who are the hmong people why was the vietnam war called the secret war

But despite the Hmong rebels' alliance with the CIA, the American government has made little effort to extract them from the jungle.īill Lair, the legendary CIA agent who co-ordinated the operation to build an anti-Communist resistance army out of poorly educated jungle tribespeople, defended the Agency's actions. The fantasty that America will one day come and liberate them has motivated the veterans and their families to struggle on through for the last 30 years. Bitter at their betrayal, the Laos government persecuted those who had fought alongside the Americans, forcing the Hmong to retreat deep inside the jungle. When the Americans left, they took a handful of Hmong fighters with them, leaving more than 10,000 of their allies behind to fend for themselves. More than 30 years ago, when the Vietnam War finished and the CIA pulled their agents out, Cher Fer was a young man. 'US and world leaders please come and rescue us and stop the Laos government persecuting us for being the CIA's foot-soldiers during the secret war,' he says. CIA veteran Cho Her lies face down in the dirt, praying for the rescue of his people.

Old women shake with emotion as they speak of the horrors they have witnessed, while young children weep at their first sighting of an outsider. The whole community falls on the ground crying hysterically and begging for help. Days and nights of trekking, some of it straight up mountains to avoid enemy patrols brings us eventually to the entrance of their camp.

Who are the hmong people why was the vietnam war called the secret war