1.1A Senate resolution
1.2honoring the life of Lieutenant Colonel Dr. WangYee Vang.
1.3WHEREAS, WangYee Vang was born on November 8, 1947, in Xiengkhouang, Laos; and
1.4WHEREAS, in December of 1960, WangYee Vang was registered in the army and was sent to
1.5Thailand for training; and
1.6WHEREAS, in January 1963, he received his brevet d'études du premier cycle from Lycée of
1.7Vientiane, Laos; and in 1969, he was sent to Rennes, France, for his bachelor's degree in teaching and then
1.8worked as a math and science teacher at Samthong College for two years; and
1.9WHEREAS, in the summer of 1970, after the North Vietnamese Army attacked Samthong and Long
1.10Cheng Airport, he was promoted to captain of the Special Guerilla Force; and
1.11WHEREAS, in 1971, WangYee Vang married My Ly and together they had six children; and
1.12WHEREAS, in 1973, Major General Vang Pao of Royal Lao Army of Region 2 appointed WangYee
1.13Vang as a Chief of the Personnel Bureau of the First Strike Division Infantry, and in 1974 he was promoted
1.14to lieutenant colonel and nominated as chief of staff for the Second Brigade Infantry; and
1.15WHEREAS, in 1975, after the fall of Laos, WangYee Vang and his family fled to Nam Phong,
1.16Thailand, for refuge; and in 1978 he lobbied the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the
1.17resettlement of 25,000 Hmong-Lao refugees to the United States; and
1.18WHEREAS, in 1979, his family came to Huntington Beach, California, as refugees and moved to
1.19Fresno, California, in 1989 and founded the Lao Veterans of America organization; and
1.20WHEREAS, WangYee Vang led the establishment of the Lao Veterans Memorial in Arlington
1.21National Cemetery to honor Hmong and Lao veterans and the American advisors who served in the Secret
1.22War in Laos, and he played a vital role in the implementation of the Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act
1.23of 2000 that granted Hmong veterans the rights of citizenship. The legislation was introduced in the United
1.24States Congress by Representative Bruce Vento and Senator Paul Wellstone and signed into law by President
1.25Bill Clinton; and
2.1WHEREAS, in 2004, WangYee Vang obtained his doctorate in business administration; and he was
2.2appointed by the governor of California to the board of directors for the 21st District Agriculture of Fresno
2.3from 2005 to 2012; and
2.4WHEREAS, Lieutenant Colonel Dr. WangYee Vang passed away on January 18, 2021; and
2.5NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the State of Minnesota that it honors
2.6the life of Lieutenant Colonel Dr. WangYee Vang and extends deepest condolences to those who knew him.
2.7BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is directed to prepare an enrolled
2.8copy of this resolution, to be authenticated by the Secretary's signature and that of the Chair of the Senate
2.9Rules and Administration Committee, and transmit it to the family of Lieutenant Colonel Dr. WangYee
2.10Vang.

Cal R. LudemanSecretary of the Senate

Paul E. GazelkaChair, Senate Committee onRules and Administration

Foung HawjState Senator, District 67