Lt. Wang Ma Yang
SGU Veteran
Coon Rapids, MN
File No.: 27/50
March 2024

Wang Ma Yang was born in Pha Kha, Laos in 1945. In his teens, he attended school for a short time. In 1961, he was one of the first Hmong recruits to take up arms with the CIA when its agents dropped supplies and ammunition at Padong. This marked the beginning of the CIA’s paramilitary Secret War. His salary as a soldier was 400 kip per month (equivalent to less than $1 at that time). Later on, he served in Battalion 6 of Group Mobile 21. Aside from going to the battlefields, Wang Ma also attended schools in leadership and military training. In 1970, he and his company were sent to the frontline to prevent the North Vietnamese Army from advancing towards Long Cheng.  Six members of his group were killed and 29 others were wounded in this conflict. In 1975, the US abandoned the war, leaving its allies to fend for themselves. Wang Ma returned home to live as an ordinary person with his family. Several years later, the communist soldiers found out about his past being a soldier for the CIA. He feared for his life and his family’s uncertain future. In 1979, they took off to Thailand and immigrated to the US shortly afterward. ∆

*** 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. Full video and English transcription for this interview are available upon request.