Genocide in Cambodia - 1975-1979

The first of the Indochinese countries to collapse, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, fell to the Khmer Rouge, the communist forces in Cambodia, on April 17, 1975. As recreated in the movie, "The Killing Fields", the Khmer Rouge evacuated the entire city of Phnom Penh, forcing everyone out into the countryside. Their goal was to create a new "Angkar", a new country based on the ideology that their leaders had developed over the previous decades. Angkar was going to be self-sufficient and the old ways were going to be replaced. The residents of the cities were the "new people" and they needed to be re-educated. The communist cadre were suspicious of the city folks, especially the intelligensia. Immediately they were singled out, with parents separated from children as the Khmer sought to discover who was educated. Those that were educated or spoke more than Cambodian or wore glasses were executed.

Elizabeth Becker, in her book "When the War was Over!" explains that the Khmer Rouge leadership had developed this distorted sense of nationalism as a result of the lack of support that they had received during their fights, first against the French,then the US. Although many had been educated in North Vietnam and had had contact with China, none of the other communist entities had given them much support in their struggles. As a result, they trusted no one and were forced to develop their own ideology of extreme self-sufficiency.

We visited one of the killing fields on our second day in Phnom Penh, one of over 100 in the country. There were many, many pits that had contained the executed and we walked around them, stunned at the events that had taken place there. A monument, probably several stories high held 10 platforms, enclosed in glass, of skulls of the victims, as well as their clothing. We asked our guide if Cambodia children learned about this and he replied that they did, but that with each generation there were less who cared about it.


Back in Phnom Penh, we visited Tuol Sleng S-21, the notorious prison. The prison warden, Duich, has been recently tried and convicted and is awaiting sentencing for the activities there. The building itself had been a school, with the classrooms used for torture and holding cells. Even some non-Cambodians were held, tortured, and executed here. When the evacuation of Phnom Penh occurred, those who could not provde with a passport that they were another nationality were in trouble. The Khmer Rouge documented all their prisoners here and their photos are on display, along with a sign that says "No smiling while taking the photo." Who could have smiled in such a place???


"Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it"

Laos - Just photos

Sunrise on the Mekong














At one of the wats















Wat Sisaket














Penny and Rick Johannasen














Off on our Tuk-Tuk tour of Vientiane















Patuxai Monument (aka the Vertical Runway)

Arrival in Laos - Jan 24

(Sorry for the delay in posting! Between travel yesterday and trouble with internet access, I wasn't able to get connected.)

We left PNH at 3:50 for VTE on Vietnam airways. It's about a one hour flight and feelings were running pretty deep as we began our descent into Wattay Airport. When we touched down on the runway, a cheer went up and the group started clapping. The rest of the passengers on the plane, and it was a full flight, all looked at us like we were crazy! The terminal jetways ramps into the terminal (yes, they have jetways today) are quite open so I stopped to take a picture of the plane and then of various members of the group as they stepped on Lao soil for the first time in 35 or 40 years. There were tears and cheers.

Took quite a while to get our visas and clear immigation. Laos doesn't believe in giving you your paperwork on the plane so you can prepare in advance. However, they do have a more efficient process for issuing the visas compared to Cambodia - four folks sitting side by side, and sliding the passport through the steps. 1) Hand over the passport with the paperwork and 2 photos. 2) Attach the photo to the paperwork. 3) Stamp the passport with the Lao visa. 4) Accept payment and return the passport to the owner. You don't even want to hear how it was done in Cambodia. On the bright side, all the baggage was waiting for us down in baggage claim. As for "anything to declare?" The customs guy didn't even look at me as I went by.

We were met by Frank Manley, of Manley Enterprises AND Penny and Rick Johannasen. What a nice greeting! (I also ran into the tour guide that I had had when I returned to Laos in 2006. As I told him, once he got over his surpise, "see, I told you I would be back"

It was dark by the time we headed into town and could only see a bit of the old airport vut it looked like there were still old hangers. The new road is further away but apparently the old terminal is still being used as a domestic terminal.

(Must head downstairs for reception for a bit - will resume later)

In Cambodia

It was a long trip from RDU to LAX to HKG to PNH. The weather didn't help as the flights were bumpy and the winds were not in our favor. I don't travel as well as I used to! We were delayed getting into Hong Kong and landed with little time to make our flight. However, Cathay Pacific had a gate rep to meet our group and check our boarding paperwork to pre-clear us. With the rep holding a sign for us, the 30 of us ran across the airport, cleared security again, and made it down to the transfer bus to take us over to another terminal. We arrived at the gate as they were calling "Final boarding call." They had held the plane for us.

Arriving in PNH, we all got our visas on demand and two buses were waiting for us to take us the short trip into town. Flying into PNH, it seemed alot like Northern Thailand, perhaps Korat. Once in town, the French influence appeared in the city street layout and some of the buildings. But the traffic is totally crazy. Bikes, tuk tuks, buses, cars, motorcycles all vie for the same space, and stopping at stop signs is completely optional (though they do stop for traffic lights.)


We are staying at the Phnom Penh Hotel, a very nice new property. Jennifer and I were going to go for a walk but the bell captain convinced us to hire a car for $20 and have him drive us around. "Too hot, missy" It was a good idea - it was hot and dusty! We were able to get a good sense of the city and noted the new building going on. A new casino complex, which could have been built in Atlantic City, is going up on the Tonle Sap river. Malaysian investment dollars have funded this. We saw a number of joint building efforts, including a Korean-Cambodian convention center and the new Canada-Cambodian bank.


