Bill
SF 1576
Minnesota bill appropriates state funds to preserve oral histories of Hmong veterans from the Secret War in Laos, documenting their service before aging participants' accounts are lost.
SF 1576 appropriates state funding to preserve oral histories of Hmong veterans who fought in the Secret War in Laos (1964-1973), a covert CIA-backed conflict where tens of thousands of Hmong soldiers served alongside U.S. forces. The bill directs resources toward documenting and archiving these veterans' firsthand accounts, experiences, and historical records before these testimonies are lost.
The Secret War is largely absent from mainstream American historical education, and many Hmong veterans are aging. Without systematic preservation efforts, their accounts of combat, displacement, and the war's aftermath—including mass casualties and refugee experiences—risk disappearing. Documenting these histories honors their service, provides valuable historical documentation, and supports educational awareness of an underrecognized chapter of U.S. military history with direct connections to Minnesota's Hmong community.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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