Interview with Ms. Loung Ung February 4*^, 2002 Whitman
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OH Sarah Comeau COM 2002
Comeau, Sarnb Comeau 1
Table of Contents
I. Contract Page 2
II. Statement of Purpose Page 3
IIL Biography of Ms. Loung Ung Page 5
IV. Historical Contextualization
"Cambodia's 'Killing Fields'" Page 6
V. Interview of Ms. Loung Ung Page 21
VI. Interview Analysis Page 29
VII. Appendices Page 35
VIIL Works Consulted Page 37 ST. ANDREW'S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
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Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this oral history project is to expose the Cmnbodimi genocide
(1975- 1979) through the words and emotions of someone who escaped the "Killing
Fields". This was a time of turmoil, mass genocide, stm^vation, mid depression in the third world nation of Cambodia. Ms. Loung Ung tells her story of loss and survival. This interview is the personal account of Ms. Ung's struggles and accomplishments, mid provides new insight that is not always available in traditional historical sources. Comeau
Ms. Loung Ung
vvww.btintemet.com/-'andy.brouwer/ung.htm Comeau 5
Biography of Loung Ung
Loung Ung was bom in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1970 to Sem Im Ung mid Ay
Choung Ung. There were seven children in Loung's family, she had three brothers and three sisters. Her father was a militmy police captain under the Eon Nol govemment. Her
family and her was evacuated from Phnom Penh on April 17 , 1975. Loung lived in a
commune, where her family and her worked constantly, on meager portions. Her sister
Keav was taken away in August of 1976; she later died in mi infirmary. Her father was taken away from by Khmer Rouge when she was six, in December of 1976. Her mother then proceeded to kick her and her remaining siblings out ofthe house so they would
have a better chance of survival. Loung and her sister ended up going to the same work
camp for children, they begged for food mid shelter, mid claimed they were orphans. Her
mother and youngest sister were killed in November of 1978. Loung escaped to Vietnam
in 1979, after the fall ofthe Khmer Rouge with her brother Meng. Her oldest brother
Meng still lives in the United States with his wife mid two daughters. The rest of her
surviving family, her two other brothers mid one sister still live in Cambodia. Loung
leamed English, attended American grade school through high school, and eventually
earned her BA in political science. She moved to Washington DC after working for three
years in Maine at a domestic violence shelter. Since 1997 Loung has been working at
Campaign for a Land-Mine Free World (CEMEW), she now is its spokesperson. Loung
currently travels globally speaking about her experiences in Cambodia and spreading the
message about landmines. Loung is residing in Washington, DC. Comeau 6
Cambodia^ "Killing Fields"
Historimi Eric Hobsbawn refers to the 20 century as the "Age of Massacres".
During this period Hitler, Stalin and Cambodia's Pol Pot were responsible for the deaths
of approximately 34 million people . The slaughter ofthe Jews and other minorities
under Hitler, the extermination of Stalin's opposition, and the execution of millions of
"upper class" Cambodians by Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime are why these men
are leading figures in the 20 century. The 1970's were a decade of massacre, war,
corruption and tragedy in Southeast Asia. The United States was engaged in a "war"
with Vietnmn between 1954- 1975 as part of the Cold War. The Vietnamese {Youns)
were attacking Cambodia with the intention of overthrowing the government. The border
between Thailand and Cambodia was becoming heavily guarded because ofthe thousands of Cambodians trying to seek refuge in Thailmid (appendix one). Cambodia
was about to enter the most tragic period in its history under the rule ofthe Khmer
Rouge. As a result ofthe Khmer Rouge rule, 2.5 million Cambodians would be killed
with millions trying to flee the brutal regime led by Pol Pot.
