Lao and Hmong Veterans Rally in Washington, DC (Photo: CPPA courtesty LVAI)
Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, California and Green Bay, Wisconsin, October 23, 2009
Wangyee Vang, President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute, met with senior Members of the U.S. Congress and Congressional offices again today on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. He is seeking to rally support to honor and grant veterans’ benefits to Lao and Hmong veterans who served in the “U.S. Secret Army” in Laos during the Vietnam War.
"Officers from the CIA's Special Activities Division trained and led Hmong men in Laos and into Vietnam during the war. These indigenous forces numbered in the tens of thousands and they conducted direct missions against the Communist forces and their North Vietnamese supporters, fighting shoulder to shoulder with US soldiers," stated U.S. Congressman James Costa.
Congressman Costa continued: "Since the end of the conflict in Vietnam, thousands of Hmong families have resettled in many areas around the United States, and successfully integrated into American society..."
“Over the last week, and again today, I am here in Washington, D.C., to educate and provide critical information to the U.S Congress and Obama Administration about the Lao and Hmong veterans who should be honored and granted veterans benefits at the highest levels for their unique service to the United States to defend the Kingdom of Laos and Thailand during the Vietnam War,” said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI).
The LVAI and Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA) are nation’s largest Lao and Hmong veterans organization with over 52,000 members, including Laotian and Hmong veterans and their refugee families.
The Lao Hmong veterans organizations have chapters in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Rhode Island, Michigan, Oklahoma, Arkansas, South Carolina, New York, Connecticut and other states.
“Now, we cannot and we will not stop until action is taken to assist our Lao and Hmong veterans and we are appealing to key Members of Congress to help take the leadership in this noble and courageous effort to press forward. We are here again to rally support in the U.S Congress and Obama Administration regarding the serious need for veterans benefits for the Lao and Hmong veterans,” explained Colonel Wangyee Vang from the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Vang further reflected: “It is important for the U.S. Congress and Obama Administration to honor the Lao and Hmong veterans who served and suffered in the very heavy and bloody fighting as allies of the United States defending the Kingdom of Laos and the Kingdom of Thailand during the Vietnam War.”
“Colonel Wangyee Vang, and the Lao Veterans of America Institute delegation of Lao and Hmong leaders have traveled from the Central Valley of California, and across the United States, for crucial, high-level meetings on Capitol Hill and Washington, D.C., to seek to educate policymakers in the U.S. Congress and Obama Administration about the dire plight of Lao and Hmong veterans and their refugee families,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA).
“Clearly, there remains a long overdue need to honor and grant veterans burial benefits to those Lao and Hmong combat veterans who fought to assist the United States in its military and clandestine struggle in the Kingdom of Laos during the Vietnam War against invading North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao Communist guerilla forces,” observed Smith.
“The Lao Veterans of America Institute, the Lao Veterans of America, Inc., the CPPA and others in the Lao and Hmong community are seeking to develop awareness about the urgent need to grant honor and dignity to the Lao and Hmong combat veterans, especially as it relates to granting honorary burial benefits to them,” Smith said.
The Lao Veterans of America helped spearhead legislation in the House and Senate, signed into law by President Clinton in 2000, that granted honorary U.S. citizenship to thousands of Lao and Hmong veterans of the U.S. Secret Army in Laos as well as their widows.
In 1997, the Lao Veterans of America dedicated a monument in Arlington National Cemetery to the Lao and Hmong veterans and their American advisers. http://www.prnewswire.com/
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