Capt. Tong Chang Lee
SGU Veteran
St. Paul, MN
File No.: 34/50
June 2024

Tong Chang Lee was born in 1930. He joined the French military with his brothers during its occupation of Laos in Xieng Khouang Province. After the French left, he returned home to help tend the fields with his family. In May of 1961, he returned to the battlefield supporting the US efforts to defend freedom and democracy against the communist NVA and Pathet Lao forces in his homeland. He was stationed with Battalion 205, GM23 in Military Region 2.  Lee was unafraid to directly engage with the enemies. As a result, he was wounded three times in combat at Pha Phai, Muang Ngat, and Xieng Khouang cities. When the Secret War ended with the US exiting Laos in 1975, Lee took his family and fled into the jungle and continued their fight for the country’s freedom. In 1979, they escaped to Thailand. He stayed in the Refugee Camp Ban Vinai until it was closed in 1994 and relocated to the monastery Wat Tham Krabok. In 2004, the Thai government declared closure of the monastery to sheltering refugees. In 2005, Lee and his family were permitted to immigrate to the US as the last wave of Hmong refugees from the war-torn country of Laos. ∆

*** 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.