NATION/WORLD

In the dusty heat of the 1980s, inside the Ubon Refugee Camp in Thailand, I grew up behind barbed wire and bamboo huts. My life was shaped by the echoes of the American Secret War and the daily struggle to survive.

Walking into the Geography and Maps Reading Room in the Library of Congress is like walking into the multiverse; you can follow city streets as they existed hundreds of years in the past, long before pavement and power lines swooped overhead.

While studying Electrical Engineering at Paris-Saclay University—one of the most prestigious institutions in France—I learned about an incredible opportunity: a 10-week internship in Laos.

This study, based on U.S. Census and American Community Survey (ACS) data from 2016–2020, highlights the economic, educational, and cultural progress made by Hmong communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and California – home to the three largest Hmong populations in the country.

The 2020 U.S. Census revealed significant demographic shifts in the Hmong American population, with the Midwestern states – particularly Minnesota and Wisconsin – surpassing traditional hubs like California in growth rates.

“100 Questions and Answers About Hmong Americans: Secret No More” was written to answer the most basic questions about Hmong people to open up avenues for deeper conversations.

They say memories start to form when a child is around two and a half years old. As a kid, I had the happiest memories of drawing on the dirt at my grandmother’s house by the Nam Khan River, picking edible flowers for dinner, playing in my family’s old CD store, and riding on a motorbike with my mom as she picked me up from pre-school.

I became connected to Legacies of War when I moved to Washington, DC after law school. The organization was a significant part of my understanding of where and how my family came to the U.S.

This past November, for the first time ever, my mother and I returned to Laos together. We had not been in Laos together since 1979. I was just over five years old when we fled Khammouane Province due to significant post war trauma.

During the U.S. bombing in Laos (1964-1973), an American educational adviser Fred Branfman and his Laotian colleague Bouangeun Luangpraseuth collected illustrations and narratives from Laotian refugees.