Dr Yang Dao

Dr. Yang Dao And Hmong To Day

THE SCHOLAR HERO: THE UNTOLD STORY OF HOW DR. YANG DAO NEGOTIATED THE FATE OF THE HMONG
By By Wameng Moua | Hmong Today
Published Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Though he may be one of the most recognized Hmong individuals of all
time, Dr. Yang Dao remains an enigmatic, complex figure whose place in
history continues to be written with relevance and controversy.

Like many intriguing men throughout history, Dr. Yang Dao is both revered and largely misunderstood.

Considered globally to be one of the preeminent intellectuals to ever
come out of Laos, Dr. Yang Dao’s detractors have at the same time been
busy at trying to smear his reputation.

However, a more thorough study of Dr. Yang Dao’s lifelong
accomplishments and scholarly works would reveal, above all else, that
he is a man who loves his Hmong people. For instance, after becoming
the first Hmong in history to receive a Ph. D. in social science from
the Sorbonne, University of Paris, in May 1972, Dr. Yang Dao could have
easily accepted one of many prestigious job offers to stay in France.
Yet, it was his love for the Hmong that compelled him to return to
war-torn Laos where he would fulfill his lifelong dream in helping to
lift the Hmong out of obscurity.

A scholar, a musician and a diplomat. Dr. Yang Dao is a man of destiny
whose accomplishments and vision will forever be intertwined with the
astonishing advancements that the Hmong have achieved over the last 30
years. Hmong Today is fortunate to have had the opportunity to sit down
with this living legend as he was gracious enough to share a morsel of
his life with us.

Presented here and paraphrased from his own words is a glimpse into the
life of Dr. Yang Dao and the momentous role that he played during the
climactic ending of the war in Laos in May 1975, forever shaping the
destiny of the Hmong.

Becoming Dr. Yang Dao

As a youth, Yang Dao would endure the never ceasing humiliation of
taunts hurled by onlookers as he and other Hmong went down from their
remote Hmong villages in the mountains to the regional markets, located
in the valleys of Northern Laos.

"Meo, Meo, Meo" would continue to burn in his consciousness, but rather
than allow such bullying to beat him down, the taunts inspired him to
work even harder to achieve the improbable feat of becoming an educated
Hmong.

Laos was among the poorest countries in the world and the Hmong along
with other ethnic minorities lingered at the very bottom of that
cesspool. It was through education, Yang Dao was convinced, where he
would find the means to lift the social standing of his people—a
motivational factor that remains burning in his heart to this very day.

Born in 1943 into an industrious family, Yang Dao was deeply influenced
by his father, Yang Myno. During a time when less than a dozen Hmong
had ever went beyond primary school, Yang Myno was one of the very
first Hmong in the entire French Indochina to achieve, in 1934, his
Certificate D’Etudes Primaires—the Diploma of French Elementary
Education which allowed him to become a French elementary teacher from
1936 to 1939.

Beyond books, Yang Myno was also considered a master musician and one
of the preeminent cultivators of classical Hmong culture. The emphasis
that he placed on cultural knowledge along with the drive to educate
his children played a huge role in the development of Yang Dao, who
himself followed a lifelong passion for understanding Hmong culture.

The young scholar flourished and was consistently among the top of his
class. Recognized for his excellence, in 1962 when the war in Laos
started to set fire to the Plain of Jars in Xieng Khouang province and
the entire Northern Laos, Yang Dao was invited to finish his high
school degree in France where he would earn a scholarship from the
French Government for his undergraduate education at the University of
Paris where he studied social and economic development, and a "super"
scholarship from U.N.E.S.C.O to achieve his doctoral degree at the
Sorbonne, one of the most prestigious universities of Europe.

As an interesting side-note, Yang Dao married his wife, Mo Ly, five
days before he departed for Paris, France, in 1962, to resume his
education, interrupted by two years of war. Presiding over the wedding
was none other than Father Yves Bertrais, a French Oblate missionary
and one of the principle founders of the written Hmong language, known
as the Romanized Popular Alphabet, today widely used by many to
communicate among themselves all over the world.

After nearly a decade of stringent studies, Yang Dao would earn his Ph.
D in Social Sciences, cementing his place in history as being the first
Hmong in history to earn a Ph. D. He would forever now be referred to
as Dr. Yang Dao.

