From: J. L. (milveh@dslextreme.com)
Date: Sat Oct 22 2005 - 09:03:46 PDT
>>H'mong! Would that be ex-Vietnam hill tribesmen with a Gurka like
reputation?
Yes, it would. This is an interesting story in itself too.
Just prior to and shortly after the end of the great Vietnamese "Patriotic
war" or as they call it now the "American War", theseH'mong tribesmen were
in great danger of being eliminated to the point of extinction by the
Communists forces who had suffered extremely high causalities at their
hands. Some H'mong fled to Thailand and many of them were brought to
America later and some escaped directly to America in a mass airlift. (Was
the least we could do for all their excellent fighting along side our
Special Forces units)
Due to the H'mong culture not have a written language and their "first name"
use only, it was confusing to the Thai refugee handlers. So, H'mong took on
Thai last names to speed up the immigration process. Most just adopted the
name Sachao (English equivalent would be Smith, Smyth or Smythe) so they
could complete the required last name on the government immigration forms.
Consequently if you flip open the phone book here you need only find
"Sachao" and you have found a H'mong! lol
Keep in mind, these people were very primitive types with many unique
customs and an ancient language that kept them isolated from the North
Vietnamese that lived nearby. So, in this case it worked to our advantage
in a time of war...there's a lesson in there for other nations with
languages that tend to divide and isolate an otherwise local resource.
The H'mong children adapted quickly in Northern California and now work
pretty much in the mainstream, but a large number of the older folks chose
to work the land as they did before in the highlands of Vietnam. And they
continue to do so with sometimes astonishing results! Speaking as a farmer
now, I've never seen anyone grow as much with such wide variety in small
areas, as the H'mong. But, then they were used to growing crops by hand on
the side of a rocky mountain in Vietnam, so it figures!
We also have a number of South Vietnamese living here. In fact there is a
Locally (Chico) we many have Vietnamese families too, just not in such
shopping district in Sacramento (about 100 miles from here) that is called
Little Saigon. As the name implies its like a trip back to Vietnam. Very
interesting area with some of the best restaurants you'll find anywhere and
a lot of living history about the Vietnam war too! You won't find any
group more anti-communist north of Florida than these people.
concentrated numbers as Sacramento, unless it's at the "farmers market" on
Thursday and Saturday. For that we close a few streets and the local
farmers set up booths, lots of cheap veggies!!!! lol Also locally, we are
also host to a former General of the South Vietnamese Army (name withheld
for privacy/security).
Note: Cold war brought us a huge enclave of Russian dissidents and a mix of
Eastern Europeans to Sacramento area too...only I wished we had left those
East European Gypsies behind, what a rotten bunch of cons they are! lol
War has so many unforeseen social consequences doesn't it?
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