Did the Vietnamese know that you were a former soldier for General Vang Pao?
They knew that every one of us men were soldiers, but since we weren’t captured during the war, they couldn’t prove it. What happened if they had proof that you were a soldier? If they had proof, then I would have to go to the ‘re-education’ camps. Most who went to get ‘re-educated’ were higher-ranking officials. Anyone who was a Captain or above was taken to the camps. Those who went there never came back. Were they all killed? The Vietnamese would make them work until they died. Those who were below the official rank of Captain were allowed to come back if they followed orders. (22:49) How did you and your family escape from the Vietnamese? When we were still performing forced labor for the Vietnamese, I owned a lot of farm land on that hill. I didn’t know that the Vietnamese were going to build a fort there. Prior to burning that area to make it suitable for farming, we asked the Vietnamese commander of the fort for permission first. They had an 82mm mortar and 12.7mm heavy machineg
