Together Together Together - Pha Canada: Fill & Download for Free

It is my belief that is a conspiracy. However, truly secret societies, we would never know who the members are. It is possible that there is an oligarchy controlling things behind the scenes.I can, however, state that neither the Illuminati or Freemasons are ruling the world. The Illuminati only existed in what is now Germany from 1776 to 1785. There is no one living who is or was a member of the Illuminati. A great book on this order is The Secret School of Wisdom. This book contains the actual history and the authentic rituals of the real Illuminati.As to Freemasons ruling the world, I don't see that it could be a possibility. There is no Supreme Grand Master of Freemasonry. Most countries have a single Grand Lodge with a single Grand Master who is sovereign over the members of his own Jurisdiction. The Grand Lodges of England, Scotland, and Ireland have District Grand Lodges in some countries which were colonized by the UK. They also have Provincial Grand Lodges. All of these District or Provincial Grand Lodges and District or Provincial Grand Masters are all subservient to the Grand Lodge under whose Constitution they are a part of (England, Scotland, or Ireland). Every state in the United States (and Washington, DC and Puerto Rico) have their own Grand Lodges and Grand Masters. The provinces and territories of Canada have their own Grand Lodges and Grand Masters. So do the various states of Mexico. These Grand Masters are all a part of the Conference of Grand Masters of North America. No one Grand Master is above the others. These Grand Lodges all recognize each other as sovereign within their jurisdiction. There are also many Prince Hall Affiliated Grand Lodges and Grand Masters in the US and the Caribbean. Most of the Grand Lodges in the US also recognize these Grand Lodges (which started as a Masonic group allowing Black Masons, denied as regular and not allowed to join “white” lodges) as regular as well. The PHA Grand Lodges have accepted men of all colors. There are only about 8 US State Grand Lodges that do not recognize the PHA Grand Lodges as regular.Australia also has Grand Lodges in each state. Germany has several Grand Lodges who are all a part of the United Grand Lodge of Germany.All the “regular” and “recognized” Grand Lodges have certain requirements that must be met in order for each to be in amity and allow visitation between Lodges.There are many “clandestine” and “bogus” grand lodges that do not meet these requirements. Many of them seem to be financially motivated. The more members they bring in, the more money gets kicked up to the leaders.Each Grand Lodge has its own jurisdiction, and they may do certain things together (we have a Tri-State degree here annually). It is difficult to get the members of one particular Lodge to agree on having a fundraiser, like a fish fry, spaghetti dinner, or pancake breakfast. It is more difficult to get the members of a Grand Lodge (usually the Master and Wardens of eeach Lodge, may include Past Masters as well) to agree on things.No two Grand Lodges even have identical rules, regulations, and recognition of the exact same foreign Grand Lodges.There may be individual members of Freemasonry to be a part of a secret cabal ruling the world, but that is antithetical to the ideals of the order.

This is a big question, with a wide variety of answers, and a big part of how good these answers are will be determined by your personal strengths and ways of approaching this.First things first, production and beats. You can go online and watch videos of guys like Araabmuzik who use MPC or Maschine devices that are made with Beatpads, which is a more modern way of doing things. Researching the hardware and software associated will give you an idea what you're dealing with. There are tons of tutorials available, this equipment can be used with a mixer or a whole selection of other equipment, each of which has some shared and some specific functions for producing music. I have a friend who sells 8–10 beats a month, $100 - $150 and uses just a keyboard and computer programs. I have a friend who attended school in California then came back to Canada and opened a successful hip hop production company. Both are self taught, one entirely self taught, the other used school to take himself to the next level.Your best bet is too look into the various types of audio production hardware, as well as the software, and understand the initial investment involved. Then take a look at some online YouTube tutorials and see what kind of software and bardware set up seems like it will fit you best. A lot of big producers have done in studio videos where they discuss their production method (Heat makers, Araabmuzik Jazzy Pha, Cool and Dre, T-pain etc.) And watching those, you can get a better idea what's going to work for you. I would say as a beginner at your age, taking a couple courses will be a good way to get through the novice stage first.If you want to “blow up” once your making beats that have gotten real, honest criticism (not a “good job man” from a friend) send some samples out to rappers or performers that could work with your sound. Giving a beat away and having the right person rap on it is one of the quickest ways to catapult yourself ahead, but you can't send basic ametuer stuff in or your name will just be rejected in the future once you've made progress.Luckily you are in the hip hop mecca of the world, and there are a lot of up and comers who are investing into their own brand, and buying beats is a by-product of this. If you pick it up and have a knack for it, you could shop demos to the larger record companies that exist in NYC. You are in a city with a very large and lucrative, but also wildly competitive hip hop industry. This is why I say don't take positive