"Meo, Meo, Meo" no more—Hmong means "Free"

Upon returning to Laos in July 1972 from France, Dr. Yang Dao made an
immediate impact in his native country. He had earned the respect of
his fellow countrymen, improving how the Hmong were being perceived.

As he headed the Human Resource Department of the Ministry of Planning
in the Royal Lao Government, his job was to travel throughout Laos to
conduct workshops on social and economic development to Chaomuong
(Chiefs of Districts) and Chaokhoueng (Governors) of the Kingdom of
Laos, where a political agreement had been signed in February 1973 by
the Royal Lao Government and the communist Pathet Lao. Known as the
Vientiane Accords, this political agreement stipulated a cease-fire
between Lao communists and non-communists, and promoted peace and
national reconciliation. He also contributed to the building of a
national conscience among all Laotian ethnic groups, bounded by the
same destiny and called to work together for social justice and for a
better future of the country of Laos.

During his travels, he would be tenacious about abolishing the
derogatory term "Meo"—a word that up until 1973 had been ubiquitously
used in text books, journalistic reports, government documents and
general usage to describe the Hmong.

Wilburt Garrett (also known as Garrett, W.E.) would write in his
memoirs on the significance of his meeting with Dr. Yang Dao while
researching for the monumental article, "The Hmong of Laos: No Place To
Run" (National Geographic Magazine, January 1974).

Dr. Yang Dao had insisted that the terms ‘Meo’ and ‘Miao’ were both
unacceptable, explaining to Garrett that his people had always called
themselves by the name ‘Hmong’, which Dr. Yang Dao defined as meaning
"free men."

"I promised Yang Dao I would [use the term Hmong]," Garrett wrote.
"It’s a small enough courtesy to pay this proud and independent people
hounded by a devastating war."

This brief encounter and the release of Garrett’s article in National
Geographic would prove to be a colossal step forward for the Hmong who
would forever be known to the world by their ‘real’ name. Scholars and
journalists alike would take immediate action, ceasing to use the
derogatory terms ‘Meo’ and ‘Miao’ in books, lectures and articles
thereafter.

While the actual meaning of the word ‘Hmong’ would continue to be
debated, the definition that Dr. Yang Dao gave to Garrett would become
commonly accepted. Thus, as Dr. Yang Dao willed it in 1973, the Hmong
would become a free people.

"I have heard some very bad news."

On May 10, 1975 in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, a message from a close Lao friend shook Dr. Yang Dao’s very existence.

"I have heard some very bad news," his good friend told him. "Pathet
Lao and North Vietnamese troops are surrounding Long Cheng and they
will attack at any moment."

Within the last month, both Cambodia and South Vietnam had fallen to
communist troops. Many Lao political and military leaders of the Royal
Lao Government started to leave Laos since then. Long Cheng represented
the last standing Military Region of the Kingdom of Laos and more
importantly, it was the city where Gen. Vang Pao held his headquarters.

With tens of thousands of civilian lives in imminent danger in the Long
Cheng area, every ticking second mattered. For Dr. Yang Dao, there was
no room for a mistake.

As a member of the National Political Consultative Council (the Lao
Congress), Dr. Yang Dao was in a unique position to gain access to the
top leaders in the country. The following morning, May 11, 1975 at
11:00 a.m., he met with Prime Minister Prince Souvanna Phouma who was
the leader of the non-communist side, and Vice-Prime Minister Phoumi
Vongvichit who was a leader of the communist Pathet Lao side in the
Provisional Government of National Coalition of the Kingdom of Laos.

Although he was only 32-years-old at the time, comparatively young in
diplomatic years, Dr. Yang Dao was already a skilled negotiator.
Invoking the Vientiane Accord of 1973, an agreement made by all
political factions to seek cooperative measures, Dr. Yang Dao was able
to convince the Prime Minister Prince Souvanna Phouma and the
Vice-Prime Minister Phoumi Vongvichit to adopt a political solution to
the situation in Long Cheng in order to avoid a bloodbath.

Both of them promised to Dr. Yang Dao that nothing would happen if Gen.
Vang Pao—who had fought bravely all these years under the Royal Lao
Army, Dr. Yang Dao reminded everybody--would also strictly abide by the
Vientiane Accords.

