RECOGNITION OF THE SECRET ARMY
An explanatory statement and photographs
by
D.L. "Pappy" Hicks
There were many people involved in acquiring recognition by the United States Congress of General Vang Pao, the Hmong, other Laotian minorities and the men of the Royal Lao Army, plus General Thonglith Chokenboune. Many have been left out from lack of knowledge, but we have tried to include as many as possible.
The first effective effort was formed in 1993 and the
"Washington House" was opened by the Lao/Hmong Community Group in Alexandria,
Virginia. The offices were provided by an outstanding soldier, Retired, U.S.
Army, Colonel Carl Bernard, a veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Also as a
Special Forces officer, Carl served in Laos on Operation White Star, 1961.
Chao (Prince) Ophat na Champassak, was Chairman and Kongdah Lee was Co-Chairman.
Xang Vang and Joseph R. Burriece were responsible for the every day operation of
the Washington House.
In 1995, Washington area businessman, and veteran of the Vietnam War, Grant McClure, added his organizational expertise. When we started holding our Formations, Grant made sure that the Secret Army had the areas and facilities in Washington, D.C. to gather. LTC Yangee Vang, President of the Lao Veterans of America, has always played a part in the administration and organization of all our formations.
This organized effort led up to a new player, who worked on Capitol Hill and knew many of the Congressmen and their staff, named Philip Smith. Another very important person that was allied to the Lao/Hmong was Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt. Dr. Jane, as she is known among the Secret Army, had been a reporter in the Vietnam War, and had worked in the Hmong refugee camps in Thailand. After talking to many Lao survivors of the war in Laos, both men and women, she went about writing one of the most definitive books published about the Secret War, Tragic Mountains. It been read by many members of the U.S. Congress, making them well aware of the Secret War as well as the plight of the Lao refugees.
The pictures presented here are of the Secret Army formations 1997, 1998, and 1999. Hmong women wear their tribal clan dress. There are Hmong women and Lao dancers in their national dress. The pictures of the 1997 and 1998 formations came from the Lao Veterans of America. The pictures in 1999 are from two world-wide reporters and camera people, Leigh Wilson and Chris Jackson. Chris worked with war refugees in Thailand and Cambodia, from 1979 to 1986, where she and Leigh met.
The area of the Formations were on the Mall in Washington, DC, located between the Washington Monument and the Vietnam War Memorial.
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