critics at face value, it's alot easier for someone else to be a yes man then dissapointment you on something you worked hard on. Know this, and outwork it, understand that the more work you do the more progress you make, but people who pay money for this stuff have a huge selection to go through, so you need to work extremely hard and diligently to make your sound competitive.Lastly I'll adress songwriting and rapping. There is a reason so few succesful people are rappers as well as producers, and more importantly, most of those who are both have ghost writers. Writing a song is an entire professional discipline. Producing a song is an entire professional discipline. Rapping a song is an entirely different discipline of its own. When these fully formed disciplines come together, great music is made. But focusing on one at a time is going to bring success alot sooner then taking on 3 disciplines at once. Every minute your developing your writing skills, you are taking time away from your producing skills. Rapping can be as simple as on the spot freestyles, to complex written story telling, and each type takes time and finesse to develop to a point of being likable by popular opinion.Each one has its own fundamentals and guidelines, and while there is alot of overlap, the more time you spend on a specific craft the more you can tune and specialize it.Hope this helps, good luck!

Q. What was Hmong General Vang Pao early life like before he joined the Vietnamese war?A. Early lifeGeneral Vang Pao was born on 8 December 1929, in a Hmong village named Nonghet, located in Central Xiangkhuang Province, in the northeastern region of Laos, where his father, Neng Chu Vang, was a county leader.Vang began his early life as a farmer until Japanese forces invaded and occupied French Indochina in World War II. His father sent him away to school from the age of 10 to 15 before he launched his military career, joining the French Military to protect fellow Hmong during the Japanese invasion. He became a sergeant in the French colonial army, and, in 1954, an officer in the army of the newly independent Laos.While taking an entrance examination, the captain who was the proctor realized that Vang knew almost no written French. The captain dictated the answers to Vang so he could join the army. Vang insisted the captain gave him the answers but did not actually guide his hand on the paper. Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, said Vang did not express any embarrassment over this cheating. Fadiman added "it is worth noting that in this incident, far from tarnishing Vang Pao's reputation — as, for example Ted Kennedy's fudged Spanish exam at Harvard University tarnished his — merely added to his mythology: this was the sort of man who could never be held back by such petty impediments as rules."A Fond Farewell for Vang Pao (time.com)Laos Hmong leader dies in exile (BBC.com)The life of General Vang Pao, Hmong guerrilla leader (csmonitor.com)Vang Pao, Hmong Leader And General Who Led Secret War In Laos, Has Died (npr.org)Vang Pao, Laotian General Who Aided U.S., Dies at 81 (nytimes.com)Vang Pao - WikipediaGeneral Vang Pao Monument > About GVPThe US Abandonment of the Hmong ContinuesA Fond Farewell for Vang Pao (time.com)John Dominis / Time Life Pictures / Getty ImagesHe was born in the Laotian jungle in 1929 and died Jan. 6 in suburban Clovis, Calif. Along the way, General Vang Pao, son of Hmong farmers, became a key, if controversial, American ally and the symbolic father of a persecuted people.Vang Pao, who was 81, is best known for his role in America's "secret war," a covert, CIA-backed campaign against Laos' Viet Cong-aligned leaders during the Vietnam War. In the lead-up to war, North Vietnamese forces cut tracks through the Laotian jungle, creating the supply route now known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Laos was also at war, split between the communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao forces. The Americans teamed up with the latter, working with Vang Pao and a band of guerrilla fighters to disrupt the North's network of trails. For Vang Pao's 15-year fight against Southeast Asia's communists, former CIA chief William Colby once called him "the biggest hero of the Vietnam War."But Vang Pao's relationship with the U.S. — as with his homeland — was always complicated. In 2007, after a lengthy investigation known as Operation Tarnished Eagle, the ex-CIA operative was arrested for plotting to overthrow the Laotian government. He was charged under the U.S. Neutrality Act, a security clause that prohibits actions on American soil against foreign governments with whom Washington is at peace. Federal prosecutors alleged Vang Pao, then 77, and several colleagues were funding guerrilla fighters living in Laos. Vang Pao didn't deny the charge but countered that the CIA was well aware of his plans to send American weapons to his former comrades in arms. The case against him, which drew outrage, was later dropped. Leaving Military Region II and Laos.It was not the first time the general felt he had been slighted by Washington. In 1975, after Saigon fell, Vang Pao and his fighters were all but abandoned. Thousands were killed, and tens of thousands took to the hills or traveled overland to camps in neighboring Thailand. Some languish there still. Vang Pao was among the 100,000 or so Hmong who eventually made it to the U.S., where they were "resettled," primarily in California, Minnesota and Wisconsin. But America's erstwhile allies were not welcomed as heroes — far from it. The government did not officially acknowledge Hmong fighters until 1997. That year, Washington recognized their heroism with a small copper plaque. Vang Pao and some 3,000 veterans attended the ceremony.Vang Pao's exile in America was spent advocating for Hmong refugees and