After this historic meeting, at all costs, Dr. Yang Dao decided to go
the same day to Long Cheng to confer with General Vang Pao on the
political-military situation and on the most prudent steps they would
need to take.

Despite his family’s frantic urging for him not to make the suicidal
trip from Vientiane to Long Cheng, Dr. Yang Dao’s sense of duty and
love for his people compelled him to make the fateful journey. He then
took the last remaining Air America Cessna at Vattay International
Airport in Vientiane and flew to Long Cheng which had already been
completely surrounded by communist troops standing ready to launch a
final assault against the headquarters of the Second Military Region,
considered to be the base of the C.I.A. during the Secret War of Laos.

The young diplomat would spend an anxiety filled night locked in the tight quarters with Gen. Vang Pao and his remaining aides.

As Dr. Yang Dao recalls, there had been serious discussions on whether
the General’s forces had a fighting chance to salvage their position
and to perhaps initiate one last military operation.

After lengthy consideration, however, Dr. Yang Dao was able to convince
the General that his only option was to find passage out of Laos, thus
fulfilling his end of the bargain to the Prime and Vice-Prime Ministers
in keeping the Vientiane Accords intact.

On May 12, two sleepless days after he had received the message, Dr.
Yang Dao and Gen. Vang Pao would make their historical decision based
on what they believed would be the best solution for the survival of
the Hmong people: The two decided to leave the country, thereby giving
the communists no reason to strike against Long Cheng.

That next day, Gen. Vang Pao officially resigned his post of command of
the Second Military Region to the Prime Minister Prince Souvanna
Phouma. However, rumors of the communist and neutralist troops,
supported by tanks and heavy artillery, were moving closer to Long
Cheng, Dr. Yang Dao, accompanied by Col. Vang Chou (now residing in
Merced, California)—the one man who was equally as close to Gen. Vang
Pao as he was to Dr. Yang Dao—proceeded to send an urgent telegraph
from Long Cheng to Prime Minister Prince Souvanna Phouma in Vientiane,
to urge him to do whatever he could to stop the advancement of the
communist troops toward Long Cheng in order to avoid fighting which
would cause the death of tens of thousands of lives among the civilian
population.

On May 14, 1975, Gen. Vang Pao was furtively whisked away by airplane
to join with his family who was awaiting his arrival in Thailand. That
same day, Dr. Yang Dao left Long Cheng area by car to go back to
Vientiane to organize the escape of his family. A few lucky officers
had the fortune to escape with their families on the C-47 cargo planes
flown by Hmong pilot, Moua "Coyote" Chue and other Lao pilots.

The following day, May 15, the communist troops finally moved into and
occupied Long Cheng, the former headquarters of General Vang Pao,


without any resistance and violence.

News of the departure of Hmong military and political leaders spread
like wildfire in the mountains of Northern Laos. Within days, thousands
of Hmong, fearing for their lives, began to leave the mountains.

Making his way back to Vientiane, Dr. Yang Dao reunited with his own
family and organized their escape out of Laos. On May 15 at 3:30 AM, a
total of 37 people including his parents, brothers, sisters-in-laws and
all their children crammed into four small cars and proceeded secretly
towards the Mekong River with nothing but the shirts on their back.

"We still look at that time in our lives and wonder if there was divine
intervention at work because we had to cross three communist military
check-points and for some reason the gates were open at all three
stations where communist soldiers seemed to be asleep," recalls a
grateful Dr. Yang Dao.

He attributes much credit to Yang See (now residing in Saint Paul), who
had arranged for boats from Thailand to bring the Yang family from Laos
across the Mekong River and into their new lives.

With his family intact, Dr. Yang Dao looks back one last time to the
distancing banks of Laos, feeling like the most fortunate man in the
world.

Despite leaving every worldly possession behind, he is able to see the
glorious sun rising in the morning sky and he mentions to his family,
"As long as we are alive, we can rebuild a new life."

Dr. Yang Dao, who was on the faculty of the University of Minnesota,
today resides in a Minneapolis, MN, suburb with his entire family
including all 11 siblings and their families (all but two sisters who
live in California and his parents who have passed away in Minnesota).
Although retired, he is still very active in the Hmong community, often
as a guest lecturer at universities across the country.
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