i didn't feel like i had to get in on. they got it. black lives matter. historians like to divide america into eras. the revolution war era, the roaring 20s era, the 90 championship chicago bulls era, and i grew up during an era. the vietnam war movie era. every third movie was about the vietnam war because america wanted to figure out how to best frame a work. but as usually what happens with history the dominant culture goes with the perspective that serves it best.

so this week we're going to talk about the vietnam war, but we're doing it from the perspective of the hmong people. and if you don't know who they are, there's a reason for that. >> at the time america did not acknowledge the role. there was a secret war. >> but tonight the secret's out. ♪ >> the story of the hmong people is incredibly complicated and nuanced and challenges the way we typically talk about immigrants, refugees and patriots. the hmong were the people who were recruited to fight the

laotian and north vietnamese military in the cia backed secret war. and the fact it's called the secret war is the people in charge didn't want nobody talking about it. and remember this is repeat u.s. history. many of the people who fought and lived through the secret war are still alive. we're going to talk to a few of them. and their stories, culture and trauma live on through their children who we're also going to talk to. and for a one stop shop for all of this i'm head to the twin cities, minnesota, home to one of the largest hmong communities in america. and it's the hmong celebration, and this is the professor, the founding director for the center of hmong studies in st. paul. in 2000 he was appointed to serve on president clinton's advisory commission on asian-americans and pacific islanders. and that put him in the history books because it made him the

first hmong appointee in the nation's history. i have to up front admit my ignorance to the hmong culture. >> i always tell people if you buy flowers in seattle you're buying hmong flowers. they dominate 70% of the market. so we're everywhere. people just don't know. today is the hmong new year's celebration. usually back in laosit's after harvesting and there's an opportunity for people to come together, for young people to also find mates. >> oh, really. so valentine's day. a new year's celebration and also speed dating. >> absolutely speed dating. this is part of our story. >> is there like a ball toss

after -- >> food, clothes, a smattering of white people, i quickly realized this takes on much more significance for the hmong because they have to keep it going. see, the hmong have no home country to return to, so this festival is kind of a tribute to the motherland. >> they're still wearing the old traditional clothing but all the new ones are from thailand and china and laos. about 5,000 years ago there were only three kingdoms in what we call now china. there was a lot of persecution. one third of the population northern part of vietnam, narn part of laos, thailand. >> in 1983 the kingdom of la laos became a french colony. by the time the french lost their war in 1954 the laotian

hmong were split between those inside the kingdom of laos and those who sided with the communists. >> and then the americans came, right? >> eventually. eventually the americans. is there fighting here, we should probably go. >> so if you look at the vietnam war there's no coverage about the hmong because the whole war in laos was the secret war. that's why it's called the secret war of laos. it was the key to the whole war in southeast asia. then the region would fall to communism. >> and if you recall, students, this is the point of u.s. history where communism was a dirty word that made us want to fight. oh, the good old days. >> if the commist aggression there succeeded, the entire region of southeast asia would be in mortal danger. >> it prompted the cia to start recruiting the hmong in laos. the cia started with their

respecting hmong leader general pao. and why would he agree to do this you ask he saw this as an easy decision. i aligned with the u.s. because they were the most powerful country in the world at the time. the united states had won world war i and world war ii and i assumed winning the vietnam war would be no problem. >> that would violate the geneva conference, basically 54-62 to say no american troops should be in laos. >> and for over a decade the jenple's soldiers fought and held the growing vietnamese army to basically the same battle lines they've had since 1962. in doing so they kept more than 70,000 north vietnamese soldiers from joining the war.

