Submitted by VL, Jun 8, 2007 19:36

I'm shocked and sadden by the news of Gen. Vang Pao's arrest. There was a time when this country would do anything to have such a man on its side in the struggle for freedom. You only have to go back a few decades to witness the many heroic things he did to save the lives of so many American pilots behind enemy line. For many Americans, Gen. Vang Pao may just be a name you hear on the news when he was arrested; he may simply be regarded at as a criminal who is trying to rehash a painful war that was over 30 years ago; but, for those of us who witnessed his sacrifice and heroic actions in Laos, we know that he once provided the freedom for so many of us then and, still, even today remains our source of hope. You may not realize that your friends, fathers, brothers, uncles, and husbands who had the unfortunate fate to serve in that war long ago, are standing next to you today because of what the General did for them during that time. He provided countless missions to rescue American pilots who fell behind enemy line; he was relentless in his effort to save them. He became the citizen of this country because he loves freedom, and what he has been accused to have done in violation of the US neutrality law, is driven by his desire to free his people once again from tyranny. You only have to pick up any newspapers and read the headlines on Laos' current human right records; many ethnic Hmong are being slaughtered, discrimiation rampant, and their women and children are being exploited as we speak. The US, as a defender of freedom, should not condone these types of treatments by one group of people to another just because they are of a different ethnic group. History has taught us well; we've seen them in Afghanistan and Myanmar today; we saw it in South Africa in the 80's and Rwanda in the 90's. We shouldn't just stand by and ignore it. For most of his life time - and through war and peace - the General has unselfishly dedicated his life to defend freedom and prevent discrimination, he has champoined peace and seeked better social justice for his people in both the US as well as in Laos; he has not only shed blood defending these rights when this country when it needed him, he was there shoulder to shoulder with America against tyranny. We should always remember Gen. Vang Pao was, for us, the best ally and friend we had during that horrible war in Southeas Asia; without him many of us Hmong, or Americans for that matter, wouldn't be here reading about another failed heroic attempt to save the remaining of his people from tyranny and communism.

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