The Sheboygan Hmong Memorial (or Lao, Hmong and American Veterans Memorial) is a monument to the service and sacrifice of the Hmong people of Laos who fought for the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Sheboygan () is a city in and the county seat of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a populati ...
, which contains one of the larger Hmong communities in the United States. It was dedicated on July 15, 2006. Sheboygan was among the first United States cities to accept Hmong asylum seekers and immigrants in late 1976, after the victory of a communist government in Laos.
The memorial is intended to honor and memorialize all the
Hmong
Hmong may refer to:
* Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
* Hmong cuisine
* Hmong customs and culture
** Hmong music
** Hmong textile art
* Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...
who fought against communism. It includes 24 panels dedicated to military personnel who were a part of the Hmong Secret Guerrilla Unit Army that fought against the
North Vietnamese Army
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...
(NVA) in the Secret War, as well as all civilian participants. The monument was vandalized in 2008. In June 2010, a painted centerpiece (''pang dao'') was added, consisting of a green circle with traditional white needlework.
The United States did not acknowledge the Secret War until 1997, under the administration of President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, as a result of Hmong and Congressional pressure. In 2004, following several years of pressure from a coalition of U.S. conservatives and liberal human rights activists, the U.S. government reversed a policy of denying immigration to Hmong who had fled Laos in the 1990s for refugee camps in Thailand. In a major victory for the refugees, the US government recognized some 15,000 Hmong as asylum seekers and afforded them expedited U.S. immigration rights.Minnesota Lawyers. . Retrieved 14 Apr 2011