Cherzong Vang (April 13, 1943 – November 10, 2012) was an American community leader from

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

. He was an elder of the

Hmong people The Hmong people ( RPA: , CHV: ''Hmôngz'', Nyiakeng Puachue: , Pahawh Hmong: , , zh, c=苗族蒙人) are an indigenous group in East Asia and Southeast Asia. In China, the Hmong people are classified as a sub-group of the Miao people. Th ...

in Laos and the Lao-American community in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

of the United States. Cherzong worked with students, including many Hmong-American students, in the St. Paul, Minnesota school system, whose parents came to the United States in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s as political

refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

fleeing

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

by the

Pathet Lao The Pathet Lao (), officially the Lao People's Liberation Army, was a communist political movement and political organization, organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group ultimately gained control over the entire country of ...

government in

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Life and career

Born on April 13, 1943, in

Xiangkhouang Province Xiangkhouang (Lao alphabet, Lao: wikt:ຊຽງຂວາງ, ຊຽງຂວາງ, meaning 'Horizontal City') is a province of Laos on the Xiangkhoang Plateau, in the nation's northeast. The province has the distinction of being the most heavi ...

, Cherzong Vang was one of the first Hmong educators in Laos, and the United States, and served in the U.S. "Secret Army" and

Royal Lao Army The Royal Lao Army (; – ARL), also designated by its anglicized title RLA, was the land component of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (FAR), the official military of the Kingdom of Laos during the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and the Laotian C ...

in the

Kingdom of Laos The Kingdom of Laos was the form of government in Laos from 1947 to 1975. Located in Southeast Asia at the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, it was bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, North Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the sou ...

during the Vietnam War. He eventually received a master's degree and PhD in the United States. Vang spoke Hmong, Lao, and English. Vang served as the

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Chapter President of the

Lao Veterans of America The Lao Veterans of America, Inc., describes itself as a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental, veterans organization that represents Lao- and Hmong-American veterans who served in the U.S. clandestine war in the Kingdom of Laos during the Vie ...

from 1991 until 2003. He was a veterans of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

in Laos during the

North Vietnamese invasion of Laos North Vietnam supported the Pathet Lao to fight against the Kingdom of Laos between 1958 and 1959. Control over Laos allowed for the eventual construction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail that would serve as the main supply route for enhanced NLF (t ...

. Vang died on November 10, 2012, in

Hmong Veterans Citizenship Act

Cherzong Vang, along with his brother Colonel Wangyee Vang, was one of the first Hmong advocates for the introduction of the

Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act of 2000 The Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act of 2000 is legislation which granted Hmong and ethnic Laotian veterans, who were legal refugee aliens in the US (political refugees, facing political persecution, ethnic cleansing, human rights violations or ...

which was eventually passed by the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in 2000 and signed into law by U.S. President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. The legislation granted honorary U.S. citizenship to tens of thousands of Lao- and Hmong-American veterans of the U.S. "Secret Army" in Laos. He participated in the founding of the Laos Memorial and its dedication at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

on May 14–15, 1997, in Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Virginia.

Arlington National Cemetery Veterans Memorial

Cherzong Vang's life was memorialized at a special veterans' memorial ceremony held at Arlington National Cemetery by Lao- and Hmong-American veterans, and their American advisors, in May 2013 in Arlington, Virginia.Businesswire, Businesswire.com, Washington, D.C., (12 May 2013) "Laos, Hmong Veterans of Vietnam War Honored At National Ceremonies" http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130512005048/en/Laos-Hmong-Veterans-Vietnam-War-Honored-National#.VJH8IHvIev8

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vang, Cherzong Hmong people 1943 births 2012 deaths People from Xiangkhouang province Laotian emigrants to the United States American people of Hmong descent American community activists Activists from Saint Paul, Minnesota Hmong American people from Minneapolis–Saint Paul

Life and career

Hmong Veterans Citizenship Act

Arlington National Cemetery Veterans Memorial

See also

References