All posts tagged: Veterans

A 2015 Memorial Day First: Monument to Honor Hmong and Lao Veterans

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Saturday, May 16th marked a historical moment for acknowledgment of Hmong and Lao veterans in Minnesota. Hundreds of invited Hmong and Lao veterans community, leaders, and public officials gathered in the capitol lawn of Saint Paul, for a breaking ground event to mark the first Hmong Lao Memorial Monument. The memorial will be built on the front lawn in the upcoming year ahead. The memorial’s design is reported to be a bronze bamboo shoot representing growth and prosperity. The monument will honor the over 80,000 Hmong and Lao soldiers who took part in the efforts with the United States military and CIA operations during the Laotian Civil War and Vietnam War era. The memorial’s success was a coordinated effort with local Hmong and Lao veteran community in MN, as well as similar movements across the states. It’s expected to finish by 2016, funded by an approved bonding bill and private contributions from the community. While the memorial is an important step towards recognition of Hmong and Lao veterans and their sacrifices, the next step for legislators to truly acknowledge veterans and their …

A letter to my ພໍ່ father in 1984

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At the age of two, my brother Ti fell along the waterfront from a fatal allergic reaction to penicillin, given to him by a medic who had no other available medicine for children. At the age of 10 months, my sister Vilay turned cold blue and stopped breathing in my mother’s arms. It would be years later before mae would go to the local temple. She prayed for a child who wouldn’t leave her side. She told me Buddha answered her prayers. He brought me to her on a Monday night, when she looked out the window and saw a falling star in the sky. She named me Chanida. I wondered what it was like for my mae, who was 9-months pregnant with me, and what she was going through as she went to demand for my father’s release from the labor camp where he was a political prisoner. Over 25 years later, mae would finally tell me this story over a morning cup of coffee. The pain was evident in the cracks of her …