Lt. Youa Ge Vang
SGU Veteran
Columbia Heights, MN
File No.: 31/50
June 2024

Youa Ge Vang was born in 1955 in Phou Ba, Laos. His father passed away in 1967 and he struggled as a teenager. He attended school in the village of Nam Tao, but it was taken over by the communist North Vietnamese Army (NVA). He and his family relocated to regions that were defended by friendly forces. In 1970, he left for Long Cheng military base and entered the CIA-backed Special Guerrilla Units. His battalion was in charge of protecting the base on the outskirts. From 1971 to 1972, the NVA was mounting pressure on Long Cheng. US bomber planes were directed to drop B-52 on enemy targets. The enemy suffered some casualties, and those who survived retreated.  Youa Ge’s last assignment was to defend the Sala Phou Khoun base to prevent the NVA from coming to Long Cheng. This last stronghold lasted for a few months before Laos collapsed into communist control in 1975. He and his family then departed to Thailand for their safety. While in the refugee camp in Thailand, his family were interested in immigrating to French Guiana, but its refugee processing building caught fire and burned down. In March 1979, he and his family chose to come to the US and arrived in Minneapolis. Five years later, he was reunited with his other family members who had come from the refugee camps in Thailand. ∆

*** 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 for this interview is available upon request.