Merced, California
May 26, 2006
Ge Paul Yang (b. 1945) and May Ying Moua aka Mary Yang (1946-2015) came to Merced in 1981 as refugees of the Secret War in Laos.
Ge’s sister, Chee Yang (frames #29 and #30) owned this land at the time these photographs were made and farmed half of it. She allowed Ge and May Ying to farm the other half. Chee Yang was the first professional Hmong farmer in Merced after refugees arrived there in the early 1980s. She started the first Hmong farmers market and later opened a brick-and-mortar store.
May Ying Moua married Ge Yang when she was 15 and he was 16. They have eight children.
Ge Yang grew up with Peter Chou Vang in Xiang Khouang Province (see the page entitled Peter Chou Vang Event for more information); they were childhood best friends. Peter Chou Vang became a soldier in Vang Pao’s CIA-backed army and was one of the first six Hmong soldiers to be trained as pilots in the Secret War. But Ge Yang ended up in Kong Le’s quasi-neutralist army. Kong Le commanded a third faction in the Secret War, sometimes fighting alongside Vang Pao and other times fighting alongside the Lao communists.
Sources say one day Ge Yang needed a helicopter to take him to Sam Thong airport. But the pilot didn’t know the way and mistakenly landed in Long Tieng, General Vang Pao’s base. Ge was immediately arrested because he was a soldier in Kong Le’s army. Vang Pao pointed a gun to his head, threatening to execute him on the spot.** Peter Chou Vang dropped to his knees, pleading with Vang Pao to spare Ge’s life, insisting that Ge was a good man who would serve the general well. Thanks to Chou’s efforts, Ge’s life was spared and he became a soldier in the CIA’s Special Guerilla Units (SGU) under Vang Pao’s command. Ge and his family lived in Long Tieng for the remainder of the war.
After the Royal Lao Government fell in May 1975, Ge Yang and his family escaped to Thailand. Their daughter, Paula (frame #12) was 8 when the family crossed the Mekong River on their way to Ban Vinai refugee camp. She remembers that her mother sewed rice into each person’s belt so that they could survive if they became separated.
Childhood best friends, Peter Chou Vang (left) and Ge Paul Yang (right) at an event honoring Chou''s military career.
The photo has special significance because Chou saved Ge's life during the Secret War, September 2, 2006
Years later in Merced, CA, Ge Yang’s daughter, Paula, married Peter Chou Vang’s son, Wayne, in a typically arranged Hmong marriage that was born of the two men’s close, lifelong friendship.
May 26, 2006 was a beautiful day in Merced. The weather was perfect and the strawberries were at peak ripeness. In the Central Valley, Hmong farmers are renowned for the unparalleled quality and flavor of the strawberries they grow; this photographer has never tasted better anywhere.
Daughter Paula Yang barbecued some trout wrapped in foil with fresh dill. Her husband, Wayne Vang, stopped by to share a delicious lunch with the family. Mai Ying Moua grilled savory pork chops for her workers, feeding them as she did every workday on the farm.
But the beauty of the day was bittersweet. Were it not for Peter Chou Vang pleading with General Vang Pao to spare his best friend’s life, this this strawberry field would have never existed, the Yang family might never have escaped the war, and Wayne and Paula might not have married.
**Note: journalists have interviewed numerous eyewitnesses who said that General Vang Pao committed summary executions and other war crimes. Below are three widely read sources:
Air America by Christopher Robbins (1979): This book includes an account where Vang Pao reportedly executed a Hmong soldier on the spot after the soldier accidentally shot down an aircraft. It also quotes Air America pilot, Wayne Lennon, who stated that the General would "summarily execute somebody who didn't do their job."
The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia by Alfred McCoy (1972): While primarily focused on drug trafficking, McCoy’s research and subsequent briefings detail how Vang Pao’s authority was enforced through the execution of dissenters and those refusing to fight.
