Once Chia Long and Gnia Sau arrived at home [Fi Kham] the communists knew [surmised] that they had contacted the enemy, and were afraid that the enemy troops could be hidden anywhere. The men stayed at home for two nights, and then on the third night went to Shong Lue with the word from General Vang Pao. They talked it over during the night but early the next morning Yong Yia Yang and Gnia Vue Lor brought Vietnamese troops to attack Shong Lue at Fi Kha village. Yia Vue, a student from Mua Long, was shot to death right at Shong Lue's door step, but Shong Lue, his family, Chia Long Thao and Gnia Sau Her had [earlier] escaped into the jungle. At that same moment a group of Khmu' from Kiaw Ba village arrived to learn the Pahawh, but were shot at by the Vietnamese, and two of them were killed right at the village entrance.

Earlier the same day Gnia Sau Her had taken Shong Lue and his family off to join with Vang Pao's side. On the way they arrived at a hilltop covered with thatch grass [Imperata, a tall, tough grass which grows in areas which have been over-cultivated by swidden farming]; it was raining heavily and everyone was wet and tired. Shong Lue was afraid that they would be caught by the Vietnamese soldiers so he [and
his family changed plans and] went and hid in the [dense] Kiaw Boua Mou jungle in Vietnam instead.

Appeal to communist officials

While Shong Lue was hiding in the big jungle where he could not be found by the communist troops, the nearby civilians were put under very heavy restrictions, forbidden to take food [out of their villages] to eat at their fields [when they were working], so that they would not be able to feed him. So Gnia Chao Thao and Gnia Xiong provided a pig of five fists [measured with a cord around the body, divided in half, to put on a feast in order] to beg for mercy from Yong Yia Yang, Gnia Vue Lor and the Vietnamese [who were staying] at a Lao village called Fi Chala [during this period of trying to find Shong Lue]. They had the meal all prepared but it was refused by [the communist leaders], who said that unless Chia Long Thao and Gnia Sau Her also came. They would not accept the meal. They would eat only if the two of them were also present. So Gnia Chao and Gnia Xiong had to go back [two hours walk] to get Chia Long and Gnia Sau. It was a very risky situation, but the latter two men finally decided to attend the meal. On that particular day also, a daughter-in-law of Chia Long Thao was badly ill so that a shaman was performing a ceremony to find the cause of the illness, but Chi a Long had to go. It caused great distress and foreboding to him and his family. His son held onto his arms and pulled him back. not letting him go, but someone was needed to stead [the bench for] the shaman [jumping up and down to and from the bench in his trance] and to keep him from falling, so the son went back inside the house, and Chia Long Thao had the opportunity to leave.

Everyone was crying because they were afraid that it would be the last time they would see each other. It was a situation in which the alternatives were all bad. However,Nao Va Thao, who was mayor of Muong Kham [a town in the area], had also come along with Gnia Vue Lor and the other officials. He asked the men if they were afraid, and they replied that they were, because they had contacted the enemy. Nao Va told them not to be afraid, "If the two of you should be arrested, Yong Yia should also be arrested, because his assurance to Shong Lue made him move to your village and caused you all of the problems." This made the two of them feel relieved.

They were all gathered in a Lao house on stilts when the communist officials arrived and questioned them about why they had contacted the enemy. They replied, "Shong Lue told us to go, so we did." Again the officials said, "We knew about that; that's why we needed you two to come and say that; what are you so frightened about?"

The facts were all discussed and the communist officials were satisfied. They joined the meal and forgave them; they all then stayed over night at the village. After the problem was solved, the Vietnamese allowed the civilians to go back freely to their farm fields as in the past, and they had the chance to harvest their rice crop that year. Later the Vietnamese again put many restrictions on them. They kept telling the civilians not to be afraid, as they were only going to arrest those who contacted the enemy, but the clan representatives [leaders in worship under Shong Lue] were afraid and sent people to talk with Shong Lue, to see what his suggestions might be. He responded that the twelve clan representatives should continue worshiping the Father and they had full authority to take charge of the people. They should do as he had taught them, and everything would be all right; they should not wait for him any more.

Once Shong Lue's answer was received, many clan leaders were afraid [they might not do things right]. They stopped worshiping and learning the Pahawh, but Wang Chao Thao [who was one of them], together with Xai Xue Vang and Pa Kao Her [who were teachers of the Pahawh Hmong] and fifteen Khmu' men went to build a round house for worshiping the Father and teaching the Pahawh at Pha Bong village, in Vietnam. Right after everything was built, however, it became known to the Vietnamese, and Wang Chao Thao's group was attacked by the communists.  There were two hard-fought skirmishes with the Vietnamese troops.  [The villagers and students] won the first one, but the Vietnamese went back for more soldiers and in the second attachk Wang Chao Thao lost one of his eyes so [the followers of Shong Lue] lost the second fight with the communists.  During the period of the fighting between Wang Chao Thao and the communists, Chia Long Thao went back again to get help from General Vang Pao at Long Cheng.

General Vang Pao sends help

The general and aircraft to transport troops commanded by [Captain] Youa Va Lee, SGU 1 (Special Guerrila Unit 1], to help.  Among them was Chia Koua Vang [first author of this account].  These were troops recently arrived from training in Thailand.  They left Long Cheng in February 1964, and landed at Ban Xong Village, bringing along Chia Long Thao.  Once the 400 soldiers had all arrived, they walked from Ban Xong to Ban Vieng, past Kiaw Boua Village, the Nam Mak River, Chua Tho Village and Tue La Village, before they broke up into in three groups. One group went to Fi Kham village to look for Shong Lue. One group went to get the civilians from Nam Cha Village [because there were many followers of Shong Lue there] and brought them back to resettle in Kiaw Boua Village. The third group went to Ha Chau Village to cut off any Vietnamese pursuit and protect the civilians, so that they could be moved to Kiaw Boua. The group that went to look for Shong Lue met Wang Chao Thao's group in retreat, right after losing the battle. Wang Chao was badly wounded and many students had been killed. They took the wounded to Kiaw Boua and sent them on[overland] to be hospitalized at Long Cheng. They could not find Shong Lue hiding in the jungle.

Shong Lue was in the jungle for nine months until he heard that Vang Pao's army had moved all of the civilians to Kiaw Boua. At that same time the Vietnamese were very restrictive toward the civilians [who were helping him]. Those who had brought him food could no longer help him. There were people [from the nearby villages] who led the communist troops to search for him and arrest him. They caught the rest of his family there in the jungle, but he escaped with his oldest son Ge Yang. Shong Lue and his son then moved and hid in the jungle called Fi Eu. He went to see people [in a nearby village]who knew him well and sent a message by them to Wang Houa Ber Yang, who was one of the clan representatives who were worship leaders at Kiaw Boua, to come and get him so that he could join them.