Minnesota SGU Veterans

A secret army, in their own words

From the highlands of northern Laos, the CIA recruited tens of thousands of Hmong, Mien, Khmu, and Lao men and boys to fight along the Ho Chi Minh Trail — a war Congress had forbidden U.S. troops to enter. For fourteen years they fought, and for fifty more they have fought to be remembered.

1961

The recruitment begins

The first Hmong fighters are airdropped supplies at Pa Dong under CIA officer Bill Lair and a young commander named Vang Pao. A clandestine army takes shape in Military Region 2.

1964

Village defense to guerrilla units

Local militias are organized into standardized 500-man Special Guerrilla Unit battalions — trained to operate far beyond their home villages across all five military regions.

1968–72

The heaviest fighting

Recruitment peaks. Hmong SGU pilots fly T-28 bombers until they are killed in action. During Operation About Face, SGU soldiers defeat North Vietnamese forces and capture their supplies in Xieng Khouang Province.

May 14, 1975

The last command

The American-trained command structure over the SGUs ends. Facing retaliation, some 20,000 soldiers and families flee toward Thailand. The date is now honored in Minnesota as SGU Veterans Remembrance Day.

1975

A new home in Minnesota

Resettled as refugees, between 5,000 and 7,000 SGU veterans and their families build new lives in the Twin Cities — the heart of a community still seeking full recognition for its service.

“We were proud to serve alongside the CIA. We could not let the communists win — and many of my men died fighting to protect democracy.”

An SGU Veteran

Recorded in the SGU Veterans & Families of USA oral history collection

Watch & listen

Filmed testimony from the veterans themselves — recorded while their voices can still be heard. The documentary and interview series form the living heart of this archive.

Resources for veterans & families

Practical help, historical context, and tools for telling your family’s story — gathered in one place for the Minnesota Hmong and Lao SGU community.

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Benefits & advocacy

Updates on state and federal legislation, the SGU recognition effort, and where to find support navigating veterans’ services.

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Record your story

Guides and contacts for adding your service account to the oral history archive — in Hmong, Lao, or English.

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History & education

Lesson materials, maps of the military regions, and reading for teachers, students, and descendants learning the history.

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Remembrance Day

How Minnesota marks May 14 each year, and how families and communities can take part in commemoration.

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Family & widow support

Connections to community organizations offering social and emotional support to veterans, widows, and their families.

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Tracing service

What to know when searching for a relative’s record — and why so little documentation survives.

The documentary archive

Filmed interviews, photographs, and recorded testimony — preserving voices while they can still be heard, for the families and future generations who will carry this history forward.

Collected voices

Threads of the same history, held in archives across the country:

Voice

Oral histories of Hmong & Lao SGU veterans, recorded in their own languages.

Image

Photographs from the SGU Collection and the Center for Hmong Studies.

Record

Maps, briefings, and the historical record of CIA guerrilla operations in Laos.

Place

Toward a permanent museum to house artifacts, records, and stories.

Why so few records survive

A war designed to leave no trace

Because the Secret War was clandestine, CIA case officers handled all pay, bonuses, and death benefits directly. Rosters often listed soldiers by first name only — and the records were later destroyed. As a result, no archive of individual SGU service records exists today. This is precisely why community testimony, family memory, and oral history are not supplements to the record. They are the record.

Help carry the story forward

This project belongs to the community. Every interview recorded, photograph shared, and story told strengthens the record for the next generation.

Share your story

Are you a veteran, a widow, or a descendant? Your testimony belongs in the archive.

Contribute artifacts

Photographs, letters, and documents help build toward a permanent museum.

Volunteer & translate

Help with interviews, translation between Hmong, Lao, and English, and outreach.

Support the work

Stand behind recognition, education, and the preservation of this legacy.