Tragic Mountains by Jane Hamilton-Merritt (1993): Although generally considered pro-Vang Pao, this book contains accounts of him ordering executions of enemy prisoners and Hmong political opponents.
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Mai Ying Moua (left) and Ge Paul Yang (right) take a break during a long day of farming, May 26, 2006.
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Hired Hmong workers pick strawberries during peak season, May 26, 2006.
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A hired Hmong worker stretches to reach the ripest berries, May 26, 2006.
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A galvanized sheet metal “thimble” is worn on the thumb to quickly cut the berries from the vine. It is important not to pull them off, as either the berry or the vine can be damaged, May 26, 2006.
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A lone worker in a sea of strawberry vines, May 26, 2006.
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Freshly harvested strawberries in a crate await transport to the buyer, May 26, 2006.
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A hired Hmong worker returns to the field with two buckets she has just emptied, May 26, 2006.
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A young worker heads for the truck with a full bucket of strawberries, May 26, 2006.
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Chong Yang, son of Ge and May, checks the quality of a berry. Chong served as foreman on the farm at the time, May 26, 2006.
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A hired Hmong worker heads for the truck with two overflowing buckets of the world’s best strawberries, May 26, 2006.
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Hmong strawberry farmers prefer varieties like Chandler, Camarosa and Albion, which have superior flavor but shorter shelf life. Growing them requires much more delicate hand labor than commercial strawberries, May 26, 2006.
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Daughter Paula Yang pitches in to help with the harvest, though she is only visiting Merced for the day, May 26, 2006.
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A hired worker pauses while working to fill her bucket, May 26, 2006.
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The quality of Hmong strawberries depends on the small scale of their farms and their labor-intensive production. Typically, these farms are 20 acres or smaller.
Ge Paul Yang farms 20 acres while his sister, Chee Yang, farms the adjacent 20 acres, May 26, 2006.
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Ge Paul Yang caught in a moment of jubilation as his son, Chong, records the number of boxes harvested so far, May 26, 2006.
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Chong Yang prepares to drive another load to the buyer in Atwater, May 26, 2006.
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May Ying is happy after a day of successful harvest, May 26, 2006.
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Paula Yang prepares a large trout for lunch with herbs and shallots, May 26, 2006.
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Shelley Yang watches as her grandmother, May Ying, wraps Paula’s fish in foil, May 26, 2006.
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Fresh, foil-wrapped trout cooks over hot coals, May 26, 2006.
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Ge Paul Yang feels lucky to have survived the Secret War in Laos and built a new life in Merced, May 26, 2006.
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Mai Ying grills porkchops to feed her workers, as she does every workday on the farm, May 26, 2006.
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(Left to right) granddaughters, Sandy, Shelley and Wendy Yang enjoy strawberries fresh from the field, May 26, 2006.
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Granddaughter Sandy Yang had to feed from a tube for many years of her childhood, due to a throat blockage. Now an adult in her twenties, Sandy is able to eat normally today. Photo: May 26, 2006.
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The Yang family enjoys a lunch of fresh grilled trout and a well-deserved break. (Left to right) Shelley, Paula, Wayne Vang (Paula’s husband), Chong, May Ying, Ge Paul, Wendy and Sandy, May 26, 2006.
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Chong Yang shows off his tattoos from early gang involvement and prison time served, May 26, 2006.
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Chong Yang shows off the flip side of his tattoos from early gang involvement and prison time served. “Hmoob” is the RPA spelling of Hmong, May 26, 2006.
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Ge Paul’s older sister, Chee Yang and her husband, Blia Nong Lor arrive at the farm after lunch. She is the owner of this land and allows her brother to farm half of it, May 26, 2006.
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Ge Paul’s older sister, Chee Yang was the first Hmong strawberry farmer in Merced and started the first Hmong farmers Market there in the 1980s. Later she owned a brick-and-mortar store, May 26, 2006.
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Chee Yang holds a handful of red gold that she has just picked, May 26, 2006.