Laos Essays

Secret War was fought secretly in Laos. The war was fought between the Hmong people who wanted democracy, and communist Vietnamese with help from the Laos. The Hmong had a leader and an iconic figure in their society, his name is General Vang Pao, he was a general in the Royal Laos Army. The CIA approached General Vang Pao and asked for the aid of the Hmong people in the Vietnamese War to help fight communism and in return if the hmong were enthralled by the Laos, the United States would help the

the spread of communism to Laos, the United States declared an anticommunist containment. This was the first time United States declared said statement as it was a rather bold move. Southern Laos was the home to the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which the United States deemed dangerous, as it connected the South part of Laos to the Northern communist regions, and they sought to destroy it (Vang). The United States also firmly believed Laos couldn’t defend itself. They thought that Laos lacked the economic development

adapt their religion and their lives to a new environment seem particularly relevant and especially memorable. Through the passage of time, Hmong elders and shamans struggle to maintain their significance in a vastly different world than the hills of Laos while their children convert to Christianity, get married, and have children. For the Hmong shamans, religious gift and magic bonds families and communities together, a dynamic that becomes increasingly strained

Pathet Lao. After the United States withdrew from the war, thousands of Hmong were killed by the Pathet Lao or were forced to abandon their homes, lands, and livestock in Laos and fled to the refugee camps in Thailand. This resulted in the immigration of the Hmong settling in the United in the 1970’s. Hmong families have been able to adapt themselves to new changes and new environments. Through perseverance, they were able to survive when they were forced to abandon their villages in Laos to settle

“Choua”, which is my name, means wind in Hmong. Hmong, an Asian ethnicity who does not have a “land” or “home” to call. Many of us come from Laos or areas nearby like Thailand. In the Hmong culture, there are varieties of religions in the community, but two of the most common ones are animism and Christianity. There are two different perspectives of life in the Hmong community as well: American modernized and traditional. Likewise, my family is a traditional Hmong family who believes in animism.

"On the Rainy River" by Tim O'Brien is from a collection of stories published in 1990 called "The Things They Carried." All of these stories are related to the war in Vietnam and can be read as a memoir because the events are all loosely based on O'Brien's experiences. Through O'Brien's story of the Vietnam War, many themes and messages related to moral disorder and personal conflict are explored. The themes of fear and embarrassment and how they can influence your decisions are highlighted. Also

In The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Maya Lin employs rhetorical devices in order to elucidate, the gross cost of the Vietnam Conflict in U.S. lives. The minimalist design used in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial emphasizes the overwhelming amount of human lives lost.On the Wall, a small diamond is depicted next to the names of people confirmed dead, if a person is MIA(Missing in Action) they get a small cross next to their name. The cross can easily be carved into a diamond if the person is confirmed

Hidden Things They Carried In the short story, “The Things They Carried,” the author, Tim O’Brien writes about an American army platoon during the Vietnam conflict that is led by Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Lieutenant Cross is very much in love with Martha at the beginning of the story and she sends him letters signed “Love,” but he realizes he needs to focus on the task at hand rather than daydream about her. O’Brien uses this short story to efficiently demonstrate three major points in the Vietnam

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a collection of fictional stories in and about the Vietnam War. O’Brien is a Vietnam veteran and wrote this book after his time serving in the military. He uses his understanding of the traumatic experiences that happen in war and how they stick with people in order to paint realistic depictions of soldiers in Vietnam. These stories are all written from different viewpoints with different narrators, and when read consecutively show how narrators affect the

Why I chose the book: I chose to read The Book Thief because of its setting in the Second World War. The events which occurred during this period, with specific reference to the holocaust, interest me. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a Novel by John Boyne is what sparked this interest. The expressive writing technique of the novel provokes the utmost emotion within the reader. For this reason I enjoy reading literature which makes reference to historical events which have been considered to have

more kids’ families have, the more help and money they receive. Being uneducated from a land of oppression, my parents knew no better. They came to America and had five children within less than five years. My two oldest siblings, born and raised in Laos and Thailand were already toddlers and school-age children. Upon arrival, they obtain proper education and assimilated with the American society. However, my mother having five small children, couldn’t attend school or receive any education and instead

Hidden somewhere within the blurred lines of fiction and reality, lies a great war story trapped in the mind of a veteran. On a day to day basis, most are not willing to murder someone, but in the Vietnam War, America’s youth population was forced to after being pulled in by the draft. Author Tim O’Brien expertly blends the lines between fiction, reality, and their effects on psychological viewpoints in the series of short stories embedded within his novel, The Things They Carried. He forces the

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, is about American soldiers in Vietnam war. In this novel, narrator tells his own story, and his own experience in war, how this war changes him and other soldiers and how unfair it is for a young ,educated person, to go to the war which has no purpose. In this novel, narrator manages to write down a story which makes him feel embarrassed, and story that he has never told to anyone. He mentions that, everyone believes that in moral emergency they will all behave

With all of the problems in our society, war is the most talked about dilemma in our messed up world. War could be both good and bad depending on a person’s view about it. War has some good objectives like erasing injustice and ending tyranny. If you think about it, there are also negative objectives, like how brutal war can be, or all of the innocent lives that are lost. In the book, My Brother Sam is Dead it explains how it may be like during the Revolutionary War, threw the eyes of a boy named

Emotional baggage is something 43% of adult people struggle with in their lifetime, according to a study done by Dr. Jonathan Maythorn, author of Life Leader. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, in Tim O’Brien’s short story, The Things They Carried, is no exception. Suffering from emotional baggage, regarding his past, on the battlefield is hindering his ability to function correctly, as one man should in a war. In other words, setting and symbolism in this short story shows that when the past is brought into

O’Briens novel The Things They Carried is a unique text because each chapter tells an individual story. The work also becomes misleading because the chapters are told from different viewpoints. Rather than O’Brien using a traditional flow of chronological order, he tells the stories of his comrades to appeal to the reader at different times in the book. The reader can also begin to question O'Brien's reliability and truthfulness because of his uncommon style. The purpose is O’Briens way to cope

“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

English intertwine with slang, one is already bilingual. As for myself, you can say I, myself is trilingual—from Hmong, English, to the slang. However, my roots convey a different story. Have you heard of my story? Have you heard about the Secret War in Laos? Have you heard of General Vang Pao? Known as a time of grievance, a time of suffering for my people, the Hmong community. Our history conveys the struggles we have faced in times of history that was

The Function of the Narrator in Slaughterhouse 5 A narrator is an essential element in every narrative, taking on the responsibility of telling the story. This central role is in the control the narrator has over the story, in terms of perspective and pace, as well as the sequence in which events are related to the reader. In the limitations imposed by the view presented to the reader, the narrator is able to address the issues and concerns of the novel. In Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5, the narrator

The story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O'Brien is about First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross in the Vietnam War, struggling to balance his love for a young girl named Martha and his duties as the Lieutenant. Throughout the story his love becomes an obsession which he cannot control. In the story the narrator keeps naming everything the soldiers carried(tangible and intangible) and tells the reader how much they weighed. By the end of the story we, as readers, realize that the soldiers are carrying all