>> we would rescue american pilots who were shot down sabotaging the supply route. and so the hmong were credited with saving over 50,000 american lives in south vietnam because we fought against the north vietnamese battalions. so my grandpa who's a colonel, he lost 30 of his men trying to rescue one american pilot. >> 30,000 to 40,000 hmong soldiers were killed during the war, and the united states began to accept defeat versus the north vietnamese. the u.s. pulled out of the war leaving thousands behind to quite literally fend for themselves because naturally the laotian government wasn't happy with what the general's soldiers had done. it vowed to hunt down all the hmong who fought with americans. and for many hmong people that

meant getting out of laos and figuring out a way to get to the united states, a country their people had died for. >> his troops and people were abandoned after 1975. they were left behind and there were only three planes that came to evacuate us. and my family was among those on those planes. only 2,000 or so families got out. the rest of them had to find their way into the refugee camps. so we lost 30,000 people during the war. another 50,000 people lost their lives trying to escape the communists after 1975 into thailand. so the united states of america created a program for many of the hmong to come to america, and from there on it's about history. >> about 5,000-year ago history. about five minutes. >> i think there's been some acknowledgement. congress passed a resolution. >> happy new year. >> happy new year.

>> so congress has passed resolutions to basically acknowledge contributions among people but i think deep down the hmong people still feel we need a country to call our own. some people have fewer than 10 million people. we could have a country. >> how is it that the hmong end up in minneapolis? >> the first hmong settled in minnesota in 1975, and it was a movement that basically told them bring more. >> and was there any experience of, you know, racism or -- >> you know, back then when we came here people were accusing of eating their dogs, eating their cats. i've been pushed down the stairs, been called all kinds of names, been spot on, told to go back home and all of that. but i don't know if that's racism or rather just lack of understanding of who we are. >> i think, yeah, it's a lack of understanding but there's different ways to have a lack of understanding.

like i don't know who you are, i should find out. rather than i don't know who you are, get him. because america we set it up in such a way whoever the downed group is gets to define who an america is. >> we want the same quality of life, we want the same opportunities you've had, so we just need to break down those barriers, break down those stereotypes. we are americans. (paul) when you get a wireless plan, wouldn't it be great to get a phone too? switch to sprint and get an unlimited plan with the samsung galaxy s10 included. for just $35 a month. it's a big deal. for people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay.com than just the business theryou came for.more ♪ whether that's getting a taste of where you are, or bringing some of that flavor back home. that's room for possibility.

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with dos equis. what is that? uh mine, why? it's just that it's... lavender. yes it is, it's for men but i like the smell of it laughs ♪ once the american military pulled out of vietnam for the united states the war was effectively over. but for the hmong a new fight

had begun, a fight to survive. the laotian government set to the task of hunting down the hmong. many hmong escaped into the jungle. from there they went to refugee camps in thailand, eventually some ended up in what would have been the most unlikely place they could have imagine minnesota. if you think i made that sound too easy, i certainly did. so i'm going to sit down and eat and eat at the hmong town marketplace in st. paul. this is the owner of the marketplace, and boy, he's got a story to tell. i'll sit down so i'll be like a regular human size. >> so we are going to be eating some hmong food. >> and there's an unbelievable amount of food here. to the mng style pulled pork with vegetables to something called egg rolls and much much more including papaya salad.

remember that for later. >> that's pig intestines. >> i know people eat chitlins. >> this is the stomach, and this is the intestines. >> a little juice came out when you squeezed it. there you go. and this is chicken? >> bird. quail, quail. when i was 7 america withdrew from south vietnam. they brew from laos, they left us behind. thousands of people were in the jungle. >> thousands. >> that was the only thing i could shoot. i eat that bird for four years. you don't waste nothing

including the bone. >> this is the bone. >> that's the bone. >> i'm going to go for it. >> chew hard. >> surviving by your wits. >> four years in the jungle we decided to escape from the jungle to thailand. we walked for 45 days. >> 45 days. >> i carried my youngest brother on my back. we poisoned my youngest brother quite a few times. >> poisoned him? >> oh, yeah. >> how? >> because in the jungle you couldn't pass through a military camp. they would shoot you. so you give them some opium and you put them to sleep. you don't kill them but put them to sleep because they may cry. if they get hungry they may cry and they hear you, they might shoot you. >> so like anesthesia, you put them under so they don't cry. >> up at the river we learned

the family how to swim, one whole day. i think it took us four hours to get to the other side. >> he's being pretty nonchallant about this. maybe because his story is not too different from many families. it was heavily guarded by soldiers who was ordered to shoot to kill any hmong crossing. many people had to leave behind dead or dying family members along the way. and for some were captured by soldiers and returned to laos. it would be unimaginable if our government wasn't doing something similar right now. >> 40,000, 50,000 people at refugee camps, a couple thousand acres, barbed wire all around the camp. sometimes we shed tears in the refugee camp. how come we are born to be hmong people? thai kids are free.

