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Time To Honor — And Care For — Those Who Served Our Country In Laos

Time To Honor — And Care For — Those Who Served Our Country In Laos

The secrets of war take decades for former soldiers to admit, if ever.

Governments are equally adept at hiding such truths. President Obama’s historic stop in Laos was a brief exercise of stepping toward the light, accepting more responsibility for the devastation of the Vietnam War.

Obama was the first sitting U.S. president to visit Laos. He admitted the extent of U.S. bombing there between 1964 and 1973. Two million tons of bombs were dropped, making Laos the most heavily bombed nation in the world’s history, per capita.

“Bombs fell like rain,” Obama said, quoting a Laotian memory of that era.

Millions of unexploded cluster bombs are still in the soil, maiming and killing Laotians who strike them while working in fields and by children as they play. Obama doubled current funding, promising $90 million to be spent over the next three years to rid the country of these weapons of war, along with other educational initiatives.

The announcements — lauded by many Hmong and Laotian Americans — will help rectify the on-going deadly consequences of a war ended long ago. It’s an important step, one of humanitarian importance that will surely save life and limb.

But there is more to be done, and it needs to happen within the U.S.

Hmong and Laotian Americans deserve recognition both stated and tangible.

The story of the Hmong people of Laos, how they aligned with U.S. troops during the Vietnam War, is largely unknown to the American public, a fact that Obama referenced in his remarks.

Their involvement was secret. The Hmong were recruited by the CIA, who understood that their help would be vital in the fight against the communist forces of North Vietnam.

The Hmong and Laotian fighters formed secret guerilla units.

They saved downed American pilots from wrecked planes and delivered them safely back to our forces. They blocked Vietcong supply routes along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and guarded clandestine U.S. posts.

Thousands of soldiers within this secret army died during their service, which lasted 15 years.

After the war ended in 1975, some of the Hmong and Laotians were brought to the U.S. and resettled as refugees. But many were not, and they later were captured and forced into re-education camps. Some fled to the jungles of Thailand.

Basically, they were abandoned.

And despite their valiant military service, Hmong and Laotian Americans haven’t been spared from anti-immigrant bias, from bigots who callously and ignorantly brand them as unwilling to assimilate, backward culturally and, most harmfully, disloyal to the U.S.

The Hmong and Laotians are largely unknown outside of the communities where they have settled, primarily in California, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kansas.

And because their role in the war was a secret from the beginning, even those who made it to the U.S. suffered emotionally from their service being unacknowledged for so many years.

So, first, we need to make the public more aware of their service to our country. Second, we need to grant the former fighters among them the dignity of burial alongside American military personnel in national cemeteries. And, finally, we need to give the aging Hmong and Laotians, now U.S. citizens by naturalization, the medical help they need by granting those who served the U.S. the veterans’ benefits they deserve.

Since 2010, Rep. Jim Costa of California has been among those trying to get Congress to allow the burial of the former members of the secret units in military cemeteries. He hasn’t met much success, despite gaining more cosigners to the effort.

Securing veterans’ benefits faces a more uncertain route, as it could open the door to similar demands for guerrilla forces that aided the U.S. military in other efforts, such as in Central America. That would include alliances that some in government would like pretend never happened — one of the reasons truth about war tends to be suppressed.

One favorable factor is that many of the former Hmong and Laotian fighters are now U.S. citizens. But the approximately 6,000 of them still living are aging. Time is of the essence.

In late September, one of the few public monuments commemorating their role in the Vietnam War will be unveiled in Wisconsin, outside the Marathon County Courthouse. The statue depicts two Hmong-Lao soldiers flanking an American pilot.

The figures stand side by side, together in memorial as they were in combat.

(Mary Sanchez is an opinion-page columnist for The Kansas City Star. Readers may write to her at: Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. 64108-1413, or via e-mail at msanchez@kcstar.com.)

