During the Vietnam War, another war broke out known as the Laotian Civil War. An organization and communist political movement called “Pathet Lao” from North Vietnam was trying to overthrow the Royal Lao Government. While this was happening the CIA recruited the Hmong led by general Vang Pao, (who were an ancient hill-tribe from the mountains of Laos) as a secret alliance, to help aid the Royal Lao Government. (Batson, 1991, “Birth of Pathet Lao” Para. 16) The United States and Hmongs involvement in this are now what is known as the Secret War, for it was kept a secret by the United States government. Eventually, the Royal Lao Government was taken over by Pathet Lao. The Secret War ended the same war as the Vietnamese War in 1975 but the continuation
In A Viet Cong Memoir, we receive excellent first hands accounts of events that unfolded in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from the author of this autobiography: Truong Nhu Tang. Truong was Vietnamese at heart, growing up in Saigon, but he studied in Paris for a time where he met and learned from the future leader Ho Chi Minh. Truong was able to learn from Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary ideas and gain a great political perspective of the conflicts arising in Vietnam during the war. His autobiography shows the readers the perspective of the average Vietnamese citizen (especially those involved with the NLF) and the attitudes towards war with the United States. In the book, Truong exclaims that although many people may say the Americans never lost on the battlefield in Vietnam — it is irrelevant. In order to understand this mindset, we have to understand how the NLF
It was 1965 and the first U.S. troops were landing in South Vietnam, there were 3,500 U.S. Marines added to the already 25,000 advisers in the country. This war would define how we view life for decades and generations. Most people thought it was a mistaken war with no purpose other than to stop the flow of communism in Asia and the fear of others would follow, and add to the strength of the Soviet Union during the height of the cold war. Some people turned the war into a racist battle ground to justify the uprising and protest against the war. The troops were poorly armed and on average fought 240 days a year when compared to WW2 with only 40 days a year for infantrymen. One out of ten people in Vietnam was a casualty which leads to the 58,000 dead and rising in Vietnam. The 21 first century was defined by this war, which resulted into the carelessness in our defense of our country. We were pulling out of countries and some of them were retaliating and painted a target on the U.S.”s back. Our generation would not be the same without this defining war of a new age.
Introduction The Hmong people have a long history of searching for a homeland. They are among the oldest societies in Asia, yet very few know about them. As they have an oral culture, it is hard to determine certain aspects of their history, like their origin. However, comparing their religious viewpoints to others, they seemed to have originated from Chaldea, a region located near present-day Iraq.
“I thought the Vietnam war was an utter, unmitigated disaster, so it was very hard for me to say anything good about it” - George McGovern. There are numerous controversial topics dispersed among the subject of American history due to the amount of unethical decisions that have been made in order to improve the lives of the people or keep America out of the clutches of war. Throughout American history, historians have debated the ethical impact that the Vietnam war had on the United States. Although some people may believe that the Vietnam War achieved the goal of avoiding communism and protecting the people, the overarching idea is that it was an unjust war because of the countless lives that were lost from the participating countries, the
Some were from other tribes of Southern Sudan, where hundreds of villages were burned, livestock stolen, and families were wiped out. Fleeing the violence of Sudan’s conflict, these children experienced insane horror and hardship. Evaluation: I would use this site as a starting point. The
Retracing back to my ethnic history, Hmong people was a minority group that originally originated in China and slowly spread to Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, United States, Australia, and France. It was never identified if the Hmong people had their own country or if they were part of the Chinese lineage whom had become a minority group of their own with its own language and culture. It is found that, the Hmong cultural last names consist of 18 different last names and were very similar to the Chinese last names. As to that there are still Hmong people who live in China mainland. For this reason, it had been a belief that the Hmong cultural did exist from China and had ancestors who were monarchs. It is found that, the Hmong cultural did not become known until when Vietnam War broke out during World War II. The Hmong cultural became known when they took part of helping the US troops against Vietnam when Ho Chi Minh was in power. In the same way, Hmong cultural was also known for their tragic survival stories and stories of crossing the famous Mekong River between Laos and Thailand.
The following voice project will discuss second generation Vietnamese Americans struggling with cultural expectations. In this assignment of exploration of literature, I will be discussing Karin Aguilar-San Juan book Little Saigons: Staying Vietnamese in America. Little Saigons: Staying Vietnamese in America, is a book exploring place-making and identity in Vietnamese American communities. Throughout the chapters the author had a clear argument. She stated that retaining one’s identity in an American immigrant community requires more than simply passing down cultural traditions between generations or remembering the past by retaining one’s language. She suggests that in order to retain their Vietnamese identity, Vietnamese Americans use elements of the physical domain as well as social relationships to reflect and preserve their Vietnamese histories.
