HMONG

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000100320003-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 18, 2007
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: August 22, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/05/21: CIA-RDP88-01070R000100320003-7
RADIO TV REPORTS, INC.
4701 WILLARD AVENUE, CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND 20815 656-4068
NBC Nightly News STATION WRC-TV
NBC Network
DATE August 22, 1982 6:30 P.M. CITY Washington, D.C.
Hmong
BOB KUR: Among the refugees from Southeast Asia to
settle in the United States are the Hmong. They fought for the
U.S. in Laos, paying a heavy price. But that has been nearly
forgotten now, as the Hmong struggle to adapt to a new culture in
a U.S. that has become increasingly resentful of its new
immigrants.
Mike Moss reports.
MIKE MOSS: These people are the Hmong from the
mountains of Laos. The soil they work is in Rhode Island now.
Hmong means free people, and for centuries they were farmers in
Laos. In the 1960s and '70s, they were our secret allies. The
CIA in Laos provided weapons and used the Hmong to destroy North
Vietnamese supply lines and rescue American pilots downed in the
rough terrain. Thousands of Hmong died. They had the highest
casualty rate of the war. Many who survived were forced to flee
because they backed the wrong side.
Nu Van Yong (?) was in the army for 13 years. He was a
farmer and a village chief. Here, with his wife and eight
children, he can't find a job. Nu Van Yong is homesick. But
this garden that 270 Hmong families share makes him remember the
good things about his homeland.
A park in downtown Providence. The Hmong clean it up,
part of a workfare program in which they exchange their labor for
federal aid. They receive some form of help for up to three
years to get them on their feet.
From the mountains of Laos to a modern industrial
society is a difficult leap. Most of the Hmong have few skills
Approved For Release 2007/05/21: CIA-RDP88-01070R000100320003-7
 Approved For Release 2007/05/21: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000100320003-7
for the 20th Century and have trouble speaking English. In
Providence, many companies have laid off workers and unemployment
is more than 10 percent. Laid off twice already, with a
three-generation family of nine to support, 23-year-old Paul Mua
says he is desperate.
PAUL MUA: What can I do? I don't know what to do. I
think about have a job all the time.
MOSS: There are success stories, people who arrived
before the recession. Some, like Pao Jang (?), have jobs making
components at Cable Electric, where 86 out of 300 workers are
from Indochina.
MAN: They're high in production, good quality. They're
here every day and they're willing to work.
MOSS: Most of the Hmong live in the same Providence
neighborhood in old rundown buildings clustered in large,
closely-knit families. They get letters from relatives still in
refugee camps in Thailand who are eager to join their families
here. This influx worries the Rhode Island refugee coordinator.
MAN: In the city of Providence, for
example,
one
in
26
people is a refugee. In the Providence school
eight. And we just cannot continue to accept
system,
refugees
one
and
in
do
a
good job.
[Clip of classroom activities]
MOSS: The first step is to learn English. To help
those who cannot write their own language, the Hmong run their
own school. Hmong leader Teng Yong (?) says his people must
learn the new ways, but maintain their traditions. So the girls
in his family still learn how to embroider, a traditional
artform, and to dance.
The family is still the center of life. For dinner, the
Yong family eat the vegetables from their garden.
For the young, it is easier to adjust to American ways.
And the doll that this child carries, imitating her mother, has
yellow hair.
The Hmong from the mountains of Laos face an uphill
struggle in their new country. In the midst of hard economic
times and policy changes, many refugees may be cut off from aid
before they can support themselves.
Approved For Release 2007/05/21: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000100320003-7