Veterans' Voices: The Secret War
While the United States was fighting a very public and controversial war in Vietnam, there was a "Secret War" in neighboring Laos. In the early '60s, there were approximately 300,000 Hmong people living in Laos, and more than 19,000 of the men were recruited into a military created and sponsored by the CIA. The war waged on into the early '70s and 18,000 Hmong soldiers were killed. Despite the fact that Minnesota has the largest Hmong population in the United States, and the "Secret War" is now fifty years behind us, most Minnesotans know very little about the "Secret War." This project is going to change that by sharing the stories and experiences of Minnesota's Hmong families who were impacted by "The Secret War."
Ampers Veterans' Voices
$194,000 the first year is for statewide programming to produce and distribute the Veterans' Voices program to educate and engage communities regarding Minnesota veterans' contributions, knowledge, skills, and experiences with an emphasis on the untold stories of veterans from diverse communities.?
More Minnesotans of all ages, ethnicities and incomes will have access to Minnesota history than would if this project was not funded.
The project will produce content that history teachers can use in Minnesota classrooms.
The project will result in more locally and Minnesota-focused content produced by public radio than would exist without these segments.