Minnesota Star Tribune

Remembering a 'Secret War'

May 13, 2017 at 2:49AM
Vietnam Veteran Ying Yang, 81, joined other Hmong-American Veterans for a farewell press conference, Friday, May 12, 2017 in St. Paul, MN. ] ELIZABETH FLORES ï liz.flores@startribune.com
About 60 Hmong-American veterans attended a news conference in St. Paul on Friday on the eve of their trip to Washington, D.C., to mark the 20th anniversary of the Lao Veterans of America Monument. Nao Yang Lee, above, and Ying Yang, at right, were among the veterans who discussed their leadership of and participation in the national events. Activities include Department of Defense and congressional wreath-laying and memorial ceremonies at the Laos Memorial, a granite monument and cedar tree near the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. The veterans also planned to travel to Capitol Hill and to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during their trip. They are survivors of the CIA’s Secret War in Laos, recruited to help find fallen U.S. pilots and hold back North Vietnamese troops operating in Laos. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Vietnam Veteran Nao Yang Lee, cq, stood with other Hmong veterans who gathered for a farewell press conference, Friday, May 12, 2017 in St. Paul, MN. About 60 Hmong-American Veterans discussed their plans to travel to the U.S. Congress, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Vietnam War Memorial, for Special U.S. Department of Defense and Congressional Wreathlaying and Memorial Ceremonies in Washington, D.C. They also discussed the Twin Cities' Lao and Hmong community's leadership of, and particip
Vietnam Veteran Nao Yang Lee, cq, stood with other Hmong veterans who gathered for a farewell press conference, Friday, May 12, 2017 in St. Paul, MN. About 60 Hmong-American Veterans discussed their plans to travel to the U.S. Congress, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Vietnam War Memorial, for Special U.S. Department of Defense and Congressional Wreathlaying and Memorial Ceremonies in Washington, D.C. They also discussed the Twin Cities' Lao and Hmong community's leadership of, and participation in, national events to memorialize the 20th Anniversary of the dedication of the Lao Veterans of America Monument ("Laos Memorial') in Washington, D.C., to the Lao and Hmong veterans, and their families, who served during the Vietnam War. ] ELIZABETH FLORES ï liz.flores@startribune.com (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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