Expanding Boundaries: Hmong Nurses in Laos during America's Secret War, 1954-1974.
Author(s):
Baker, Dian L.; May Ying Ly; Pauza, Colleen Marie
Format:
Magazine article
Citation:
Women's History Magazine (1476-6760), Number 65, (2011). pp. 18-25.
Language:
English
Abstract:
The article discusses female Hmong nurses in Laos, focusing on the period of 1954 to 1974, the years of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Secret War or the Laotian Civil War. It examines the training of Hmong women in Western medical practices and considers traditional Hmong spirituality and animism. The authors particularly comment on Sam Thong Hospital in Laos and the work of humanitarian worker Edgar Buell, also known as Pop. They also provide excerpts of oral interviews with Choua Thao and Yia Ly Pacha, two Hmong women nurses who immigrated to the United States.