how come we hmong kids are in the camp? and then i was about 16. my girlfriend was about 15 or 14. i married her. >> wow. after seven years in the camp he and his wife and kids were settled in the united states. that same year the united states began to acknowledge what happened to the hmong people. did you feel like the people of st. paul have been very accepting? >> way back then, my gosh. >> what happened back then? >> some people told me go back to your country. >> that's not an option. >> i don't have a country. so i put myself in college. >> oh, good. >> i told them i finished high school in thailand. >> but you really hadn't graduated thai high school, right? >> no. so i got two years and ten

months later i got my bachelors degree. >> so you got a four year degree in two years and ten months? >> oh, yeah. my dream of finishing college really quick is work, get money, buy a convertible back. my gosh, they were super beautiful. and he teaches people how to buy properties at no money down. >> it's the best way to make money in real estate. >> two years later i owned a total of 45 units and i worked full time at the bank, and i wife and i fixed up properties. we were so young, in our 20s. we quickly learn to do the plumbing and painting. we never do, we just learn. >> just like how you learned to kill those birds. >> yeah. i had a dream of making hmong people stuff place to place. >> and built in 2005 it employs

over 400 hmong americans including his kids as well as his wife and her husband who helped me feel not as bad about not knowing about the hmong. >> so when we were in college she said i'm hmong, and i text my brother back home in hawaii like, hey, can you look up hmong people for me? >> but at some point he realized he wasn't as soft as his kids. >> the only way is to take them to the jungle. there's no more jungle to take them to, so i bought an airfare ticket to thailand. so the last day i said you guys are staying, i'm going home. >> what? >> we entered this school called -- university. my dad goes this is your school from now on. and all of a sudden everything

silenced and you can hear the bells going ding, ding. >> so you were enrolled in college without your knowledge? >> yep. >> what was your reaction? >> like what's happening? >> what did you think your plan was going to be? >> i thought i was going to fall out. >> i see what happened. he didn't have a plan and he was like let me step in here and create a plan for you. >> after i graduated college i came here because we're creating jobs for hmong people. we have accomplished our mission by creating a place for the hmong people together. >> and i got what i want. >> so how much sleep do you get at night? do you take naps during the day? so he's a person like he's in his chair working, is that what it is? >> i sit like that so nobody will see me. -♪ just like any other family

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and it's simple, easy, awesome. while he and his family are building a real estate empire to create more space for the hmongtuant, other members of the community are using the arts to carve out more space. remember earlier we talked about papaya salad? >> laos papaya salad is like --

it's like making out without no fondling, a lot of papaya salad is not for the casual foodie. it requires preparation. >> there's a lot more there, so make sure to go watch it online. >> you will need tolerance, lots of it. >> thank you. a hmong american and an award winning playwright. she and her friend slash collaborator are creating theater pieces and films to reexamine their history and culture. >> right here in minnesota the first hmong american theater company was created, right? we don't historically have a practice of theater in laos or thailand. and so in 1994 a bunch of college students put on a show and they liked it, and they were like let's keep doing this and

hmong theater was born. >> students are expected to achieve a lot of academic success. so i'm wondering if your families were like oh, great the arts? >> i think it was different because we were former refugees and our parents lost so much during the war we came here empty-handed. and so it was important to just exist however you can exist. >> as somebody who's worked in a lot of theaters like this and came through theaters like this to start my career, what's the goal? >> representation does matter. and i don't want to say that as ooh, a cal catchphrase, but it does. when i was growing up i thrived on pop culture, i loved it. but basically every time you saw an asian woman on the screen she was either a prostitute, she was killed, she didn't speak english. when i was 18 i was like oh, man, this sucks, i'm over it. i think it's been an opportunity

