The son of a man known as the George Washington of the Hmong people was in Wausau on Wednesday night, renewing his now-deceased father’s mission of integrating Hmong people into American society.
Vang Pao, who served as a general in the Royal Lao Army, fought with the United States during the Vietnam War and eventually became a well-known and highly revered leader of the Hmong American community. He died in 2012.
Vang Pao visited to the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County campus in 2009, and through an interpreter told the gathered Hmong people that they needed to stop the scourge of domestic violence in their community.
Stay informed on the latest news
Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.
“We are Hmong. We are smart. We are very beautiful people. We have a great culture, and we don’t want to have a bad name for Hmong people,” he said. “Do your best to be a role model. I’m telling you today to stop.”
Vang Pao’s son, Pa Cheng Vang, was in Wausau on Wednesday to dedicate a memorial to his father.
“Wausau is a small town, but a lot of things happened here,” he said. “When he came here, I think he did a lot of things to stop violence.”
Vang said his father had done a lot to help the Hmong people become model American citizens, and that he isn’t the only person who called his father ‘Dad.’
“Everybody called him Dad. He is the father to all Hmong. He’s everything. Nowadays, the younger generation, they don’t know who he is anymore,” he said.
Pa Cheng Vang also called upon the Hmong people in the crowd to register and vote in the Nov. 4 elections, saying they need to do their jobs as U.S. citizens.
He currently lives in Phoenix.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
