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Rob's Column
A Patriot or a Criminal, you decide?
General Pao Vang
Born in 1931 in China, Pao Vang knew only one thing in life, how to fight. He fought the Japanese in Indochina in World War II at the age of 20. From there, his actions were sought by the French. The French made him an officer during the First Indochina War to combat the Viet Minh. After that war, his name was greatly known amongst the Laos people where he stayed in the Laos military army. Climbing to the ranks of a General in the Laos Army he was hailed as being the first Hmong tribe member to achieve such success. In the highlands (mountain region) of Laos and bordering countries of Vietnam are around thirty different tribes of highlands people. The Hmong tribe are of the greatest in population amongst the indigenous mountain people in this region.
If you've ever read any real good book or story about Vietnam, you've probably heard of some hint to these tribes of people in the hills having beautiful villages high amongst mountain tops. Some Vietnam Vets have often said these small villages were like a small cup of heaven amidst the hands of hell. In 1960, the Hmong tribe consisted of approximately over 300,000 people. Various other tribes like the one mentioned in this weeks troop of the week (Montegnard), all had about half the population the Hmong tribe did.
During the onset of the Vietnam War, the Geneva Conference decided that Laos was a country of neutrality. Furthermore, that meant that the United States were not at war with Laos and that none of our troops would enter that country. However, the North Vietnamese (Viet Cong) must of not have gotten the message, because they used Laos for their P.O.W. (Prisoner of War) camps, re-supply routes, and gathered troops from the Laos military.
It didn't take long for the U.S. military to realize that the Viet Cong were using the Ho Chi Minh Trail (ran from North Vietnam through Laos/Cambodia to South Vietnam) to re-supply their troops with ammunition and food. Now keep in mind, the U.S. Military weren't allowed in Laos, but knew that this was how our enemies were being supplied. To combat this, a secret war was started, with General Vang being the leader and working closely with the United States or as some would say "the company" (CIA).
General Vang and all members of all tribes of the highlands hated the Communist government, which included the North Vietnamese. Well working with the CIA, General Pao commanded an army of tribes people to help the United States fight the Communists from the north. General Vang interrupted supply shipments from the north to the south everyday in Laos. His army of the "secret war" became so efficient that the Viet Cong had a 250,000 dollar bounty for his head. General Vang didn't waiver, he would here something about a new P.O.W. camp or a Viet Cong unit had captured a American soldier and his army would rush off to go help and get our troops back to safety. Nobody really knows how many American lives General Vang saved, he saved so many. Not to take into account the lives he saved by stopping some very large shipments of ammunitions from the north. His acclaim however, will not be the American lives he saved, but how he took some of his mountainous brothers and singled handedly stopped communism (North Vietnamese) from taking over Laos and making it a Communist country.
As the United States pulled out of South Vietnam, so did any hope of General Vang completing his quest for democracy in his beloved country. Due to the communist occupation of North Vietnam taking over Laos in 1975, General Vang also had to flee his home country. General Vang and some of his people fled on helicopters to Thailand, from there, they went to reside in the United States after the Vietnam War.
General Pao Vang was arrested in California on June 4th, 2007 by over two hundred federal authorities from the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) department. According to news releases, General Vang along with nine others conspired to use 9.8 million dollars to buy firearms to overthrow the Communist country of Laos. Under U.S. law, specifically the U.S. neutrality act, which was a series of laws that date back to the 1930's which says, anyone that's a U.S. citizen cannot conspire to kill/kidnap foreign nationals or damage government buildings while the United States considers the nation at peace. This old law was enacted because of the all the dissent before World War I when most of the United States citizens thought Hitler would take control of the world.
Now General Vang is confined to a jail cell until his trial and sentencing in California. Where, if found guilty, he will be given a life sentence. Just to add to the humility of this incident, General Vang was supposed to have a school dedicated in his name in Wisconsin this summer. If that wasn't bad enough, our wonderful United States government provides the Communist government of Laos with 30 million dollars every year in foreign aid. The worst of it all is there is less than 3,000 of any members of the Hmong tribe or any tribe at the present time still living there home land of Laos.
Why you ask, why would a General, after all these years do this? Did he do it for his people (The Hmong)? Was his real quest in saving American lives just happen to include into feeding into his hunger for democracy? Most of all, is he a American Patriot or a Criminal? before you answer, you may want to know what most people don't know, how are the rest of the Hmong and other highland tribes being treated by the Communist government. Before you decide though, please look at the various videos below, some of the Hmong people in their own words.
The next videos are very graphic and in the tribes own words
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI5Svn29WgI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1xngfvVN6k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJHerGolvR0
General Pao Vang 1960
NOW DECIDE, A Patriot or a Criminal?
Please note, I have spoken to CIA and Special Forces and confirmed the Vietnam Era events to be absolutely true. And Yes, it's very reminiscent of a chapter right of Oliver North's life, but does that make him a Patriot?
Please email comments to rob@patrioticthunder.com
