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Mai Der Vang, a Hmong-American writer in Fresno, said it wasn't until she studied the general's role in the war that she understood the immense cultural and economic changes her family had experienced. "It really allowed me to see why my parents worked so hard to ensure that I had a good education," said Vang, 29. "This war still haunts our elders and is something that still brings back very sad memories for people, so all that is coming up now." Bill Lair, who headed the CIA's paramilitary operations in Laos and recruited Vang Pao, was expected to attend, as were several other retired CIA agents and military officials. California Reps. Jim Costa and Dennis Cardoza have requested an Arlington burial for Vang Pao, but have yet to receive a response. The Army is handling the request as expeditiously as possible, Army spokesman Gary Tallman said Thursday. Earlier this week, a phalanx of the general's former recruits lined up in their fatigues to lay a wreath of yellow daisies before Vang Pao's portrait, which lay against a solemn monument to Laotian veterans on the lawn before the county courthouse. Most were well into their sixties, but the aging secret army still snapped to attention as their former commanders cried out in Hmong for them to salute in unison. "We fought in the American war, and if we didn't join that war there might be thousands more Americans dead," said Col. Wangyee Vang, president of the nonprofit Lao Veterans of America. "General Vang Pao wished to be buried at Arlington and we hope the U.S. will grant him that honor."
[Associated
Press;
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