The word Cambodia is the English trmislation ofthe Cmnbodimi word
Kampuchea. The former Prince of Cambodia, Sihanouk, explains the meaning ofthe two terms; "[These] designate the same country, the Imid ofthe Cambodians or Khmers"
(155). Sihanouk goes onto declare that the word "Khmer" designates the racial majority
in Cambodia {Kampuchea) (155). Many historimis compare the Cmnbodimi revolution
and genocide to that of others: "The Kampuchean revolution bears comparison with the
While there is an ongoing debate about the accuracy of numbers. Hitler is credited with about 12 million deaths, Stalin with about 20 million deaths, and Pol Pot with about 2.5 million deaths. Comeau 7
Russian [1917] and Chinese [1949] revolution in terms ofthe percent ofthe total population lost, [the Kampuchean Revolution] is undoubtedly the bloodiest" (Etcheson
149). The Khmer Rouge regime was a group of Communists that tried to reach the
"ideological goal". Historian Kimmo Kilijunen describes this "ideological goal" as "the creation of a classless society" (15). The classless society would consist of no leamed peoples. The Khmer Rouge intended to "cleanse" the population of those who were educated, those who worked under Lon Nol, or who lived in the cities. The Khmer Rouge needed these people dead because they believed that the people were threats to the govemment, Pol Pot knew that the educated were wise enough to eventually perform a coup d'etat and might one day overthrow the govemment. In order to perform these mass killings the Khmer Rouge established large sites, which are now referred to as the
"Killing Fields," where they would dispose of and or kill the people who were deemed a
"threat" to the govemment. In response to the genocide the victims rushed to the borders of Thailand and Vietnam. In addition to dealing with the executions of millions, the
United Nations and the Western world had to deal with the amount of refugees that were at the borders of Cambodia's surrounding countries. Democratic Kampuchea wrote its constitution in 1976 which stated that the people:
Desire an independent, unified, peaceful, neutral, nonaligned, sovereign Kampuchea enjoying
territorial integrity, a national society informed by genuine happiness, equality, justice, and
democracy, without rich or poor and without exploiters or exploited, a society in which all live
harmoniously in great nation solidarity and join forces to do manual work together and increase
population for the construction and defense ofthe country. (Ponchaud 199-200) Comeau 8
The desire to create this "Utopia" required the deaths of over 1/3 ofthe Cambodia
population between the years 1975- 1979 . The people that died during this time were
either executed or died of disease. This "Utopia" needed those who were literate, mid
educated dead, because they posed threats to the govemment. Cambodia's struggles mid
hatred towmds the western system of govemment and thus the embrace of communism
began with Cambodia under French control.
Cambodia had not been free from foreign rule until 1953 when Prince Sihanouk
decided to negotiate with France for eventual freedom through his "royal crusade for
independence." During this time France was preoccupied with the current situation in
Communist Vietnam so independence was grmited in 1953. In 1954 Cambodia would not
abandon neutrality and join an anti- Communist alliance, despite the pressure from the
United States. In 1958 Sihanouk recognized the Communists in Cambodia by calling them "Khmer Rouge," the Red Cmnbodimis. The Khmer Rouge fled to the countryside
where they officially began their underground resistance against the Cambodian
govemment. In 1963, Sihanouk cut off American aid, fearful that the Americmi
involvement with Vietnmn and Laos would engulf Cambodia. In 1965, the Prince ended
diplomatic relations with the United States. During this time Sihanouk allowed the North
Vietnamese forces to establish "sanctumies" in Cambodia. The United States and the
South Vietnamese invaded Cambodia, infringing on Cambodia's "neutrality." American
diplomatic relations with Cambodia were restored in 1969, and secret America bombings
occurred in Cambodia to destroy the North Vietnmnese sanctuaries. On Mmch 18 , 1970
Cambodia becmne involved in the Indochinese war; North Vietnamese troops marched
deeper into Cmnbodia, the United States and South Vietnam pursued them into the
As of this writings there are no statistics on the different types of peoples that were executed. Comeau 9
neutral territory. No more thmi a week later Sihanouk was meeting with Laos mid
Vietnamese Communists to discuss the struggles with the United States in their countries.
Sihanouk united with former enemies, the Khmer Rouge, in attempt to overthrow the Lon
Nol govemment and eliminate the presence ofthe United States in the Khmer Republic.
The Lon Nol mmy was in a state of distress when it failed to prevent the Khmer
Rouge from capturing the road to the capital, Phnom Penh. Lon Nol declared that the
country was in a state of emergency. In January 29 , 1973 the United States and North
Vietnam signed an agreement in Paris agreeing to end militmy action in the Khmer
Republic, a week later that treaty was violated by both countries. The United States ended
bombing and all military action in the Khmer Republic, the govemment was now on its
own to fight off the Communist regime ofthe Khmer Rouge. On April 1^, 1975 Lon Nol fled to the United States, on the twelfth the American embassy was evacuated. The
Khmer Rouge captured the capital, Phnom Penh, concluding years of civil war in the
country. Later, the people would be taught to call this day mid yem, April 17 , 1975,
"Yem Zero." Thirteen days later the wm in Vietnam ended.
