Boua Vang Xiong was born in Pa Kha, Xieng Khouang Province, Laos in 1943. Xiong attended school as the Secret War was taking place. He was recruited in 1972 and sent to a 3-month military training in Phitsanulok, Thailand. Upon his return to Long Cheng, he and his battalion were sent to the battlefield in Som Ha Mung Kern, near the Plain of Jars. They suffered heavy casualties, including his uncle who was killed as they retreated. From 1973 to 1979, he continued the fight against the communist forces (even after the war concluded in 1975). Fear of being captured, in May of 1979, he and his brother escaped into Thailand, leaving their parents behind. In 1980, Xiong immigrated to Minnesota from the refugee camp in Thailand. His first job was in the cleaning industry that paid $3.25 an hour.