AJR74: Joint Resolution Text

LRB-3537/1

CMH:wlj:rs

2013 - 2014 LEGISLATURE

2013 Assembly JOINT RESOLUTION 74

November 25, 2013 - Introduced by Representatives Wright, Billings, Barnes, Bernard Schaber, Bernier, Doyle, Goyke, Jorgensen, Kahl, Murtha, A. Ott, Pope, Pridemore, Shankland, Spiros, Thiesfeldt and Tittl, cosponsored by Senators Shilling, Carpenter, Cowles, T. Cullen, Grothman, Hansen, Harris, C. Larson, Lehman, Petrowski, Risser, Schultz and L. Taylor. Referred to Committee on Rules.

AJR74,1,1 Relating to: the lives and services of General Vang Pao and Mrs. General Vang Pao.

AJR74,1,4 Whereas, General Vang Pao was born on December 8, 1929, and died on January 6, 2011, and his wife, Mrs. General Vang Pao, May Song Vang, was born on February 5, 1951, and died on August 5, 2013; and

AJR74,1,6   Whereas, General Vang Pao participated in the resistance efforts after the Japanese invaded and occupied French Indochina in World War II; and

AJR74,1,8   Whereas, after World War II, General Vang Pao was recruited by the French to combat the Viet Minh and the Communist Pathet Lao; and

AJR74,1,10   Whereas, General Vang Pao was the only ethnic Hmong to attain the rank of general in the Royal Lao Army; and

AJR74,1,13   Whereas, General Vang Pao commanded the Royal Lao Military Region 2, a special guerrilla unit, from 1960 to 1975 with support and training from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency; and

AJR74,2,3 Whereas, General Vang Pao's army saved hundreds of American pilots whose planes were shot down in Northern Laos, protected the U.S. radar system at Phou Phathi, and stopped the communist troops from crossing the Ho Chi Minh Trail; and

AJR74,2,5 Whereas, an estimated 35,000 Hmong soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians died in Laos during the Vietnam War; and

AJR74,2,7   Whereas, General Vang Pao immigrated to the United States after the Communist Pathet Lao seized control of Laos in 1975; and

AJR74,2,10   Whereas, thousands of Hmong refugees followed in General Vang Pao's footsteps and bravely escaped persecution and repression in Laos and resettled in the United States; and

AJR74,2,13   Whereas, General Vang Pao was admired for his work in establishing a nonprofit organization called Lao Family Community to help Hmong and Lao refugee families; and

AJR74,2,16   Whereas, General Vang Pao was respected for his efforts in forming the Lao Veterans of America, Inc., for the thousands of former ethnic Laotian and Hmong veterans and their families living in the United States; and

AJR74,2,18   Whereas, Mrs. General Vang Pao completed her education at Sisawangvong Medical University in Vientiane, Laos; and

AJR74,2,20   Whereas, Mrs. General Vang Pao worked for years as a surgical nurse and physician's assistant to help the less fortunate; and

AJR74,2,22   Whereas, Mrs. General Vang Pao devoted herself to carrying on her husband's legacy and helping the Hmong community; and

AJR74,2,24   Whereas, General Vang Pao and Mrs. General Vang Pao are survived by their sons, daughters, and grandchildren; and

AJR74,3,2   Whereas, General Vang Pao is revered by many in the Hmong community for his leadership and so many accomplishments; now, therefore, be it

AJR74,3,5 Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the Wisconsin legislature commemorates the lives and services of General Vang Pao and Mrs. General Vang Pao and mourn their passing.

AJR74,3,6 (End)