♪♪ >> Cathy: THE VIETNAM WAR ENDED 50 YEARS AGO.

THOUSANDS OF HMONG AND LAOTIAN SOLDIERS WERE RECRUITED TO HELP THE U.S.

IN SPECIAL GUERRILLA UNITS OR S.G.U.s IN THE C.I.A.

'S SECRET WAR.

AFTER THE WAR, MANY OF THOSE S.G.U.

SOLDIERS RELOCATED TO MINNESOTA WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND THANKS TO MINNESOTA'S NEW S.G.U.

BILL THOSE SOLDIERS CAN BE NOW BE RECOGNIZED AS AMERICAN VETERANS.

HERE TO TALK ABOUT THIS LEGISLATION ARE SENATOR FOUNG HAWJ AND KAOHLY VANG HER.

SENATOR HAWJ, HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS RECOGNITION?

>> YOU KNOW, IT'S GREATLY IMPORTANT.

OUR ELDERS HAVE BEEN HERE 50 YEARS AND MANY HAVE ALREADY DIED OFF AND WE'VE BEEN WAITING TIME FOR A MOMENT WHERE OUR STATE, OUR COUNTRY RECOGNIZES THE S.G.U.

AS FULL FLEXED VETERANS, NOT JUST BY -- FULL-FLEDGED VETERANS, NOT JUST BY WORDS ALONE BUT BY PUTTING IN STATUTE THAT THESE S.G.U.

GUERRILLA UNITS ARE VETERANS.

AND WE RECOGNIZE OURSELVES WHEN VETERANS DIE, THE BURIAL AT JACKSON CEMETERY OR HAZELWOOD, THEY HAVE A TOMBSTONE THAT INDICATED THEY'RE A VETERAN, BUT THAT IS OUR OWN FAMILY CONTRIBUTION TO OUR OWN RECOGNIZED.

I WOULD SAY 95% OF HMONG ARE DESCENDENT OF VETERANS OF THE S.G.U.

>> Eric: WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THE RECOGNITION?

>> SO THE RECOGNITION INCLUDES THINGS LIKE DRIVER'S LICENSE DESIGNATION, LICENSE PLATE, USE OF SERVICE FACILITIES AT THE MDVA AND A NUMBER OF OTHER PIECES OF PRIVILEGES HAT WE WOULD SAY ARE NONMONETARY.

SO THINGS THAT THE DEPARTMENT CAN OFFER AS A TOKEN OF APPRECIATION FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTION.

>> Eric: WHAT KIND OF REACTION IS IT GETTING IN THE COMMUNITY?

>> OUR COMMUNITY COULD NOT BE MORE THRILLED.

ESPECIALLY OUR S.G.U.

VETERANS WHO THEY WERE NEVER LOOKING FOR SOME KIND OF MONETARY BENEFIT, THEY WERE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR THE RECOGNITION OF JUST THAT THEY FOUGHT WITH THIS COUNTRY AND THAT THEY SACRIFICED BECAUSE DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM WAS IMPORTANT TO THEM.

AND SO TO JUST HAVE THAT RECOGNITION IS THE HONOR HAT THEY'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR.

>> Cathy: IT MUST BE PRETTY EMOTIONAL AFTER ALL THIS TIME TO HAVE THE RECOGNITION.

>> YES, I'VE IN TEARS SO MANY TIMES BECAUSE I LIVED THAT LIFE IN MY EARLY YEARS AND SEE BODY BAGS COMING HOME ON A DAILY BASIS.

MY FATHER WORKED AT THE AIRPORT, SO, YOU KNOW, AND THE SAD PART IS THAT SOME OF THE BODY BAGS WERE CHILDREN NO LONGER -- NOT MUCH OLDER THAN ME BY TWO YEARS, AND NOT MUCH TALLER THE M-16S THAT THEY CARRIED.

IT'S SOMETHING I WANT TO BLOCK OUT OF MY MIND BUT IT'S PART OF MY HISTORY.

I'M EXCITED, IT'S PART OF MY MINNESOTA LEGACY, HMONG MINNESOTA LEGACY BECAUSE IN THE FUTURE, HMONG ALREADY, WE'RE ALREADY PART OF THE MINNESOTA SALAD BOWL HERE, SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST AN ADD-ON TO OUR LEGACY AS MINNESOTANS.

>> Cathy: YOU MENTIONED THIS, SOME PEOPLE WANT TO JUST PUSH THIS AWAY, BUT I WONDER, SOME OF THE HMONG VETERANS, MAYBE EVEN THOUGH WHO HAVE PASSED DID THEY EVER TALK ABOUT THEIR SERVICE?

OR WAS THAT SOMETHING YOU JUST NEVER BROUGHT UP?

>> I'VE SEEN SORT OF A CHANGE.

MY GRANDFATHER WAS A COLONEL IN THE SECRET WAR AND HE WAS ONE OF THE HIGHER RANKING MILITARY OR VETERANS, AND HE ALMOST NEVER TALKED ABOUT HIS SERVICE.

IT WASN'T UNTIL NEAR HIS PASSING THAT HE STARTED SHARING SOME OF THE STORIES ABOUT SOME OF THE BATTLES THAT HE WON THAT I REALIZED HOW SIGNIFICANT AND WHAT IT WAS THAT HE DID DURING THE SECRET WAR.

AND SO I THINK THAT THROUGH THE YEARS AND THE TRAUMA, IT WAS INITIALLY BLOCKED OFF SO THAT THEY DIDN'T SHARE A LOT OF THE STORIES BUT AS WE ARE REALIZING THAT OUR VETERANS ARE, WE'RE LOSING MORE AND MORE EVERY DAY, THAT THE URGENCY OF COLLECTING THEIR STORIES AND THE URGENCY OF RECOGNIZING THEM AND HONORING THEM IS WHAT IS PUSHING US TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE MIGHT NOT HAVE HAD 20, 30 YEARS AGO.

>> Eric: ARE THE YOUNG PEOPLE KEPT UP TO DATE ON THIS AND APPRECIATE THE SACRIFICE?

OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT FADES WITH TIME?

>> I THINK OUR SCHOOLS ARE DOING A GREAT JOB OF TEACHING THE NEW GENERATIONS, YOU KNOW, BUT IT'S MORE THAN THAT, WE NEED TO PUT IT ON PAPER AND KEEP IT AS A MINNESOTA LEGACY SO THAT IT'S NOT JUST A HMONG HISTORY ALONE, BUT HMONG MINNESOTA HISTORY AND MINNESOTA HISTORY AS OUR POPULATION CONTINUED TO GROW.

WE STARTED HERE WITH JUST 20,000 IN POPULATION THE EARLY '70s OR THE EARLY '80s BUT NOW THE POPULATION BASED ON THE CENSUS IS ABOUT ALMOST 100,000.

THE SAME AMOUNT OF POPULATION AS BETWEEN 1965 TO '75 OF HMONG IN LAOS DURING THAT TIME.

THE CASUALTIES WHEN WE LOST 35,000 THAT'S ALREADY 1/3 OF OUR POPULATION AND THE 50,000 AS WE TRIED TO ESCAPE FROM LAOS.

IT NEARLY WIPED OUT OUR HMONG PEOPLE OUT OF LAOS.

>> Eric: THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR COMING BY.