Hmong National Labor Day Festival honors Hmong veterans of the Secret War

OSHKOSH, Wis. (WBAY) - Hmong Service Center Inc. celebrated Labor Day weekend with the Hmong National Labor Day Festival in Oshkosh on Saturday morning.

This event celebrated Hmong culture and honored 50 years since veterans from the Secret War moved to the United States. This year, a new monument was unveiled.

It was a very special moment during the Hmong National Labor Day Festival at Winnebago County Community Park in Oshkosh on Saturday as they cut the ribbon and unveiled a new monument honoring those who fought during the Secret War.

“If you look at it. You’ll never forget who you are, where you came from, and who your parents are. So, this statue is really meaningful, and I’m so happy that we have one here in Oshkosh,” said Kia Serinade Lor.

On the front, you see Lima Site 85, a location in the northeastern mountains of Laos that became crucial to the United States during the Vietnam War, along with an American CIA advisor and members of the Hmong Secret Army.

On the back of the monument, it tells the story of this 14-year-long war and the persecution that soldiers face for their involvement in it. Honoring 50 years since they resettled here in the United States.

Those seeing this for the first time were left tearful watching their hard work turn into reality.

That included Mee Yang, the president of the Hmong Service Center.

“I feel that, with this monument, anyone who pass through this place will learn something. When they leave this place, they will know what’s going on. They will carry a story that they did not know before,” said Yang.

But that doesn’t go without feeling a sense of pride in the ability to say you’re Hmong.

Like Kia Serinade Lor, a Milwaukee woman whose father, Chue James Lor, served during that time.

She said she feels emotional when thinking about the things her father went through.

“I thought of my dad being a really young kid by the end of the war. Just imagine how he goes through. It’s overwhelming, and it’s very emotional. It hurts deeply. But I’m glad he survived,” said Lor.

She says that because of him, she’s able to live in this country with her family and watch them all thrive in the land of opportunity.