bolstering the resistance movement in Laos. He helped found the United Lao National Liberation Front and spoke out against the forced repatriation of Hmong refugees living in Thai camps. At 80, he vowed to return to Laos to help broker peace between his people and the country's communist leaders; those leaders said they'd execute him if he tried. Vang Pao, like so many of the Hmong, never got to go home.Laos Hmong leader dies in exileImage caption Vang Pao, accused of subversion against Laos in 2007, was revered for his war recordVang Pao, the former general and leader of his Hmong ethnic group in Laos, has died in exile in the US, aged 81.He had been in hospital for about 10 days before his death late on Thursday.As a young man, he had fought against the Japanese during World War II, and with the French against the North Vietnamese in the 1950s.He led a 15-year CIA-sponsored secret war in Laos during the Vietnam War and, when it was lost, led tens of thousands of his people into exile.Thousands of ethnic Hmong are expected to attend his funeral in Fresno, California."He'll be remembered as a great general, a great warrior, a great Hmong soldier," his friend Charlie Waters told AFP news agency.However the response from the Laos government was muted. "He was an ordinary person, so we do not have any reaction," a government spokesman was quoted by AFP as saying.'Last of his kind'Gen Pao was a controversial figure, deeply loved by many Hmong - an ethnic minority in Lao that complains of persecution - for his insistence on freedom from foreign domination.Former Central Intelligence Agency chief William Colby once called Gen Pao "the biggest hero of the Vietnam War".But critics say that by allying himself with the US, Gen Pao caused his people untold suffering - something that he himself recognised."I lost 17,000 men, almost 10% of the total Hmong population. The Hmong sacrificed the most in the war and were the ones who suffered the most," he said at the Heritage Foundation think tank in 1987.Americans who first came into contact with him found a man skilled in warfare and with the charisma necessary to sustain a dangerous, 15-year operation in support of the US against the North Vietnamese.The CIA airline, Air America, carried Gen Pao and his fighters across the country.The HmongEthnic group that complains of marginalisation and persecution in Lao societyBacked the US in 1960s as conflict spread from Vietnam into Laos and CambodiaMany fled abroad in 1975 when the communists took power in LaosBig Hmong communities in California, Minnesota, Thailand and AustraliaThe general, in camouflage fatigues, with an American adviser and Thai officers near Long Tieng, Laos, circa 1969. Credit Vang PaoLaos' forgotten HmongOn the ground, he and his men disrupted Vietnamese supply lines and engaged in pitched battles to try to stave off the Vietnamese-backed communist victory in Laos.When that effort failed in 1975, Gen Pao led many thousands of Hmong into what are now well-established exile communities in the US.The Central Valley of California, Minneapolis and cities throughout Wisconsin have a Hmong presence of an estimated 30,000-40,0000.In his later years, Gen Pao was accused of leading rebellions or sponsoring subversion against the People's Democratic Republic of Laos.In 2007, he was charged along with nine others with plotting to use AK-47 rifles, missiles and mercenaries to overthrow the Lao government. Charges against him were later dropped.He was regarded by some as an exiled head of state."He's the last of his kind, the last of the leadership that carries that reverence that everyone holds dear," said Blong Xiong, a Fresno city councilman and prominent Hmong-American."Whether they're young or old, they hear his name, there's the respect that goes with it."BBC News website readers comments:General Vang Pao is our greatest leader and will remain this way. He was our beacon of hope and is the very reason why we are here in the US, our land of opportunity. He will forever be missed and no one will be able to replace him in our hearts, mind and community. He was a much loved leader that led his people. He wasn't one to be above anyone, but rolled up his sleeves and challenged our everyday struggles with us. He is a great hero that - even though was considered "exiled" - was truly not because his people followed him to the very end. Mao Lee, Fresno, California, USI cannot believe that there can be any celebration of someone who supported the US and the CIA in Vietnam/Laos. Your note that as a Community Leader he worked as a security guard at a supermarket in the USA says it all. The US should still be damned for the horror that they exercised on Vietnamese (and US) people in the Vietnam war - and in Laos and Cambodia. Mike, Cape TownIt's a tragic loss for the Hmong community. A historic Hmong leader has passed away. Neng Vang, St Paul, Minnesota, USGeneral Vang Pao will always be regarded as the Hmong people's saviour of the war. He negotiated our freedom from what would be certain death for many of us in Laos. It is too bad that young people, like me, will never fully understand the extent of his courage, and the charismatic nature of this man. I just wished that he had done more for the young people here in the US. Maybe now that the only "leader" we have known is gone, maybe the Hmong community can finally understand that a divided community is not as strong as one that is unified. I certainly hope his death will cause unification and not further separation. Gregory Yang, Merced, CA, USI met Vang Pao once in the refugee camp at Loei when he and Jerry Daniels were engineering the translocation of the entire tribe to America against the wishes of Congress. The visionary leadership at that point has become, and deserves to be, legendary. He could have just joined his relatives in