Ethnomedicine has been historically defined as any healthcare system not present in the West; now, ethnomedicine is defined as the any cultural beliefs which surround healing in a community. The Hmong—an ethnic group located within present day Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand—have a particular system of ethnomedicine which is described as personalistic. Within a personalistic system, an active agent is the underlying cause of a disease—or etiology. Humans can be the cause of the disease as well as a number of non-human and supernatural agents. When Lia Lee began seizing at three months of age, her parents understood that the active agent which caused her epilepsy was a door slamming which caused her soul to fly from her body, an illness called quag
The same applies to the children of Sierra Leone, where they were separated from their families—however, these children will never end up finding their families, they will never have a happy life again, and will never remember how it felt to be loved or cared for by someone. The 1991 Sierra Leonean civil war split children from their families and forced them to survive on their own—without any supervision. Many children were either captured by the rebels or were forced to join the military and fight the rebels. Nearly all “strong” children forced to endure many painful situations and commit immoral acts. All children who were not recruited were killed because they were too “weak”.
On November 1st, 1955, a country divided into two, North and South Vietnam will soon have a war known to many countries around the world. The Vietnam War, or the Second Indochina War occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. At the time, Vietnam had a dispute on what the country should be, Communistic or Republic, which had led war breaking out. North as the Viet Cong group while the Republic Of Vietnam group was South; eventually unexpected events started to unfold, leading towards the end of the war. To this very day, The Vietnam War has changed the ways how many civilians live their lives, especially my family.
This case is about the not knowing the knowledge of the cultural norms practiced. A traditional method of healing, in the Hmong culture, also known as Cao Gio, or "coining. There is another type of healings also used such as “cupping” oil is applied to the area of interest, then a small glass cups are placed; adheres suction to the cup, light is projected onto the cups for about 10-15 minutes. Once removed they leave a symmetrical bruise on the area of interest. The purpose of this technique is to bring the blood flow to the area to help it heal. Yes, I can understand that the bruises that are left behind do look like that the individual was abused. With this being a treatment of medicine in the Hmong culture this should be dismissed as abusive, this method is not abusive at all and while the coining is administered to heal the child. If someone does report this type of case to child protective services, is doing their job as a mandated reporter, but before starting this step, they should first question the parent more about their culture of healing and check in to the procedure of coining before making any judgment calls. I think that as social workers we should be aware and respect the different cultures that we will be in contact and work together. with. I suggest including on the intake forms there
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman, tells the story of struggles suffered by a Hmong family, the Lees’, and what they had to endure when relocated from their origins of Laos to America. The Lee’s and Hmong in general are special when it comes to acculturation because they did not have an option to leave their country they were refugees. While fighting the Vietnam War the CIA recruited Hmong to get a leg up on the communist forces. After the United States pulled out from being a part of this war, around 150,000 Hmong families had to flee their homes to escape the Vietnam government. Forced to relocate in America, a place most never wanted to come in the first place. The good majority of Americans had no idea of the Hmongs’
When people hear about elderly individuals most will assume that they are wise, filled with endless amounts of wisdom, and have stories to pass down. Well, if an individual is an elderly Hmong male, then this is accurate. It has been said “Within the family, the eldest man would traditionally hold the utmost power and control and would possess final say regarding all family decisions” (Tatman 2004). Also, the elder adults are typically seen as clan leaders. Clan leaders make many decisions and approve of any major decisions (Cobb 2010). The elderly within the Hmong culture are highly respected and known for their vast amounts of wisdom. Typically, when problems arise within the clan, the elder male is the one who resolves the conflict. The
Being a Hmong woman living in America, my parents always expected high academic achievements from me. I appreciate my culture because the expectations I receive makes me the person I am . Growing up my parents taught me well and taught me to be a proper Hmong woman in life. However, the twenty-first generation is different now, our thoughts on what we want and what we need are very different from what are parents want and need. When I was a kid, education was important, my parents taught me that if I did not study hard and do well, I would be living the life my parents were. Being a young child and experiencing hard life struggles made me an independent woman. I grew up not having what most American children had, therefore, I appreciated