(c) 2016, THE KANSAS CITY STAR. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC

Photo: (L to R) Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chano-cha, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, U.S President Barack Obama, Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Philippines Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak pose for photo during ASEAN-U.S. Summit in Vientiane, Laos September 8, 2016. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

5 Exotic Places You Can Visit For $10 A Day Or Less

5 Exotic Places You Can Visit For $10 A Day Or Less

Paul Sisolak, GOBankingRates.com (TNS)

When you combine all of the expenses that go into travel, like airfare, hotels, food, sightseeing and more, the idea of picking up and exploring different corners of the world can seem too expensive for the budget-conscious adventurer. The good news is that some of the most exotic and unique international locations can sometimes be the most affordable.

Off the beaten tourist path, visitors can immerse themselves in new destinations without spending a fortune. Before planning your next global trek, read on to find out how these travelers saved money while vacationing around the world on mere dollars per day.

CAMBODIA
Visiting this Southeast Asian gem is so cost-effective that it must be experienced to be believed. “Cambodia is the land of $2 dorm beds, 50-cent beers and cheap food,” according to HostelBookers. Even after factoring in costs like admission to Angkor Wat, you’d be hard-pressed to spend more than $20 a day here, according to the travel site.

When traveler Wes Rogers took a tour of Cambodia, a $5-per-night rate afforded him guesthouse accommodations with amenities comparable to a high-end hotel. But it was dining where he saved the most money. “With food carts and noodle/curry houses abounding, eating great food cheap was the easiest part,” he said.

“I concluded it was cheaper to eat out in Asia than to cook at home — by far,” said Rogers. “For simplicity’s sake, I’d say I’d spend $1 per meal, sometimes $2 for dinner. At the end of the day, you’d have a couple bucks left for a few beers,” he said. “Not a bad life for $10 a day in some fantastic, exotic locations.”

LAOS
Laos is another Southeast Asian locale where lodging can be found for under $10 and food and drink for only a dollar or two, according to HostelBookers. “Laos is where you get the most bang for your buck,” said Alex Gordon, a realtor from Oregon who traveled to Laos. “When you get to a new town, find out where other backpackers may stay — or where a local would recommend to a backpacker — and hoof it around the area,” he said. “You’re going to find some awesome guesthouses for dirt cheap and likely more friendly (than hotels).”

For food and beverage, eat and drink as the locals do, Gordon suggested. “Eat where you see the locals eating,” Gordon said. “These are poor countries, so you won’t find some Thai scarfing down pizza. Rice and chicken can be found cheap if you find the right spot.”

JAMAICA
“Buying locally can stretch your budget,” said Keisha Blair, who traveled cheaply in premium-priced, tropical Jamaica during a sabbatical. “I found that when I purchased imported foods, my food bill was astronomical. Five dollars to $10 per day is doable.”

Blair recommended travelers cook their own food. The easiest way is to simply lodge where the food is. “Choose to stay in a location where you can shop at the local market for fresh fruits and vegetables to prepare at home,” she said. “Local fruits and vegetables that are in season are extremely cheap.” Blair also noted that selecting affordable transportation and rooming with family or friends are key to living the island life on a tight budget.

CHINA
The Chinese countryside is a beautiful destination with many opportunities for savings, according to Thrillist, such as rooms for less than $20 a day, food for $2 to $5 per meal and local city transportation for less than a dollar.

Brett War managed to rent an apartment in Shenzhen for less than $5 per day and recommended staying away from developing cities like Shanghai or Hong Kong if your budget is limited. Instead, opt for places like Lijiang, Dali, Kunming, Guilin and Sichuan. Maximize your savings by rooming in hostels, not hotels, by booking cheaper flight plans through Chinese, not American, travel sites, and by avoiding vacations during Chinese holidays.

Unlike in the West, everything is negotiable in China, according to War. “When buying souvenirs, barter down to half the price,” he said. “In China, no price is fixed, and if they don’t accept your recommended price, walk away. They will usually stop you and accept your proposal.”

FIJI
Fiji is a South Pacific country of more than 300 islands with a reputation for seeming expensive, according to Thrillist. The site recommends skipping the $1,000-a-night resorts for dorm rooms, hostels or all-inclusive guesthouses that go for $25 a night instead.

Beaches are free, traveling the island is cheap and you can find beautiful, low-cost sites to enjoy, such as the Taveuni waterfalls or the Nadi open-air souvenir market.

