Harvesting Pa Chay's Wheat: The Hmong and America's Secret War in Laos

America's secret war in Laos from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s sounds like the stuff of conspiracy theories, but it actually happened. Keith Quincy uncovers the secret war America denied for over 30 years. From the Hmong's war of independence with France to America's use of Laos as a military staging point during the Vietnam War, the Hmong were exploited because of their geographic location and passive culture. "Harvesting Pa Chay's Wheat" traces the history that led to the mass exodus of the Hmong people and their immigration into neighbouring Thailand and the United States in the early 1980s. Keith Quincy is professor of government at Eastern Washington University. He is the author of "Hmong: History of a People" and other books.