Mourners honor beloved Hmong leader Gen. Vang Pao as Army denies request for Arlington burial

[azurnoir]

Thousands of sobbing mourners in military uniform and traditional Laotian dress paid their respects Friday to the late Gen. Vang Pao, a key U.S. ally in the Vietnam War and hero in the Hmong diaspora whose proposed burial at Arlington National Cemetery was denied by the Army.

A stately procession marked the opening of an elaborate, six-day funeral service in Fresno, where thousands of Hmong refugees have resettled.

Vang Pao's extended family — including his 25 surviving children — a member of the Royal Lao family in exile, and the former CIA officials who recruited him to lead a covert guerrilla army in the jungles of Laos followed his flag-draped casket through packed city streets.

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California Democratic Reps. Jim Costa and Dennis Cardoza submitted the request on behalf of Vang Pao's family shortly after his Jan. 6 death, saying the general had earned the honor of being buried alongside American soldiers.

A board of senior military and civilian officials reviewed the request and unanimously recommended that officials decline the burial waiver, Army spokesman Gary Tallman said.

http://www.startribune.com/local/115282029.html?elr=KArksUUUycaEacyU

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Pao IMO fought for America during the war and should have been allowed burial at Arlington, however the story of what has happened to the Hmong people as a result of their assistance in the Vietnam war and how America has treated them since should serve as a warning to 'brown people' everywhere don't trust the US ever

[provis99]

1. what happened to the Hmong people?

well, tens of thousands of them were permitted into the United States, where they live better lives than they ever did in Indochina. So what is the complaint exactly?

[azurnoir]

2. and tens of thousands are trapped in Laos or languish in refugee camps

The US government promised the Hmong that in return for their help they would if things went badly be one and all welcomed in to the US as hero's, that is hardly what happened, many Hmong in the US are living in poverty and sadly discriminated against, I know many of them live in my neighborhood

[Recursion]

4. Well, right but the ones who didn't get to the US...

...mostly ended up having a critical existence failure.

[Recursion]

3. "His 25 surviving children"?!

I wonder if that was through one wife? (Then again didn't RFK have like 12?)

[azurnoir]

5. at least in Laos I believe Hmong men did have more than one wife

or perhaps multiple marriages in this country, there is also the possibility that not all are his 'birth' children but more 'adopted' or fostered, something quite common in the Asian refugee community