1st Lt. Chong Neng Lor
SGU Veteran
St. Paul, MN
File No.: 25/50
August 2024

As a child, Chong Neng Lor never had an opportunity to attend school, and instead spent the years helping his parents with farming. By his late teens, he was recruited into the CIA’s secret army. He was stationed with Group Mobile 23. From 1968 to 1972, Lor was deployed to defend, slow down, and stall the North Vietnamese Army from advancing to sabotage the CIA-operated airbase Long Cheng and Vientiane, the capital of Laos. On many of these combat missions, he was a platoon commander. Some of his soldiers were as young as 12. By 1973, the signed peace agreement had decreased fighting throughout the country with many soldiers returning to their civilian lives. In May 1975, the US withdrew from Laos, ending the Secret War. Then Lor along with a handful of his comrades were captured by NVA and Pathet Lor forces. They were sent to re-education camps and performed hard labor. While working in the field, Lor and a friend dashed into the deep forest. The two escaped. Lor reunited with his family in the jungle. By 1983, they attempted their last chance to survive by crossing the Mekong River onto the Thai side. They stayed in Thailand for two decades as refugees. In 2004, they were among the last wave of Hmong refugees to come to the US. ∆

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