Posted on 02/09/2013 8:32:31 AM PST by TurboZamboni
"I need people to understand this," said Ream Um, a retired mathematics teacher who worked for the St. Paul school district for 23 years.
The 71-year-old academic -- who in 1975 destroyed his eyeglasses and dentures to disguise his scholarly appearance from Cambodia's communist Khmer Rouge regime -- pointed to a sign displaying, in bold red letters, the words "Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness."
"The lesson is this: We have to make ourselves smart. Go to school, learn math ... but also this. This is important."
Beside him, Hoeun Hach -- a soft-spoken Oakdale man with an easy smile -- mentioned a man who was taken by the Khmer Rouge when Hach was 12, and likely executed.
"My father ...," he began, before covering his mouth and waving a hand in front of his face. "I'm sorry. I can't speak."
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
They are seriously mentally screwed up from the experience. My heart goes out to those people. Da was gutshot several times and left for dead. He's walking PTSD.
I knew Cambodia was bad, but until Da and I got drunk together one night, I had no idea how horrible it really was.
/johnny
This is the outcome of thought police and their favorite issue “Freedom”. The ultimate in that freedom is the power to defend your person. No gun control ever!
In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th century because of gun control: 56 million. You won’t see this data on the U.S. evening news or hear politicians disseminating this information.
Kind oif a half assed article though. It never mentiones the Ideology of the Khmer Rouge.
They werent just communists.
They wanted to create a simplistic agricultural paradise.
This was the only path to try to ultimately implement the ideals of the Green political movement. They make it sound good if you don’t think it through, but what would be required to bring it about is monsterous.
37 years after escaping killing fields, a Cambodian returns as US Navy commander
In 1979-80, I worked in Thailand as part of the refugee resettlement program. On occasion, I worked in the camps with the Cambodians. We would try to get the names and information about the family members and close relatives in case they could be reunited. I can remember about 3 words of Cambodian - male, female and dead. Very sad.
I have a buddy from Cambodia who lost a lot of family. He’s a great guy.
All,
Hoeun is my Step-Kids Father.
My Wife went through more Hell than you could ever imagine.
- Saw her Dad shot to death
- Saw her Mom did of starvation in a death camp.
- My Wife was given 1 tablespoon of Rice “per week” in her death camp.
Much more hell than I can write.
Read “The Killing Fields”; absolutely brutal. The hatred the agrarian peasants had for anything urban/civilized was frightening, and many of the Khmer Rouge “soldiers” were so young and impressionable. In an odd twist, they were overthrown by the Communist Vietnamese in 1979, who were in turn invaded in the north by Red China (allies of the Khmer Rouge). Bizarre...
Exactly what the godless leftists and the elites have planned for us.
Hide your eyeglasses!
“Read “The Killing Fields”; absolutely brutal.”
My Wife and other Cambodians I know said that was “10% of how bad it was”.
Geez.
Thank you, Nuc 1.1
She is doing well, I take good care of her.
She is a Christian, hard worker at a Medical Device company and very Conservative.
God Bless you and yours as well.
I’ve read the book (and seen the movie), read some of Al Rockoff’s commentary on the war that led up to it, and a whole lot more reading. Yes, horrifying and insane...even “evil” doesn’t go far enough to describe it.
Do any of the Cambodians you know ever say anything about Prince Sihanouk’s “role” in it? After some of what I’ve read, I can’t help conclude that he bears a lot of blame for what happened (by siding with the KR after his ouster by Sirik Matak and Lon Nol, thereby giving the KR “legitimacy”).
Amazingly, after the Killing Fields, they still do.
“My Wife and other Cambodians I know said that was “10% of how bad it was”.”
The author himself notes that, as he tries to do the math. He looks at what he sees around him, then applies it to the whole population, and realizes that over a million must be dead.
Ironically, the reverse of the ideological map of the USA.
The leaders were anything but agrarian peasants. They were typical failed intellectuals who thought they knew best.
To quote a religious book I have around here somewhere, “The killing fields of Cambodia began around the cafe tables of Paris”.
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