Missoula but he stayed and engineered the future of hundreds of thousands of his people with craft and brilliance. With Jerry dead in 1984, the Hmong people have lost the last of the pair which worked together and alone created their destiny. I feel so proud to have met a man of his stature, may he be at peace in the presence of the Lord. Dan Pride, I.C.E.M Evacuation Officer Ampur LoeiAs we heard the news, my parents were crying. They couldn't sleep last night and they told me that they don't know what is going to happen to the Hmong people now that General Vang Pao is gone. He has been the father figure for the Hmong people and this is going to be a very hard time for our community. Our community leaders will meet together and get this funeral done first and then we will talk about what we are going to do next. Pao, St. Paul, MN, USGeneral Pao was the last of the Nationalist leaders from the Vietnam era. Men like him fought the Japanese and anyone else that wanted to dominate their country. We, in the US, could not tell the difference between a nationalist and a Communist. So we supported Catholics to rule a country of non-Catholics and other such stupidities. General Pao and the loyalty of his people is a good story with a semi-tragic ending in that most are far from home, the worst hell on earth for a nationalist. Mike Reid, Sheridan, Oregon, USThe life of General Vang Pao, Hmong guerrilla leaderVang Pao, a revered former general in the Royal Army of Laos who led thousands of Hmong guerrillas in a CIA-backed secret army during the Vietnam War, has died. He was 81.After immigrating to the United States once the communists seized power in Laos in 1975, Vang Pao was venerated as a leader and a father figure by the large Hmong refugee populations who resettled in California's Central Valley, Minneapolis and cities throughout Wisconsin.Xang Vang, the general's chief translator who fought by his side, said Vang Pao died Thursday night following a battle with pneumonia, which he caught while traveling in central California to preside over two Hmong New Year celebrations."I touched his hand, I called his name on his ear, and he opened his eyes briefly," Xang Vang said. "He had been getting better for the last few days, but last night he was getting worse and now he has left us."The general had been hospitalized for about 10 days, Clovis Community Medical Center Michelle Von Tersch spokeswoman said.As a teenager in World War II, Vang Pao fought the Japanese, who were attempting to take over Laos.In the 1950s, he joined the French in the war against the North Vietnamese who were dominating Laos and later worked with the CIA to wage a covert war there.Former CIA Chief William Colby once called Pao "the biggest hero of the Vietnam War," for the 15 years he spent heading a CIA-sponsored guerrilla army fighting against a communist takeover of the Southeast Asian peninsula.After his guerrillas ultimately lost to communist forces, Vang Pao came to the U.S., where he was credited with brokering the resettlement of tens of thousands of Hmong, an ethnic minority from the hillsides of Laos."He's the last of his kind, the last of the leadership that carries that reference that everyone holds dear," said Blong Xiong, a Fresno city councilman and the first Hmong-American in California to win a city council seat. "Whether they're young or old, they hear his name, there's the respect that goes with it."Xiong was at the hospital with a growing crowd of mourners. He said he spoke briefly with family members, who were planning a memorial service, but had no details on what caused Vang Pao's death.Regarded by Hmong immigrants as an exiled head of state, Vang Pao made frequent appearances at Hmong cultural and religious festivals and often was asked to mediate disputes or solve problems.In 2007, however, he was arrested and charged with other Hmong leaders in federal court with conspiracy in a plot to kill communist officials in his native country. Federal prosecutors alleged the Lao liberation movement known as Neo Hom raised millions of dollars to recruit a mercenary force and conspired to obtain weapons.Even after his indictment, he appeared as the guest of honor at Hmong New Year celebrations in St. Paul and Fresno, where crowds of his supporters gathered to catch a glimpse of the highly decorated general as he arrived in a limousine.The charges against Vang Pao were dropped in 2009, "after investigators completed the time-consuming process of translating more than 30,000 pages of pages of documents," then-U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown said in a written statement. The government arrested the defendants before understanding all the evidence because they felt a threat was imminent, he said.In November, a federal judge in Sacramento threw out parts of the case against 12 other defendants. They include retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Youa True Vang and 11 members of California's Hmong community, many of whom fought for the U.S. during the Vietnam War. All 12 have pleaded not guilty since their arrests in 2007."Vang Pao was a great man and a true American hero. He served his country for many years in his homeland, and he continued to serve it in America," said attorney William Portanova, who represents one of the remaining Hmong defendants. "To think that these elderly men would be in a position to try to overthrow a country is, on its face, almost laughable."Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento, said she had no immediate comment.Vang Pao had been a source of controversy for several years before the case was filed.In 2002, the city of Madison, Wis., dropped a plan to name a park in his honor after a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor cited published sources alleging that Vang Pao had ordered executions of his own followers, of enemy prisoners of war and of his political enemies.Five years later, the Madison school board removed his name from a new elementary school named for him, after dissenters said it should not bear the name of a figure with such a violent history.But such criticism meant little to Hmong families who looked to Vang Pao for guidance as they struggled to set up farms and businesses in the U.S. and assume a new, American identity. The general formed several nonprofits to aid the refugee communities and set up a council to mediate disputes between the 18 Hmong clans, whose president he hand-picked for decades."He's always been kind of the glue that held everyone together," said Lar Yang of Fresno, who featured an interview with Vang Pao last month in the Hmong business directory he publishes annually."He's the one that always resolved everything ... I don't think it can be filled by one person at this point. There will probably be a search for identity. There will be a lot of chaos for a little while, until things get settled."Vang Pao, Hmong Leader And General Who Led Secret War In Laos, Has DiedMARK MEMMOTTFormer Hmong Gen. Vang Pao (right) in May 2000 during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.Luke Frazza /AFP/Getty Images"Gen. Vang Pao, an iconic figure in the Hmong community and a key U.S. ally during the Vietnam War, died Thursday afternoon in Clovis [Calif.] after spending days in the hospital with pneumonia and a heart problem," The Fresno Bee writes this morning. He was 81.As the Bee adds: "Over 100 people crowded into the outpatient care center at Clovis Community Medical Center to grieve the loss of a beloved leader, who some saw as the George Washington of the Hmong."The BBC reminds us that:"As a young man, he had fought against the Japanese during World War II, and with the French against the North Vietnamese in the 1950s.He led a CIA-sponsored secret war in Laos during the Vietnam War and, when it was lost, led many of his people into exile.Former Central Intelligence Agency chief William Colby once called [Vang] 'the biggest hero of the Vietnam War'."Time notes that the general's "relationship with the U.S. — as with his homeland — was always complicated":"In 2007, after a lengthy investigation known as Operation Tarnished Eagle, the ex-CIA operative was arrested for plotting to overthrow the Laotian government. He was charged under the U.S. Neutrality Act, a security clause that prohibits actions on domestic soil against foreign governments with whom Washington is at peace. Federal prosecutors alleged [that Vang], then 77, and several colleagues were funding guerilla fighters still living in Laos. Vang ... didn't deny the charge, but countered that the CIA was well aware of his plans to send American weapons to his former comrades in arms. The case, ... which drew outrage, was later dropped."Vang Pao, Laotian General Who Aided U.S., Dies at 81 (nytimes.com)Vang Pao, a charismatic Laotian general who commanded a secret army of his mountain people in a long, losing campaign against Communist insurgents, then achieved almost kinglike status as their leader-in-exile in the United States, died Thursday in Clovis, Calif. He was 81.His death was confirmed by Michael Bailey, a spokesman for the Clovis Community Medical Center.Vang Pao was a general in the official Laotian Army, the chief of a secret army financed by the Central Intelligence Agency and the undisputed leader of the varied factions of his people, the Hmong. Tens of thousands of them followed him in his flight to Thailand after the Communist victory in 1975. Later, in the United States, he was so revered that some of his people believed he had supernatural powers.“He is like the earth and the sky,” Houa Thao, a Hmong refugee, said in an interview with The Fresno Bee in 2007.That year, Gen. Vang Pao was charged with plotting to provide $10 million in arms to antigovernment forces in Laos in a conspiracy of such dimensions that American prosecutors compared it to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. The charges were dropped two years later.Even before President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s vow in 1960 that Laos must not fall to the Communists, the country was immersed in bloody conflict. Its importance grew immensely during the Vietnam War, when most of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the serpentine route that North Vietnam used to funnel supplies southward, ran through Laotian territory.Gen. Vang Pao in 1961. He was the chief of a secret army financed by the Central Intelligence Agency. Credit John Dominis/Time Life Pictures — Getty ImagesThe United States wanted to interdict the supply route, rescue American pilots shot down over Laos and aid anti-Communist forces in a continuing civil war, but was hampered in doing so publicly because Laos was officially neutral, so the C.I.A. recruited General Vang Pao for the job. At the time, he held the highest rank ever achieved by a Hmong in the Royal Laotian Army, major general.The Hmong are a tribe in the fog-shrouded mountains separating Laos from southern China, and they were natural allies for the C.I.A. because of their enmity toward Laotian lowlanders to the south, who dominated the Communist leadership.General Vang Pao quickly organized 7,000 guerrillas, then steadily increased the force to 39,000, leading them in many successful battles, often against daunting odds. William Colby, C.I.A. director in the mid-1970s, called him “the biggest hero of the Vietnam War.”Lionel Rosenblatt, president emeritus of Refugees International, in an interview with The New York Times Magazine in 2008, put it more bluntly, saying General Vang Pao’s Hmong were put “into this meat grinder, mostly to save U.S. soldiers from fighting and dying there.”Congressional committees discussed