Pol Pot was the ruler ofthe Ankgar or the Khmer Rouge regime, the county was
renmned Democratic Kampuchea. Pol Pot was motivated by dictators such as Hitler,
Mao, and Stalin, his revolution mocks theirs. On December 31^^, 1977 Cambodia broke
off diplomatic relations with the recently reunited (1976) Vietnam. This is the first time
in history that two Communist countries have broken off diplomatic relations. A year
later Vietnmn launched a full-scale invasion of Cambodia. On January 7 , 1979
Vietnamese troops captured Phnom Penh. They then installed a Communist puppet Comeau 10
government, and changed the name ofthe country to the People's Republic of
Kampuchea. Once again Cambodia was under foreign rule.
Immediately after the overthrow ofthe Lon Nol govemment the people residing
in the cities were made to leave mid fled to the countryside where they would begin a
new lifestyle. According to historians there were three major reasons why the Khmer
Rouge removed the people from the cities. There was a security problem, "it would be
very difficult to secure the cities against various counterrevolutionary elements"
(Etcheson 144). Another reason would be that the United States was going to bomb the
cities. A last reason for the evacuations was the Khmer Rouge were faced with health,
sanitation, and food distribution problems which would be much harder to control in the
city, therefore, they decided that a return to the agrmian society would be the solutions
for their problems. The cities represented a lifestyle of freedom to the people of
Cambodia, mid to the Khmer Rouge leaders. While residing in the cities it would be
hmder to maintain a communist govemment and full control ofthe people. There would
be more room for treason, and anti- Khmer Rouge activists. In the countryside, while
living in the communes, the people would be under direct guard and control, without any
anti- communist groups arising. This was the main reason why the Khmer Rouge regime
decided on a return to agrmianism.
Pol Pot needed the return to agrarian society so he could tum the country into a
"gigantic workshop" (Kieman 164). The Khmer Rouge govemment needed control over the masses. They believed that they could control the people in cooperatives. In these
cooperatives there would be no privacy, no talking amongst the "prisoners," for fear of
giving away secrets of past life (everyone in Cambodia had a past life, which they had to Comeau 11
hide for fear of execution). There would be strict obedience or death would result. In
order to have a return to agrarianism there would have to be an elimination of
industrialism, or the cities.
Historimi Etcheson refers to the forced march out ofthe cities a "omnidirectional
exodus" (144). Bunheang Ung describes this movement:
In that mass evacuation of a city swollen with refugees, and with the sick and wounded of a war
where no callousness, cruelty, suffering and despair compounded the sense of shock and
disorientation which the command to leave had produced. The order was carried out with blind
single-mindedness, by peasant soldiers hardened by war and inured to a harsh and merciless
discipline in the name of their revolution. They had been trained to obey without question, to the
death. (Stuart 11) The wounded mid ill were t^en from the hospitals. An observer would see families
pushing their sick loved ones on a bed through the packed streets. "They [Khmer Rouge] threw grenades at those who had been unable to move" (Martin 173). The Khmer Rouge
would calmly shoot down stragglers mid the elderly. The govemment now in rule was
lead by Pol Pot. His network of advisors had mmiy different views on the "Killing
Fields."
The foreign minister under the Khmer Rouge regime, leng Sary, denied reports of the mass killings of civilians in the Democratic Kampuchea. He stated; "Mistakes might
have been made by some cadres [...] some acts may have occurred without our
knowledge" ("Cmnbodimi Killings Denied" A22). When the commander of an artillery
regiment, Chuk Han, was interviewed about the numerous executions since the
communist takeover, and Pol Pot's stance on the situation, Han said that Pol Pot denied that there had been large-scale killings in Cmnbodia during the yems he was in power. Comeau 12
Journalist David Lamb in his article from the Los Angeles Times; "Pol Pot's Death: A
Macabre Chapter Ends: Cambodia: Shadowy Rebel Used Mass Murder in Bid to Reshape
Society", describes the situation in Cmnbodia as a "nightmare of Hitler- esque
proportions." Upon discussing how the term "Killing Fields" becmne pertinent to
Cambodia, Lamb continues to say, "starvation cursed the Imid, bodies turned to skeletons
on the farmland where they fell, until finally the phrase "the killing fields" became
synonymous with Cmnbodia" (1). Historians now understand the full reason why the term fit the situation especially after the 1984 movie, "The Killing Fields". The Killing
Fields are a mass grave where hundreds of thousands lie; two rebels upon being captured
with the charges of treason alleged that the corpses of one- hundred thousand lie in a
killing field east of O Keng Kong in the Koy Forest. Researchers from Yale University's
Cambodian Genocide Program stated that by 1996 they had found more the 100 "killing fields" with 8,140 pits for mass graves. Journalist Bmry Wain from the Asian Wall Street
Journal "visited the Dangkor district south of Phnom Penh and reported what seems to
have been mi extermination center, "discovered" by local villagers upon their return to the area in 1980. Exploration ofthe site reveled 129 mass graves containing an estimated
16,000 bodies. Some ofthe bodies were still linked to one another by crude leg and arm
shackles" (Etcheson 147). Researchers claim that Pol Pot was responsible for the deaths
of one out of every seven Cambodians, others believe that one- third ofthe population
was missing at the time of liberation from the Vietnamese. Historian Etcheson stated, that
because ofthe amounts of unidentified bones that are decomposing in the mass graves it
will "never be known precisely how mmiy lives were lost in the Khmer Rouge
revolution." He goes further to say: Comeau 13
Approximately 7.2 million (plus of minus 10%) population of Cambodia in 1970 plus the
approximately 1.5 million live births over the period; roughly 4.8 million (plus or minus 15%)
Cambodians are alive today in 1983. At least one- third and possibly as many as _ of the Khmer
people have perished as a result of war, disease and starvation, and political terror. (149)
The ways which the people were exterminated were equally as horrifying as the numbers
of casualties, the people that Pol Pot chose to execute were "intellectuals".
