Colonel and Hmong advocate who worked alongside Gen. Vang Pao dies at 77

The Hmong community is mourning the death of Col. Vang Fong, who left school at age 12 to fight for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in Laos and would later work alongside Gen. Vang Pao to nurture Hmong culture in the United States and the central San Joaquin Valley.

Col. Fong died Feb. 17. He was 77 years old.

“It is a tremendous loss for the community,” said Maj. Nhia Vang.

“Colonel Vang Fong was one our greatest strengths. He was one of the fathers who led Hmong to America.”

Services for Col. Fong will be held over three days beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at Sunnyside Hall in Fresno.

A horse drawn carriage will carry Col. Fong’s casket in a funeral procession, accompanied by police and military salutes. Eulogies will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday with remembrances from the family and from community and elected officials including Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula and Fresno County Board of Supervisor Steve Brandou.

Col. Fong will be buried at 11 a.m. Monday at Fresno Memorial Gardens.

Col. Fong came to the United States in in 1980, after his family was airlifted out of Loas and spent several years in Thailand. He lived in Montana and then Huntington Beach before coming to the Valley, where he was known for supporting other Hmong veterans and families in becoming self-sufficient.

He was an active member of the Lao Veterans of America and Special Guerrilla Units Veterans and Families.

In his funeral program, Col. Fong is remembered for working “tirelessly with the late General Vang Pao in advocacy, ensuring equality, social justice, and opportunities for Hmong families in America.”

Gen. Pao, a revered if not controversial figure among the Hmong community in the U.S., died in 2011.