.

In my generation, education was only for the privileged and wealthy families. We had no money so I
Striped Hmong girls in northern Laos, early 1960s. Courtesy Vint
taught myself to read and write in Lao. Where we lived, girls did not attend schools until the late 1950s. Lawrence, Connecticut, and Noah Vang, St. Paul
When the war started in our country, the Americans began building small schools in nearby villages
where both boys and girls could go learn. For some students, they walked as far as half a day just to
get an education.
LAO THAI VANG, former mayor of Hong Nong, Sam Neua Province, Laos, 1965-75. St. Paul, interview 2009

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1968-69
In the two worst years of the both the American War in Vietnam and the Secret War in Laos, 18,000 Hmong
soldiers were killed in combat, in addition to thousands more civilian casualties. The March 1968 assault by
North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces on the top-secret airbase at Phou Pha Thi—known to the CIA as
“Lima Site 85”—resulted in the deaths of 12 US Air Force personnel, and many more Hmong and Thai soldiers.

By 1969, Hmong troop strength was nearing 40,000. Under the new administration of Pres. Richard Nixon, U.S.
bombing of Laos escalated, and Congress learned of CIA covert military operations in Laos.

Before the war all the men in our village worked hard and supported their families. We had peace.
There was no war. All of a sudden, our lives changed. The men began to disappear. They went to fight
for Gen. Vang Pao, for the Americans. Most of our husbands never returned home. My husband died
in the war. We told Gen. Vang Pao that we wanted the war to end and to end all the killing. He also
wanted the war to end. Boy soldier in the Secret War in Laos, early 1960s. Courtesy James W.
Lair, Texas, and Noah Vang, St. Paul
YOUA LEE, ST. PAUL, interview 2011

A short time ago we rounded up 300 fresh recruits. Thirty percent were 14 years old or less, and ten of
them were only ten years old. Another 30 percent were 15 or 16. The remaining 40 percent were 45 or
over. Where were the ones in between? I’ll tell you—they’re all dead.

EDGAR “POP” BUELL, International Voluntary Service employee, 1968

1971-72
By 1971, the Secret War was weighing heavily on the Hmong and the people of Laos. The estimated death toll
for Hmong soldiers this year alone was 3,000, with 6,000 more wounded. More and more boys were becoming
involved; the average age of Hmong recruits that year was 15. Throughout 1971, Long Cheng air base was
pounded constantly by artillery from massive guns hidden in the surrounding hills. Meanwhile, American
opposition to the wars in Southeast Asia mounted, even as Pres. Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger spoke of “peace with honor” and “the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Then, our objectives in supporting the United States to fight the war in Laos were: first, we had to stop
the North Vietnamese from sending troops and supplies into South Vietnam using the Ho Chi Minh
Trail; second, to rescue downed American pilots; and third, to defend and protect the radar site at
US planes dropping food and military supplies to friendly remote military
Phou Pha Thi. posts in Laos, early 1960s. Courtesy James W. Lair, Texas

COL. LY TOUPAO, St. Paul, interview 2006

By this time, Air America was keeping some 170,000 Hmong refugees alive with airdrops of rice, a
situation that had gone on so long that Hmong children were said to believe that rice was not grown
but simply fell from the sky.

WALTER J. BOYNE, Plain of Jars, 1970

1973
In February, a cease-fire and political peace treaty was signed in Paris, requiring the US and all foreign powers
to withdraw all military activities from Laos. More than 120,000 Hmong became refugees in their own
homelands. 18,000 Hmong soldiers were left in Laos, representing nearly three-quarters of the irregular forces.
About 50,000 Hmong civilians had been killed or wounded in the war.

On September 14, the Vientiane Agreement was signed, giving the Communist Pathet Lao more control of the
Lao government.

I hope you all believe me when I say that your welfare has always been, is now, and will always
continue to be of the highest priority interest for me and my fellow USA co-workers. I still remember Yang Long giving instructions to soldiers who will be trained as radio
that I and, perhaps, other Americans who are representatives of the United States government, have operators in Long Cheng air base in Laos, late 1960s. Courtesy Yang
Long, St. Paul
promised you, the Hmong People, that if you fight for us, if we win, things will be fine. But if we lose,
we will take care of you.
JERRY (“HOG”) DANIELS, CIA case officer and adviser to the Hmong and Gen. Vang Pao. From A Letter From Jerry Daniels
(1941-1982)

1975
North Vietnamese Army and Pathet Lao captured Royal Lao positions, and South Vietnam fell to Communist
North Vietnam. Gen. Vang Pao and about 2,500 Hmong military forces and family members were airlifted from
Long Cheng air base to Thailand. As many as 30,000 other Hmong crowded into Long Cheng, hoping for
escape.

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By the war’s end, between 30,000 and 40,000 Hmong soldiers had been killed in combat, and between 2,500
and 3,000 were missing in action. An estimated one-fourth of all Hmong men and boys died fighting the
Communist Pathet Lao and the North Vietnamese Army. The official US military death total in Vietnam
exceeded 58,000.

For 10 years, Vang Pao’s soldiers held the growing North Vietnamese forces to approximately the
same battlelines they held in 1962. And significantly for Americans, the 70,000 North Vietnamese
engaged in Laos were not available to add to the forces fighting Americans and South Vietnamese in
South Vietnam.
WILLIAM E. COLBY, CIA director 1973-76, speech 1996 Since 1961, the war had displaced hundreds of thousands of Hmong
and other ethnic minority families and often they were relocated to
locations developed by US aid workers. Photo late 1960s. Courtesy
Capt. Vang Neng, St. Paul

1975-2015
After overthrowing the Laotian monarchy, the Pathet Lao launched an aggressive campaign to capture or kill
Hmong soldiers and families who sided with the CIA. Thousands of Hmong were evacuated or escaped on their
own to Thailand. Thousands more who had already gone to live deep in the jungle were left to fend for
themselves, which led to the creation of the Chao Fa and Neo Hom freedom fighters movements. Many men
also took up arms again to protect their families as they crossed the heavily patrolled Mekong River to safety in
Thailand.

Hmong began moving into refugee camps overseen by non-governmental organizations such as the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the
International Rescue Committee, Refugees International ,and the Thai Ministry of the Interior. The first Hmong
family to resettle in Minnesota arrived in November 1975. The largest wave came after the passage of the US
Refugee Act of 1980.
In 2004, the Buddhist monastery at Wat Tham Krabok—the last temporary shelter for 15,000 Hmong remaining
Toward the middle of May 1975, thousands of Hmong swarmed into the
air base at Long Cheng in hopes of being evacuated. The decision to
airlift Gen. Vang Pao out of Laos, along with other high-ranking military
officers and their families, came from top US government officials. About
2,500 people were evacuated to Thailand. Those left behind had to trek
on foot. Courtesy Thua Vang, California

in Thailand—closed. This “last wave” came to the US, with as many as 5,000 settling in established Minnesota
Hmong communities.

The 2010 census recorded more than 260,000 Hmong in the United States. More than 66,000 of that number
lived in Minnesota, most of them in or near the Twin Cities—the largest urban population of Hmong in America.

Here were thousands of Hmong, many of whom spoke American military lingo and had names likes
‘Lucky’ and ‘Judy’ and ‘Bison’ and who had been soldiers, radio operators, pilots, and CIA operatives
in a war unknown to the American public. This was unacceptable. How could the U.S. abandon these
people? If the United States owed gratitude to anyone in Southeast Asia it was the Hmong.
LIONEL ROSENBLATT, head of the Refugees International, in Larry Clinton Thompson’s Refugee Workers in the Indochina
Exodus, 1975-1982 (2010)

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