the war in secret sessions at the time it was being fought, and the press uncovered significant details. But the United States government did not officially recognize the Hmong’s contribution until 1997, when the Clinton administration authorized a plaque at Arlington National Cemetery saying that the valor of General Vang Pao’s troops would never be forgotten.General Vang Pao was born in December 1929 in a village in northeast Laos, had six years of sporadic schooling and worked as an interpreter for French colonial forces fighting the Japanese in World War II. He became a sergeant in the French colonial army, and, in 1954, an officer in the army of the newly independent Laos.Gen. Vang Pao in 2004. Credit Ingrid Young for The New York TimesWhen the C.I.A. approached him in 1960, he was already fighting Laotian Communists. The next year, he would also fight Communists from Vietnam after they had crossed the Laotian border. The Times in 1971 said that the C.I.A. did not command the general’s army at any level, because his pride and temper would have never permitted it.The general led troops into combat personally, suffered serious wounds and was known to declare: “If we die, we die together. Nobody will be left behind.” About 35,000 Hmong died in battle.General Vang Pao was also skilled at uniting the 18 clans of Hmong. One technique was to marry women from different tribes, as multiple marriages were permitted in Laos. He had to divorce all but one of his five wives when he went to the United States in 1975, settling on a ranch in Montana.His son Chu Vang told The Bee in 2007 that General Vang Pao had fathered more than 20 children and had more than 40 grandchildren. Complete information about survivors was not available.General Vang Pao lived more recently in Southern California and Minnesota, where many of the 200,000 Hmong that followed him to the United States or were born here live. His picture hangs in thousands of homes.Asked by the news agency Agence France-Presse to comment on his death, the Communist government of Laos said, “He was an ordinary person, so we do not have any reaction.”Vang Pao - WikipediaEarly lifeVang, an ethnic Hmong, was born on 8 December 1929, in a Hmong village named Nonghet, located in Central Xiangkhuang Province, in the northeastern region of Laos, where his father, Neng Chu Vang, was a county leader.Vang began his early life as a farmer until Japanese forces invaded and occupied French Indochina in World War II. His father sent him away to school from the age of 10 to 15 before he launched his military career, joining the French Military to protect fellow Hmong during the Japanese invasion.While taking an entrance examination, the captain who was the proctor realized that Vang knew almost no written French. The captain dictated the answers to Vang so he could join the army. Vang insisted the captain gave him the answers but did not actually guide his hand on the paper. Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, said Vang did not express any embarrassment over this cheating. Fadiman added "it is worth noting that in this incident, far from tarnishing Vang Pao's reputation — as, for example Ted Kennedy's fudged Spanish exam at Harvard University tarnished his — merely added to his mythology: this was the sort of man who could never be held back by such petty impediments as rules."General Vang Pao Monument > About GVPGeneral Vang Pao is considered a great leader and historic figure among the Hmong people as his extraordinary journey in life changed the destiny of the Hmong people and led them to a new frontier. He is well known as a legendary Hmong General and a loyal American Secret War hero during the Vietnam War. Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, William Colby, once acknowledged General Vang Pao as the biggest hero of the Vietnam War. General Vang Pao passed away on January 6, 2011 in Clovis, California due to illness; and with his death, the Hmong people lost their hero and inspiring leader.General Vang Pao launched his military career in his early teens; but it was not until he played a vital role in assisting the French in their efforts to occupy Laos that he became well known as a prominent military figure. Because of the bravery and brilliant skill he showed in helping the French, he was contacted by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to assist in the CIA covert operations in Laos after the French withdrew from the country. The many accomplishments of Vang Pao and his troops resulted in his achievement of becoming and serving as the military commander for the Royal Lao Army for Military Region II and commander for CIA covert operations from 1961 to 1975.Lt. Col. Vang Pao talked to reporters about the cease-fire breaking at his mountain headquarter on May 16, 1961.As commander for the United States CIA operations during the Vietnam War, the General rallied the Hmong and other ethnic groups to support the United States as guerilla soldiers because of their experience with the terrain in Laos. His assignments in these operations were to (1) protect the United States Air Force Navigation Radar in Phou Pha Thi, (2) collect intelligence information along the border of North Vietnam and Laos, (3) direct air strikes and rescue American pilots who were shot down along the Lao-Vietnamese border, and (4) stop the flow of the North Vietnamese troops and supplies through the Ho Chi Minh Trail into Laos. General Vang Pao committed to his assignments and in his efforts saved many American lives. After the United States pulled out of Laos in 1975, the CIA evacuated General Vang Pao and thousands of his military leaders and families to Thailand. Consequently, they resettled in other countries including the United States, France, Canada, and Australia.General Vang Pao's ContributionsGeneral Vang Pao’s