MSGT. Xai Wa Xiong
SGU Veteran
St. Paul, MN
File No.: 42/50
August 2024

Xai Wa Xiong was born near Fi Koua, Vietnam. He remembered the struggles living under communist Vietnamese rule. His family had to plant crops on two plots of land — one for the family and the other for the government. They considered this practice as inhumane. The Hmong in this region were also being harassed by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). The family moved to Mouang Nga, Laos, when Xai Wa was about 17 years old. He joined the Special Guerrilla Units in 1962 and was sent to fight the NVA as they were advancing to Mouang Nga. He and his company would battle the NVA back and forth in their region until the communist takeover of the country in 1975. Then he joined the Chao Fa guerrilla movement in an attempt to retake the country. When this failed, he and his family fled to Thailand in search of freedom. In 1980, they came to the US and joined other relatives. ∆

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