Major Wang Meng Lee
SGU Veteran
File No.: 01/50
St. Paul, MN
Feb. 2024

Wang Meng Lee was born in Sam Neua Province, Laos in 1944. In 1952, communist North Vietnamese (NVA) attacked their village, forcing them to move to Phou Pha Thi. In 1962, they heard that the US was arming Hmong soldiers at Pha Khao village to resist the NVA and Pathet Lao forces. Lee and his brothers went there to join the CIA-sponsored secret army, the Special Guerrilla Units (SGU), and receive arms and combat training. They returned to defend their villages. Later on, SGU troops in their province were formed into the Group Mobile (GM) 26. During the war, Lee was educated and trained in radio operation, leadership, military politics, and guerilla warfare. In 1968, the NVA besieged and destroyed US Air Force reconnaissance radar at Phou Pha Thi. The enemy was also determined to annihilate the SGU forces. Lee’s entire village fled west to the friendly forces at Sam Thong and Long Cheng areas. When he returned to the frontline as battalion commander for another fight, there were as many as 10,000 NVA against his 1,000 SGU soldiers. On May 14, 1975 Lee and several of his family members were part of the groups that were airlifted out of Long Cheng as Laos fell into communist domination. They stayed in a refugee camp in Thailand for several years. In 1978, they immigrated to the US where Lee worked and volunteered to help the community. ∆

*** Video has been edited and modified, which the correspondence from the video may different from the transcription. Please review the transcription as needed to reflect video flow. English transcription is available upon request.