Free Republic

The US Army has rejected a request for ethnic Hmong leader Vang Pao to be buried with full military honours in Arlington National Cemetery. Gen Pao led a 15-year CIA-sponsored secret war in Laos during the Vietnam War and, when it was lost, led tens of thousands of his people into exile. He died last month. The army's decision came as mourners attended the first day of a six-day funeral in California. Gen Pao's friends said they would appeal to the White House. "Obviously to everyone who is here today to honour Gen Vang Pao, this is very disappointing," said...

Gen. Vang Pao, an iconic figure in the Hmong community and a key U.S. ally during the Vietnam War, died today in Clovis. Vang, 81, was admitted to Clovis Community Medical Center on Dec. 26. Vang apparently was admitted shortly after making his annual appearance at the Hmong International New Year event at the Fresno Fairgrounds. Charlie Waters, a friend and veterans advocate in Fresno, said Vang was suffering from pneumonia and an ongoing heart problem. Vang is revered by many as a father figure and leader who helped bring and settle the Hmong community into American life. But he...

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Former Laotian Gen. Vang Pao, accused of being the ringleader in a plot to overthrow the communist government of Laos, was freed on bail Friday. U.S. Magistrate Dale Drozd ordered the 77-year-old leader of the Hmong community in America released on a $1.5 million bond after relatives agreed to post four properties in Sacramento, Fresno and Westminster as collateral. Several hundred Hmong gathered outside the federal courthouse cheered as the former general walked out the front door and through the crowd. Most were wearing white, and some held signs and balloons that said "Welcome home." Others waved...

The ex-general's arrest inspires hundreds to rally in St. Paul. For the old, the concern is for a revered leader. For the young, it's for a distant homeland, too. Tou Meng, 12, of St. Paul, joins a rally Tuesday at the Minnesota state Capitol in support of former Gen. Vang Pao, who is charged along with 10 others with plotting to overthrow the Lao government. Vang Pao, a war hero to many, is drawing support from different factions of the Hmong community. (RICHARD MARSHALL, Pioneer Press) View an audio slideshow from the rally Many young Hmong-Americans view Vang Pao as...

War hero or war criminal? Depending upon who's talking, Gen. Vang Pao is one or the other. As a Madison schoolteacher, I think the answer to that question is not as important as the debate the question has generated. Hmong residents here revere Gen. Vang. They insist that he is a great man who helped thousands of their people escape war-torn Laos to find safety and opportunity in the United States. For that reason, they believe he deserves to have a public school named in his honor. A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, on the other hand, claims that Gen. Vang...

Excerpt - SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Nine people were arrested in the United States and charged with plotting a coup in the southeast Asian nation of Laos, a public prosecutor in California said Monday. The suspects, mostly members of the Hmong ethnic group, were seized after US authorities "interrupted a plot to overthrow the government of Laos by force and violence," the prosecutor in the state capital Sacramento said in a statement. They include the Hmong former general Vang Pao and Harrison Jack, a retired officer of the US Army, it said. ~ snip ~