If a Khmer was educated, knew another language, was a teacher, a nurse, a
doctor, worked for the Lon Nol govemment, lived in the city, had many possessions
(mostly valuable ones) that individual was in danger of being executed without mercy by
a Khmer Rouge soldier (yothea). If that individual was a minority, or even wore glasses they were in danger. The Yothea executed these people mercilessly because they were
believed to be a threat to the govemment. The Angkar (or the "organization") was what the people leamed to live under. The govemment was killing people everyday. Historian
Ben Kieman interviewed a survivor. Sat, who said, " [that the] killings took place at some
distance from the village [...] He heard that the victims were bound mid then beaten to
death" (Kieman 335). Youths that had long hair could be arrested for no reason except their appearance. Long hair was a symbol ofthe corruption of American culture, an
imperialist culture, and a culture that exploited urbanism and a society that formed social
classes. A former Khmer Rouge cadre spoke about his past life:
We killed those who tried to escape; I captured three of them. Those we surprised at night in the
act of saying bad things that were educated, which means that they worked harder than the others.
If they repeated the offense, they were killed with a cudgel or pickax [...] children were also killed
if they made a lot of mistakes. (Martin 167)
The Angkar "embodied an effective and invisible power to which everyone owed total obedience" (Martin 158). Some referred to the Angkar as a "kind of faith" (Martin 199). This was the govemment which the people lived under for forty- four months. Comeau 14
Witnesses talked about the killings ofpeople by decapitation with a machete or hatchet.
They killed babies with knives mid smashed others into trees (Martin 213). The Khmer
Rouge had to eliminate anyone that could be a possible threat to the govemment, in order to create a classless society. Everyone that lived had to be able to work the twelve-hour
days on seventeen grains ofrice a meal. Pheng Thuon, a former Khmer pilot stated that
"you wouldn't even find one invalid during the Khmer Rouge time. Any man with one
arm or one leg was accused of being a Lon Nol soldier. They were all killed" (Y 92).
Those who were not killed by the soldiers died of stmvation, exhaustion or another
disease (appendix two).
The lack of food in Cambodia during 1975- 1980 was due to the poor
management ofthe Khmer Rouge. The soldiers burnt over half ofthe crops for fear that the Vietnamese were eating from them. In April of 1975 Cambodia was on the "brink of
starvation," in order to "avert a major food disaster" Cambodia would need from
"175,000 to 250,000 metric tons of milled rice" (Kiemmi 163). An average amount of
rice per day per Cambodian would be 700 grams. In 1975 restrictions were put on food,
mainly rice. People then received 50 grams per person twice a day every day, and 50
grams of salt every week. This food ration was not enough for the people to survive on,
especially when the work was grueling mid exhausting. In 1976, for about three months,
no rice was granted at all, there was none. Early in 1977 the people were rationed 85
grams per person per day. Starving people attempted to eat cadavers (Martin 175). A
young boy remembers: "We ate grass; there were even people who ate cadavers; they tried to dig down and just get a bit ofthe flesh. In one case, the Khmer Rouge took them
by surprised and killed them" (Martin 175). The starvation, the executions, the unsmiitmy Comeau 15 living conditions caused people to escape to the borders of surrounding countries, creating a refugee problem.
The neighboring countries, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnmn had to handle the amounts of refugees that were fleeing from the dictatorship of Pol Pot. The following chart shows how many refugees there were, and where they were relocated.