leadership changed the life of the Hmong people. Prior to General Vang Pao’s leadership, the Hmong people lived on the highlands of Laos, practicing slash-and-burn agriculture to survive with limited educational opportunities. Under his leadership, the life of the Hmong people changed drastically as he encouraged and introduced the Hmong to military, economic, and educational opportunities. Many Hmong people became pilots, military leaders, civil leaders, educators, and economically prosperous as a result of General Vang Pao’s guidance. He was responsible for the construction of roads to Hmong villages, the building of schools for Hmong children, and the teaching of Hmong people to engage and participate in society. He created opportunities for the Hmong people to learn, grow, and develop.While General Vang Pao’s military career ended after he resettled in America, the compassion and love he had for the Hmong people drove him to a new career of civil service. He found a new calling to help the Hmong people make a successful transition into American society. He started a new era of community service and through his leadership worked to establish community building efforts that would result in a strong and prosperous Hmong community.In 1978, with the support of other Hmong leaders, he founded the first Laotian non-profit organization, Lao Family Community, in Orange County, California, which reached out to many Hmong, Lao, and Mien communities to help them adjust to their new life in the United States. With a clear mission statement, Lao Family Community quickly expanded, opening numerous branches across the nation.In the early 1980s, General Vang Pao worked with other Hmong leaders to create the Lao Human Rights Council and the United Hmong International Council. The Lao Human Rights Council was created to advocate and educate the United Nations, elected officials, the media, and the general public about the Laotian refugee issues in Thailand and the humanitarian crises in Laos. The United Hmong International Council was created to keep the Hmong culture, traditions, and values alive and to provide alternative ways to settle Hmong disputes in a traditional manner.In the 1990s, with the support of many Hmong leaders, General Vang Pao formed the Lao Veterans of America and the Special Guerrilla Unit Veterans and Families of the USA to advocate for Laotian veterans and their families who fought bravely during the United States Secret War in Laos to defend against the aggression of Communism in Indo-China. Through his efforts and with the support of many others, the United States Congress passed several House Resolutions to recognize the Laotian veterans and their service.Besides founding these organizations, General Vang Pao traveled throughout the United States to meet with Hmong families and communities and encourage them to embrace the American ideals of freedom and democracy. He inspired with a vision of hope, offered his unwavering support, and always emphasized the importance of education. He always encouraged the Hmong people to pursue the American dream and to become productive American citizens. His legendary deeds will continue to inspire the Hmong people for generations to come.Feb-27-2010 22:06The US Abandonment of the Hmong ContinuesChuck PalazzoSalem-News.Com News from Salem Oregon and the surrounding region.The Hmong put themselves in great danger, but their loyalty to the US never wavered.From the book 'The Hmong and their stories by D.C. Everest Area Schools(DA NANG, Vietnam) - Why has the United States turned its back on some of the bravest and most loyal people that stood by our side during the Vietnam War?The so-called “Secret War”, which began during the early 1960’s, continues to remain secret in many ways – it is becoming more apparent to me, that the United States and especially the CIA has turned its back on The Hmong and they will face continued suppression at best, and possible genocide at worst. How better to keep a “secret” than to ensure the people that might have knowledge of same, quietly disappear?The CIA began to recruit and train the indigenous Hmong people in Laos to join the US in fighting the Vietnam War in the early 1960’s. Over 50% of The Hmong men in Laos were supported by the CIA to join fighting the “Secret War”. Their primary responsibility was to block the Ho Chi Minh Trail which was the main military supply route from the north to the south of Vietnam.The Hmong put themselves in great danger, but their loyalty to the US never wavered. They were indeed heroes, saving many Allied forces from capture, imprisonment and death. From 1967–1971, close to 4,000 Hmong soldiers were killed and over 5,000 injured and disabled.Between 1962–1975, over 12,000 Hmong died fighting against the Pathet Lao – what many consider to be the Lao equivalent to The Viet Cong, and who eventually took control of Laos. Following the US withdrawal from the region in 1975, we abandoned the Hmong.Men who say they fought a secret war for the C.I.A. are still on the run with their families in the mountain jungles of Laos. Credit Tomas Van Houtryve/The International Herald Tribune Old U.S. Allies, Still Hiding in LaosThey were left to escape their country of origin and most fled to Thailand where they have lived in UN refugee camps ever since. Still others continue to evade capture as they continue to live in the jungles and mountains as they are relentlessly hunted and apprehended by the local governments. A few have been able to escape and emigrate to western countries.During December, 2009, Thailand forced over 4,700 Hmong refugees back to the regime in Laos. Several hundred if not more, have been unaccounted for, and the worst is believed to be occurring - Hmong men have been beaten and have been subjected to food deprivation to ensure they sign confessions, presumably