to try to livin' my own skin unapologetically. >> but also we just like talking about ourselves a lot and wanted people to come pay to see us. we think we're funny. >> i'm right there with you. do you recall how earlier we learned the hmong had a lot of conflict, for the laotian and hmong communities even years later the divide is still real. >> the thing is our communities don't often talk to each other. we have so many things in common. we have a shared history. >> we actually wrote a play. >> it makes a difference. >> so my people will click on -- >> we wanted people to come into the room together and be able to laugh at the same things and understand that and to see us an example of something that went right. >> right, right, right. i mean, honestly being the child of refugees it's been incredibly

empowering and privileged platform to have to be perfectly honest. it kind of feels good when people come up to you and say, wow, i've never seen my story reflected, thank you. >> when people say to you thank you for telling about your father being in labor camp because my father doesn't talk to me and i want to know. >> the war story is such a huge part of our narratives. it totally changed the trajectory of all of our histories. my dad has passed away now but he always had a dream of going back to die in laos, but you know people who fought in the war, they can't go. >> some continue to see the hmong as cospairators fighting for the americans. and going home to laos means risking your freedom and possibly your life. >> people died and they can't tell their story, so i feel like there's a certain sense of responsibility to make sure that

it doesn't get silenced. >> yeah. >> it doesn't get forgotten, and so we just started claiming that. >> just like sometimes people will say hmong people are nomadic, we're not nomadic. >> we're not nomadic, we were evicted. black people, we were nomadic. and i didn't have to come get you. because you didn't have another heart attack. not today. you took our conversation about your chronic coronary artery disease to heart. even with a stent procedure, your condition can get worse over time and keep you at risk of blood clots. so you added xarelto® to help keep you protected. xarelto® - a blood thinner approved by the fda - when taken with low-dose aspirin is proven to further reduce the risk of blood clots that can cause heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death in people with chronic cad. that's because while aspirin can help, a recent study showed it may not be enough to manage your underlying risk of blood clots. in a clinical trial,

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i'm not the only black person in the twin cities taking notice how the hmong do it. time for a spontaneous meeting. >> the collective ones that come here have that mind-set already. they don't have to depend on the white folks for anything. they understand without progress for one there's no progress for anybody. >> and that's the latest edition of black talk with w. kamau bell, sunday mornings on local networks before football starts. and now to a hmong meeting but this was more official because it's with city officials. congratulations everybody on your re-election or your elections, part of the hmong wave. in november 2018 a record five, that's right five is a record, state representative seats were

won by the hmong candidates. i'm at golden time coffee sitting down with the first ever hmong city council member and two newly elected reps. so i've heard a lot about this clan system. is there a different between clan politics and politics outside of the clan? >> your relationship is a little bit different and that prepares you well because everyone is diverse. >> the hmong approach to politics is informed by the system. and here in minnesota they have the hmong 18 council where each clan elects a representative who works with other representatives to solve issues in the hmong communities. >> the very first thing i learned when i told my uncle i'm going to run for office, speak to us. is your hmong good enough?

your hmong has to be perfect for us to even consider you as a candidate. i want to earn the support before i even reach out to the other 17 and so -- >> his hmong is good. >> it must be good because he won. is it a downloaded app to your phone? >> the hmong community, we're business owners, doctors, lawyers and i think where we lack right now is that reputation in nation politics. when i was first approached with the idea to run for office i said no a few times actually. you have to tell a woman seven times to run for office to convince them, right? >> you should run, you're right, i should run. >> yes, i'm proud to be the first like hmong woman to be elected into the statehouse. >> and what made you decide to run? >> to be included and be part of the conversation, i think that means a lot.

>> i think that's what pushes all of us to not just be involve in politics but be at the forefront to make our voices heard. >> and you also rep different generations sort of, right? >> yeah, i'm 28. >> 24. >> okay, i'm going to let you guess. >> 29? >> all right. >> i'm probably close to your generation, i'm like 30. >> close enough. >> if there's one thing you think people could learn from the hmong example you would like them to know what is that one thing? >> the secret war is like the root of like our identity. whether or not you fought in the war all of us have been impacted by the war in one way or another. >> as a black person in america i think it's important to have a relationship with the south. it's kind of like that's our secret war. >> yeah, i like that. >> that's where a lot of the