Paul Sisolak writes for GOBankingRates.com (http://www.gobankingrates.com), a leading portal for personal finance news and features, offering visitors the latest information on everything from interest rates to strategies on saving money, managing a budget and getting out of debt.

Photo: Laos is dirt cheap, and is one of the best bangs for your buck if you’re looking to visit Southeast Asia. (Khánh Hmoong via Flickr)

Attackers In China Had Sought To Leave Country, Says Party Chief

Attackers In China Had Sought To Leave Country, Says Party Chief

By Julie Makinen, Los Angeles Times

BEIJING — The eight knife-wielding attackers who went on a deadly rampage in a southwestern China train station had tried to leave the country several times but were unable to and then decided to “carry out ‘jihad’” in the city of Kunming, the Communist Party chief in Yunnan province said.

Four of the assailants — three men and a woman — were shot to death by police at the scene of Saturday’s attack at the Kunming train station that left 29 other people dead, and another female suspect was wounded and detained. On Monday, officials announced that the three remaining suspects, all men, had been captured.

Yunnan Party Chief Qin Rongguang, attending a political conference in Beijing, said the three suspects detained after the mass knifing were apprehended in Honghe, a district about 160 miles southeast of Kunming, capital of Yunnan. They apparently had spent some time in Honghe, traveling to Guangdong province — which borders Hong Kong — and then returning to Yunnan.

“Their plan in Honghe was if they couldn’t leave … they would carry out ‘jihad’ in the train station or the bus station in Kunming,” he told China National Radio on Tuesday. “We’re tracking the people who had contacts with those eight.”

Authorities have described the attackers as separatists from the northwestern province of Xinjiang, which has a large population of Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority. It was unclear from Qin’s comments where the suspects were from originally and why they were unable to leave China, though many Uighurs complain they have trouble obtaining passports and other travel documents.

Qin conceded that security in Kunming had serious flaws, saying the railway police officers who are charged with protecting the station and the square in front of it where the assailants freely entered didn’t have weapons and were understaffed. They belong to an independent unit separate from the city’s police force, he added.

“We didn’t have enough knowledge or awareness on anti-terror work,” he said. “We didn’t expect this before. And we also had some problems with our information collection.”

A SWAT team was dispatched to the scene and arrived 10 minutes after the attack began, state-run CCTV reported. One member of the squad, who was armed with an automatic rifle, shot five of the attackers, killing four of them.

“I didn’t have time to think. I fired at them as fast as I could. It took me about 15 seconds,” the officer told state-run China Daily newspaper, which did not give his name.

Qin’s comments come on the heels of a report by Radio Free Asia, quoting an unnamed Uighur in Kunming as saying the eight had come to Yunnan last year following a police crackdown in the Xinjiang province of Hotan. They may have been seeking to cross into neighboring Laos but abandoned their plans after other Uighurs were caught on the border last year, another Uighur in Kunming told RFA on condition of anonymity.

Pictures of the four assailants slain at the scene as well as the captured female suspect began circulating online Tuesday. The young, attractive face of the detained woman surprised many people.

“Her face was full of innocence,” opined one person under the name Jiaozuo Taizi. “But there’s desperation and fear coming out of her eyes.”

Said another: “What a pitiful and innocent expression she has! She must have been brainwashed. She’s not even 18 years old I think. Please do not sentence her to death. Give her good education and it would be really precious if we can change this beauty’s mind!”

The World Uyghur Congress, based in Germany, released a statement expressing condolences to the victims and saying it “unequivocally condemns” the violence in Kunming. The group’s president, Rebiya Kadeer, also urged the government to ensure that Uighurs do not face “indiscriminate reprisals.”

Many Uighurs complain that they are excluded from job opportunities in favor of Han Chinese and that government policies restrict their ethnic and religious practices.

“Peaceful dissent against repressive government policies targeting Uighurs is legitimate, so the Chinese government must not conflate this constructive criticism with the events” on Saturday, Kadeer added. “It is absolutely vital the Chinese government deal with the longstanding and deteriorating human rights issues facing Uighurs if tensions are to be reduced.”

AFP Photo/ Mark Ralston