regarding their participation during the “Secret War” as well as to intimidate the other members of the Hmong and ensure they remain silent – about the war and certainly about the Lao Government and its officials.With signed confessions in hand, the Lao officials are probably hoping that this week’s delegation of US and Thai officials, as well as attendance and coverage by journalists, will go as planned – remain silent. In fact, it has been reported that The Hmong, who have been forcibly returned to Laos have had hundreds, if not more, removed from the “settlement camps” and scattered throughout Laos to remote prisons. Keep them silent?How better to keep any information from them from reaching the masses than to remove them from any possible contact with non-Lao officials or journalists?Perhaps to silence them permanently – which many fear has already begun. Approximately 8,000 members of The Hmong who have been forcibly repatriated to Laos from 2007-2009 are missing. Many of these brave men, women and children attempted to petition the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at their Bangkok Headquarters for political asylum. The result? Forced back to Laos by the Thai Army against their wishes – but certainly favored by the Lao Government, and apparently the US, to keep the silenced silent.During July, 2009, a US Delegation led by the principal deputy assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, visited the Hmong in two refugee camps in Thailand.Nothing was resolved, and to make matters worse, mixed signals were sent to The Hmong People – they had indeed been given the impression that they would be granted asylum and allowed to enter the United States. What the Assistant Secretary did do, was to meet privately with Thai Military officers and a handful of The Hmong.He never met with the thousands of Hmong that were in the camps. Instead, upon his return to the US, he issued a press statement saying the US had no plans for a massive resettlement, but they would consider referrals on a case-by-case basis.The US delegation demanded an appropriate and transparent screening process to identify those detainees who may have protection concerns. “Those Lao Hmong who are found to be in need of protection should not be forcibly returned to Laos”, it said. The repatriation plan could not be enforced easily since it runs against the Hmong's freewill, notably those who claimed they are close associates of the CIA and fear suppression from the Lao government. The Lao Military dismissed any such allegations and “guaranteed that no Hmong would be punished upon return to Laos”.One interesting and alarming issue is this – it is estimated that several hundred of The Hmong who had close ties to the CIA are indeed in several of the many camps now, presumably back in Laos. The entire Hmong population is being held, however. Can the US not utilize its records and negotiate on behalf of those few hundred and have them as well as the entire Hmong people freed from Laos, refugee camps, or the jungles and mountains? There are many who seek asylum in the US for a variety of reasons.There are no other foreign people who deserve asylum in the US, or a western country of The Hmong’s choice, more so than the Hmong. In my opinion The Hmong have indeed a right to such protection, as a result of what they did to help their American allies during the Vietnam War. Let us not forget that Thailand also participated in the “Secret War”.In 1993, Vue Mai, a former Hmong soldier who had been recruited by the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok to return to Laos as proof of the repatriation program's success, disappeared in Vientiane. According to the U.S. Committee for Refugees, he was arrested by Lao security forces and was never seen again.According to Amnesty International, at least nine Lao protest leaders have disappeared in Laos following their arrest in Vientiane on November 2, 2009. “Guaranteed that no Hmong would be punished upon return to Laos”. Interesting comment. My definition of “guaranteed” is very different.There are not only those Hmong who have been placed into refugee camps, or perhaps “re-education” camps by now. There are in fact, many brave Hmong who continue to evade capture. An investigative reporter met and spoke with several Hmong in the mountains.The following quote, by a former CIA recruit is very telling. “I am CIA. In 1970 Mr. Jerry gave me this M79 and told me to shoot enemy," this Hmong fighter and former “secret war” recruit says in a perfect American accent, as he waves a battered grenade-launcher in the air. "We have lost thousands of troops for America – when the Laos soldiers kill us they feel like they have killed an America soldier. The CIA must come and save us." He continues “At least before, we thought we could escape to Thailand but now we have no place to run to," as he looks over to a mountain just three miles away."We can't keep running, soon we will all die here. Just over that mountain is where the enemy is and as we speak they are hunting us down with dogs – it's just a matter of time before they attack us again."The CIA had the wherewithal and all the resources required, to recruit the Hmong for the “Secret War”. Nearly 50 years later, they can certainly extract anyone they choose from any mountaintop or jungle.Not doing so for The Hmong, whether it be our CIA to perform extraction missions clandestinely, or the organized removal, with all Governments involved approval; for those Hmong in refugee camps and elsewhere, standing idly by and doing nothing is a disgrace.The US has clearly turned their backs on The Hmong who remain in Southeast Asia. What “secrets” remain preventing the US and the UN from performing the necessary humanitarian work to free all Hmong from ongoing persecution?Vang Pao Elementary School