secrets come from and a lot of the like, we don't really know what happened before that. >> it's like the big bang. >> exactly. it's like everything before that it's important to know but it almost doesn't exist because that's where it really started, so yeah. >> my entrance into american politics is because i wanted to learn about the underground railroad. i thought it would be the longest tunnel from the south to the north. but when i looked it turned out that was about harriet tubman and the story about her people being displaced, murdered, it was the same story of the hmong people. right away i resonated with her. and those helped shape my politics. >> we tell like many folks that are like anti- about refugees no, like our grandparents they shed blood for america before they even got to america. >> and our legion is for liberty

and justice. and if we could be successful in america than any refugee of the 21st century will be very successful in america. i think we need to be open because when we were here no one really stood up for us. and it's being repeated what's happened in the middle east. like when trump says he wanted to ban muslims, and so what i did here is i passed a resolution to ban trump from coming. so far it has worked. >> good job, good job. >> but it was important because there were a lot of muslim american kids in this community. it's important we stand up for them. everyone is worthy. when i think about why i work so hard and all of us work so hard for this community, like love one another. and that is something you not only apply within our community, you love one another, but community is bigger than stuff. >> yeah. it senses your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable.

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the hmong have spent much of their history as farmers in vietnam, china, thailand and laos. i'm not trying to start a fight here but they were actually credited as among the first to

cultivate rice in asia. and once they arrived in minnesota the snow didn't slow them down at all. they revitalized the twin city market scene and make up more than 50%. >> when you meet a person who doesn't have a green thumb it's like what's wrong with you. >> since it's winter she's grabbed some canned fruit from the farm and she's going to teach me how to make some jab. >> i was told apples and bananas are your favorite. >> i like apples and bananas. i'm a big fan of those fruits, yeah. it is hmong new year, right? >> yes. >> so happy new year. >> we can also add raspberries, too. some pectin, gives you that gel effect. 2 cups of sugar. >> the same amount of sugar i put into a coffee in the

morning. where did you grow up in california? >> fresno. >> which is the other hmong land in the states. >> olive trees are among one of the hardest trees to kill? >> really? >> and i only know that because i think it was taylor swift. >> i was going to believe you until you said taylor swift and i'm going to google this later. i thought you knew because you were a farmer. growing up was there talk in your community about the secret war and what that meant? >> like the politics behind it, no. here's the thing there's a lot of ptsd undiagnosed and unspoken of. like my dad was recruited as a soldier soldier at 12. so imagine his entire teenage years he was in the jungles. my sister can remember him jerking up awake in the middle of the night and falling out of bed. and that's ptsd.

>> ptsd or post traumatic stress disorder can affect a person in a wide variety of ways after this experience or witness a number of events. the symptoms can last for a few months or over the course of a lifetime. it's estimated over 30% of vietnam war vets have dealt with ptsd. but there's a big difference between the american born vietnam veterans and the hmong who fought for america. >> the va benefits and everything, hmong people just don't get it. >> you're not a part of that system? >> no. >> that's horrible and not surprising. >> it's just recently legislator was passed hmong soldiers could be buried in military settlementitaries with the exception of the big important one, arlington. and the thing is we were such an important part of vietnam. our issue and culture is just as important. >> where do you fit into this?

>> my generation which is the one of the first generation's here it's about deciding which traditions to keep and what to put away and also what can we the still from our culture that will make america culture better? >> yeah. how's my jam doing? >> you're just about ready here. >> that's good. i like it, the undertone of the raspberry and the over tone of the apple are coming together so that the tartness of theerize ba raspberry is really coming through. >> that was some good bull [ bleep ]. >> thank you, thank you. now it makes the run my golden state warriors are on look cute. this is the johnson girls badminton team. and i promise i didn't purposely wear the same colors as them. these young women are among the top badminton players in the state. they've won nine state championships and they're going

for the tenth. even though practice looks to erupt, a couple of the players took a break from beating hell out of that birdie to talk to me. how long have you played for? >> six years. >> and what do you like about it? >> smashing. >> tell me what that is. >> when you kill the birdie, going straight down. >> smashing is like a spike in volleyball. >> yeah, like a spike in volleyball. >> are you both hmong? >> yep. >> why are there so many hmong girls on the team? >> i think it's because we're willing to work together a bit more. >> what are your hopes for like the future of your badminton. >> tenth year, going for a tenth year. >> you're going for the tenth-pete. yeah, these young ladies are for real. since i'm wearing the team

