Primary Sources
Hmongstory40. “Hmongstory 40 Interview with Choua Thao.” YouTube, YouTube,
8 June 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK8T8621ouw.
This source is a primary source and an interview with Choua Thao. In this source we learned about what she experienced personally. This source gave us how she personally felt about what was happening to her and how she faced it.
Media, The kNOw Youth. “Choua Thao: Female Hmong Veteran Reflects on Secret War.”
Vimeo, 4 Nov. 2019, vimeo.com/126529223.
This source is a primary source. In this source we learned about what she experienced personally. This source gave us how she personally felt about what was happening to her and how she faced it. This source was a face to face video with Choua Thao. We learned how she felt and personal experiences that happened to her.
“The First Hmong Nurse.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 28 June 2019,
www.pbs.org/video/the-first-hmong-nurse-35622/.
This is a primary source. This source told us about Choua Thao’s experience talking to General Vang Pao. This source gave us more information on what she encountered as a nurse.
TPT Originals, and Tpt. “Meet the First Hmong Nurse Trained As a Medic During the Vietnam
War.” TPT Originals, 5 Aug. 2019, www.tptoriginals.org/meet-the-first-hmong-nurse-trained-as-a-medic-during-the-vietnam-war/.
This is a primary source. This source told us about Choua Thao’s experience talking to General Vang Pao. This source gave us more information on what she encountered as a nurse.
“Women's History Month: The Hmong Nurses.” Women's History Network, 29 Mar. 2011,
woxmenshistorynetwork.org/womens-history-month-the-hmong-nurses/.
This source is a primary source. In this source we learned interesting facts about her and how she became a nurse. This source gave us information that taught us more about her medical career.
Secondary Sources
“4 - Hmong Traditional Cultural Beliefs - Who Are The Hmong?” Google Sites,
sites.google.com/site/whoarethehmongs/4.
This is a secondary source. This source gave us information about Hmong people’s belief about Hmong women and men’s roles.
Anh Hoang, Trek to the Hmong Villages and See Pristine Tourist Attractions in Laos. Indochina
Charm Travel. 1/29/20. http://laostravel.indochinacharm.com/hmong-villages-laos-explore-culture-ethnic-minority-group/
This is a secondary picture. This picture is Hmong girls and women coming back from the garden.
Characters. Witness to a secret war. December 2019.
http://www.witnessestoasecretwarthefilm.com/characters/07.php
This source gave us information about what she did and who she worked with and what she is doing now.
Choua Thao. Air American Association Inc. Hmong Musuem. December 18, 2019
https://hmongmuseummn.org/collection/hmong-women-pioneers/choua-thao/
This is a picture of the Choua Thao when she was young and it shows us what she looked like growing up and becoming a nurse.
Choua Thao and Hmong Nurse. Air American Association Inc. Hmong Musuem. December 18, 2019 https://hmongmuseummn.org/collection/hmong-women-pioneers/choua-thao/
This picture is Choua Thao and Hmong nurse she worked with and it shows us what they looked like and what they wore as nurses and doctors.
Choua Thao and nurses in war. Air American Association Inc. Hmong Musuem. December 18, 2019. https://hmongmuseummn.org/collection/hmong-women-pioneers/choua-thao/
This is a picture of Choua Thao, two Hmong nurses and one of the American nurses during the Hmong new year. They are wearing Hmong clothing.
Choua Thao. Blackbird Films. Witness to a secret war. December 18, 2019. http://www.witnessestoasecretwarthefilm.com/characters/07.php.
A picture of what Choua Thao looks like now, that she’s older and it shows us how far she has come.
“Choua Thao: Female Hmong Veteran Reflects on Secret War.” The KNOw Youth Media, 7 June 2019, theknowfresno.org/04/30/2015/choua-thao-female-hmong-veteran-reflects-on-secret-war/.
This source is a secondary source. In this source we got some background information. This source gave us a bit more information about her childhood and the problems she went through.
“Choua Thao.” Hmong Museum, hmongmuseummn.org/collection/hmong-women- pioneers/choua-thao/.
This source is a secondary source. In this source we learn interesting facts about Choua Thao and about her as a nurse. This source helped us learn more about Choua Thao and what she had to go through as a child going to school.
Choua Thao Hmong Nurse. Minnesota Remembers Vietnam The Story Wall. December 18, 2019. A Minnesota PBS Initiative, Twin Cities.
https://www.mnvietnam.org/story/women-in-the-war/.
This is a picture of Choua Thao, and it shows us what she looks like now.
Hmong story cloth. Weebly. December 18, 2019 https://tswil.weebly.com/the-consquences.html
This is a picture of the Hmong story cloth which explains Hmong people lives while they were in Laos and when the Secret War was happening what did the Hmong people do.
Hmong people in the jungle escaping Laos. Independent. December 18, 2019.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-secret-army-still-fighting-vietnam-war-1901755.html
This is a picture of a Hmong soldier leading a group of Hmong people to freedom while they are still in the jungle. This shows us what some people had to go through to get to freedom.