This evening Jennifer and I took advantage of the hotel spa and got a two-hour Thai massage for $20 each. The petite masseur managed to do a good job getting most of the kinks out from the travel.

Tomorrow we are off to see a bit more of the city including the Tol Sen Genocide museum. There's no sense of the events of 1975-1979 currently, but it is easy to picture the city empty, after the population was forced down the broad boulevards, out of the city, into the Killing Fields.

We have gathered at LAX - Gate # 105

The crew is assembling here. The roll call includes: Lloyd Coleman, Jennifer Hynes, Vivian & Anong Pennington (and family), Myra and Monica Yockey, John Emory, Kim and Elaine Cashbaugh, Jack Anderson & wife, Marilyn Polak & husband, Kent and Rosalind Schnoeker,Carol Synder & family. Toni Moorehouse and Elizabeth Lilly are supposed to be making their way through check-in and security. We should start boarding in less than an hour! Laos, here we come....

Made it to Los Angeles

Despite weather all across the US (and all sorts of commotion with my mother), I am in LAX, purloining electricity from a spare wall outlet.

Shortly I will head over to the International Terminal and meet Lloyd, our reunion organizer, and my best friend from our days at ASV, Jennifer Hynes. More to follow.

ETD is tomorrow

Less than 12 hours to ETD. Last minute details getting the netbook finalized so I can blog throughout the trip, scanning old Lao memorabilia and trying not to forget anything... By this time tomorrow evening our group will be gathered at the gate and getting ready to board our flight out of LAX to Hong Kong.

35 Reasons why we have to attend RL35!

1) To prove that we really did survive “Youth in Asia”, even if we can’t remember it any more

2) To listen to the “oldies” like “Paint it Black”, “Proud Mary”, “Yellow River”, “American Pie” and “Black Magic Woman” where we heard them for the first time

3) We can have an “adult beverage” in front of our teachers and not get in trouble!

4) To hang out at Le Spot and see what that was all about, because some of us were too young to go when we lived there

5) To raise a toast to those who didn’t make it out of Laos, and to remember those who we have lost in the years since

6) The Royal Air Lao ticket said “Let it happen to you in Laos”. Let's see if we can find where “it” happened

7) To revisit the wats and That Luang because we didn’t appreciate their significance when we were young

8) We can say “Bo Peng Yang” all we want and people won’t look at us funny

9) To see if we can find our old homes, however, mine's been torn down....8-(

10) There’s nothing like drinking a beer and watching the sun set over the Mekong River (especially from our riverside hotel)

11) We can climb up to the top of the Monument and peer into the “den of spies”, aka the USAID compound

12) To give back to the Lao people, in a small way, for the wonderful experience we had living there

13) We miss drinking sodas in plastic bags

14) Do the Lao women still sit under the street lights at night and catch bugs for snacks?

15) We lived history here – 1973 Peace Accords, the Kong Le coup, Lam Song 719, the 1975 evacuation

16) Because we need new baci strings to ward away evil spirits!

17) No one else would believe the aircraft we flew, what we flew with, and that we flew with the ramps down

18) To get into KM-6 and see our old alma mater (singing the school song is optional)

19) Get up the nerve to ask that cute guy/gal to dance or at least have a conversation with them

20) To visit Luang Prabang or Pakse or Angkor Wat, with old friends

21) Do they still burn the rice fields and does it still smell the same?

22) We know that the Air America pilots were nothing like the movie with Mel Gibson! (But the scenery was pretty authentic)

23) Can we raise the GDP of the Lao PDR by buying all those wonderful fabrics we just took for granted?

24) Because no one else would believe that we really ate at a restaurant called Phu Ky’s and that they had really great noodles.

25) We have to make it back to Laos before the first fast food restaurant does

26) To find out what happened to our fellow Lao students

27) We have to enjoy a cup of Lao coffee, now enjoying a resurgence

28) Did the “Most Likely to Succeed” folks really succeed??

29) To reminisce about our horse, our motorcycle, our swim in the Mekong, the jungle camping experience or the night train to Bangkok

30) To remember being 12 or 15 or 17 and the wonderful adventures we had in the “Land of a Million Elephants”

31) Compare notes between the floods of 1966 and 1971

32) To relive those days in May 1975 when the KM-6 compound was held hostage and we walked out of our houses with a single suitcase

33) Because we have been to a previous reunion and we know how great it was!

34) Or perhaps you haven’t made it to a reunion yet and you want to know what all the fuss is about!

35) For those of you who can't make it, you will be there in spirit, or perhaps virtually, and those of us who get to Laos will miss you!

Six days and counting

6 days and counting! Back to Southeast Asia on January 21, 2010. RDU – LAX – PNH – VTE on January 21, 2010.

Why is this a big deal? Because in May of 1975, I left Vientiane in the last days of the conflict in Southeast Asia, without having the chance to say goodbye. The ghosts lingered for years. I was fortunate to have attended the ASV reunion in Phoenix in 1995 and the reunion in Washington DC in 1998. I backed out of the October 2000 reunion back in Laos due to the political issues but had dinner in Bangkok with those travelling to Laos. In 2006, I had a brief, but private, opportunity to return. Travelling with two wonderful friends, I found Vientiane much the same as when we left. The people were as friendly as ever and remarkably the city felt much the same despite the 31 years, 1 month, 19 days, and about 11 hrs that passed since I left Wattay airport on May 23, 1975.

In just a few days, some of us lucky enough to have lived in Laos, will gather in Vientiane, due to the incredible efforts of Lloyd Coleman, to relive and remember the sights, sounds, smells and memories of our days in the “Kingdom of a Million Elephants.” Stayed tuned!!!