colors i might as well try out. she's going to put me through my paces. try to hit that guy. >> so you got the birdie and -- there you go. >> oh, all right. what if i find out this was my calling? >> you want to hit this way. >> so hitting over there i'm actually doing the right thing. >> yeah. >> okay, all right. okay, now that's the one that's going to air on television. maybe not the only one. is that bad? all right, last time because i'm feeling how old my age is. okay, so i didn't make the team.

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♪ i'm looking forward to this meal. >> oh, yeah. hmong food is not really about the food. it's about the community. that's what happens when people don't have a land of their own or their country of their own, we have each other. >> chef ye is the co-owner of a pop-up restaurant. his parents must have had some idea of his future because his name translates to iron skillet. >> food translates to survival. our food tells the history of our people. if you want to know our food, you eat with us and, now you're part of the family. you know? my dad is going to pray real quick. >> of course. >> i can pray in my language.

>> yeah. you first. >> you start first. >> start serving yourself. we have the rice. >> how do you eat it? >> dealer's choice. you eat it any way you want. this is the hot sauce and the peanut sauce you pour right over. >> wow. >> might be a two-plate situation. >> my mom wants you to eat everything. >> this is his mom and dad. they met in a refugee camp in thailand. and while he celebrates the food of his people, his brother honors his military history by being an army sergeant with a couple tours of duty in iraq. that's a lot to take on when your dad is an actual were hero. >> my dad wants to show you a few of his pictures real quick.

my dad uses those pictures he fought for the u.s. in order to come here. there were a lot of young farmers who didn't fight and say, hey, i can just say i was in the army. you know, and fought for the americans. >> it's way harder than your average citizenship test. >> who was the first president? >> what was the tree that george washington chopped down? >> yeah. >> he was about 12 when he joined. >> 12. >> yeah. and he was 14 when they took that photo of him. >> 14. you look like a man. >> war will do that to you. >> the irony is that is your identification to prove to others that i served in the military. if you caught with it by the enemy, you could be killed. the communists identify you as

an american. they're going to kill some americans, you know? >> 16. >> so, my mom, she lost her husband in the war. she was a widow.

when she met my dad, all of the former soldier, hey, there was a lot of sticky situations they were in. and somehow, they always got them out. that's why my mom was attracted to my dad. he cared a lot about his men. when the war was over, a lot of officers left their men behind. but my dad, he stayed and made sure all of his guys cot o s go with him. >> when we grew up, and i would bump into one of my dad's old friends, they would say, we're here in america because your dad saved us. because of that sacrifice, i have the ability to dream. for me, it's always been, like, how do we -- how do i honor their legacy. i'm not good at math. i'm not good at science. but i knew how to cook. if somehow through cooking, the foods we ended up eating, intrigues people to fall the

trail back behind to why you cook what you cook, if all that comes back to their legacy, that's what motivates me. >> and they come back to the stories. >> come back to the stories. and my dad is so proud of telling you this. he wants you to know, get this message out. you know? it's for a greater good. that's the way that my parents have embodied their life. >> get the message out. i'll do my best, mr. vang. one thing i know for sure, is this country has not done a good job of listening the story of the hmong. or learning the lessons. and these are important stories because there's a lot we can learn from them. we can learn that immigrant, refugee and patriot don't always mean what you think. americans embody all three in their own way. and we learn when the united states intervenes around the world, there's real people that get taugcaught up and real

consequen consequences. people deserve more than our bombs and our guns. they earn our respect and our help. the united states is some country repeating the same mistakes we made with the secret war, over and over again. on this episode of "united shades of america" i'm in hawaii. one of the most beautiful places on on earth. some think of hawaii as an unspoiled paradise. if you ask hawaiians, they have different opinions. yeah. i think they do. my name is w. kamau bell. as a comedian, i made a living in finding humor in the parts of america i don't understand. and now, i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a