Levy, 2004. The Vietnam War Chronicle of America’s Wars. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401: Lerner Publications Company.
This book gave us more background information about the Vietnam War and why it happened.
Lost photos: Hmong nurses of the Secret War. Little Laos on the prairie. December 18, 2019
https://littlelaosontheprairie.org/2019/02/27/lost-photos-hmong-nurses-of-the-secret-war/
This is a picture of Choua Thao in the nurse camp.
Lost photos: Hmong nurses of the Secret War. Little Laos on the prairie. December 18, 2019.
https://littlelaosontheprairie.org/2019/02/27/lost-photos-hmong-nurses-of-the-secret-war/
This is a picture of Choua Thao working on a patient.
Lost photos: Hmong nurses of the Secret War. Little Laos on the prairie. December 18, 2019.
https://littlelaosontheprairie.org/2019/02/27/lost-photos-hmong-nurses-of-the-secret-war/
This is a picture of Choua Thao and her kids. This shows us what her family looks like.
Lost photos: Hmong nurses of the Secret War. Little Laos on the prairie. December 18, 2019.
https://littlelaosontheprairie.org/2019/02/27/lost-photos-hmong-nurses-of-the-secret-war/
This is the picture of a hospital that Choua Thao worked at.
Pop Buell from USAID diagnosed a sick child in Xieng Khouang in 1960. Unforgettable Laos.
Word Press. December 19, 2019. http://www.unforgettable-laos.com/historical-of-events/part2/
This is a picture of Pop Buell helping and trying to save a sick child in Xieng Khouang in 1960.
Poverty in Laos on the decline, says Government. Investvine. February 17, 2020. Investvine.com/poverty-in-laos-on-the-decline-says-government/laos-rural-2/
This is a picture of what homes and villages look like in Laos. It gives us some background information about where she came from and what her childhood was like.
Shepherd, Melinda C. “Vang Pao.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21
Jan. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Vang-Pao.
This source is a secondary source. In this source we got some background information. This source gave us a little bit about what happened during the Secret War in Laos and Vietnam. We got to learn about a Hmong general named Pao Vang.
Smith, Whitney. Flag of Laos. Britannica. February 17,2020 https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Laos
This a picture of the flag of Laos. Laos is a country and has its own flag. The flag has a white circle in the middle to represent Japan for supporting Lao Independence during World War II. The red stripes on the flag represent the blood of those who fought for freedom and independence. The blue stripe represents promise of future prosperity.
The Consequences. Weebly. December 2019. https://tswil.weebly.com/the-consquences.html
This source gave in background information about communism in Laos, General Vang Pao, and how Ho Chi Minh was trying to rule in communism.
“The First Hmong Nurse.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 28 June 2019,
www.pbs.org/video/the-first-hmong-nurse-35622/.
This is a secondary source. This source gave us background information on Hmong people in China, during the Vietnam War and when they came to America.
Vietnamese soldiers in Laos. Spector. December 18, 2019.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/05/what-exactly-was-the-cia-up-to-in-laos-in-the-1960s/
This is a picture that shows what the war was like and what it looked like. We can see that from this picture that there are people fighting.
.
We wanted to learn more about the Hmong people during the Secret war. We also wanted to learn more about what happened during the Secret war and what happened. We then got help from my sister’s friend who is a professor and we learned a little more about the Secret War and how the Hmong people were involved. He then helped us find a specific topic to research on. We found a nurse that work during the Secret war and what she did that changed about what Hmong villagers thought back then. They thought that Hmong girls shouldn’t go to school. She inspired us, and we just wanted to learn more about her, her career, and how was her life back then compared to now.
We organized our research by citing the website, reading through the website once, and then went back to read it again and take notes and annotated the website when were all done taking notes and reading through it. Our notes were split up into four sections, background, barrier, breaking, and beyond. Each section had question that we needed to answer, but some sources did not have information in each section. We used secondary and primary sources for our research. When we went to go look for sources, we looked for reliable sources like .gov, .edu, .org, etc. We used interview videos of our person as primary sources. We used multiple sources to get as much information as possible.
We first started writing paragraphs for each section (background, barrier, breaking, and beyond). We also added in pictures and quotes to go with each section. Then we registered for our website and read the packet we received from class to get to know about the website and how to use it. We then brainstorm how we wanted our website and when we got it where we liked it, we went back into our document to go split up our paragraphs, so the paragraphs won’t be so long for the views to read, and then we went into our website and created pages for each section and put it in. For our finish touches we went to go change the background colors to make it beautiful.
Our topic connects to the theme because she was a Hmong girl and Hmong girls were not allowed to go to school and get educated. Her barrier was getting educated because Hmong boys and girls were treated differently. Hmong parents have higher expectation towards their sons and look lowly on the daughters. Daughters were only supposed to help with chores and go tend the garden, while sons went to school to learn. She broke that barrier by going to getting an education and took part in the Secret War. She was a nurse and treated many people during that time. She opened doors to Hmong girls to get an educated.