Khmer Refugees 1975- 1981
Total refugees (1975-1981) 850,000 of whom fled to:
Vietnam 150,000
Thailand (1975- 1978) 50,000
Thailand (1979- 1981) 630,000
Laos 20,000
Returnees to Kampuchea following
Mmch 1979 from:
Vietnam 130,00
Thailand 234,000
Laos 20,000
Total 384,000
Resettled in following provinces:
Battmnbang 120,000
Siem Reap 79,000
Prey Veng 68,000
Takeo 45,000 Comeau 16
Svay Rieng 72,000
Total 384,000
Moved to third countries (1975-1979) 72,000
Moved to third countries (1980- 1981) 44,000
Total 116,000
Final destination country:
United States 74,200
Frmice 21,400
Canada 5,800
Australia 4,100
Switzerland 1,300
New Zealand 1,200
Federal Republic of Germany 800
Belgium 600
Other 6,600
Total 116,000
Remaining refugees (Jan. 1982) in:
Vietnam Ethnic Chinese 20,000
Thailand 330,000
Total 350,000
(Kilijunen 47)
The refugees becmne a burden to many Southeast Asian countries because most countries were not prepared to accept what was then estimated to be one to two million ill and half- Comeau 17
starving persons. Intemational humanitarian aid became involved in what was soon to
become the largest hummiitmimi operation ever. One billion American tax payers dollars
were put toward the aid for Cambodia. The United States got involved after viewing
satellite photographs that showed that only 10% ofthe rice had been planted. Different
countries mound the world found organizations such as the Red Cross, and local churches to accept to take in refugees. The United Nations was faced with a violation to the
Declaration of Hummi Rights.
The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (passed Dec. 10 , 1948) states that:
The universal Declaration upholds the right to life; security of person; freedom of movement,
opinion, belief, expression, association; education; social security; participation in the cultural life
ofthe community; equal protection of law; etc. It prohibits enslavement, torture, arbitrary abuse,
arbitrary interference with privacy of family etc. (Ablin 119)
The governments of Austria, Canada, Great Britain, Norway mid the United States
submitted papers documenting the violations by Democratic Kampuchea to the United
Nations Committee in 1978. The meeting discussed whether Cambodia was involved in a
genocide or not, the definition of genocide was made clear: "miy ofthe following acts
committed with the intent to destroy in whole or in pmt a national, ethnic, racial or
religious group" (Ablin 126). In order to destroy these groups one would have to commit
inhumane acts such as: Killing members ofthe group, deliberately inflicting mental or
bodily harm to members ofthe above mentioned groups, imposing measures to prevent
births, mid transporting, forcefully, children ofthe group to another group (Ablin 126).
The Committee brought mmiy violations to the public eye: Comeau 18
The forceable and precipitant deportation [...] from Phnom Penh [...] totaling an estimated three to
four million persons- without regard to age or physical condition [...] the launching of a systematic
program aimed at the physical elimination of various categories of persons [...] Many ordinary
people have died as a result of being forced to perform exhausting manual labor, under a strict
regime, without being provided with sufficient food, rest or medical care [...] Numerous persons
have been subjected to summary execution through cruel and barbaric methods including
disemboweknent, pole axing, and beating to death, etc. Prisoners have been bound and chained for
long periods or tortured. (Albin 121-123) These are a few ofthe points that were investigated during the United Nations conference
regmding genocide in Cambodia. The United Nations was also considering that the
Youns were at war with Cambodia during this time.
The battle between the Vietnamese and the Khmers lasted from the early 1970's to 1979, ending with the "liberation" ofthe Khmers. The wm with the Vietnmnese began
in the early 1970's with the North Vietnamese troops retreating into Cambodia. After the
withdraw of Vietnamese troops from Cambodian land, the Khmer Rouge army attacked the villages of Youns along the border, killing hundreds. On January 7 , 1979 the
Cambodians were liberated from the Khmer Rouge regime; the Vietnamese army
captured Phnom Penh, the capital. The nmne ofthe country was changed to the People's
Republic of Kampuchea. The Vietnamese set up a puppet Communist governing system
for the country while the United Nations and other countries were involved in a massive
aid program.
Historimi David Chandler believes that the "Cambodian revolution crashed to the
ground because ofthe persistence of so many counterrevolutionmy ideas among rulers
[...] so much poor leadership, and so much counterrevolutionary behavior" (237). Others
believe that the revolution to create a Marxist society failed because ofthe poverty in the Comeau 19
country and the inexperience ofthe leaders. Pol Pot would not accept his failure so he
fled to the mountains with the remainder of his troops.
Taken from the Los Angeles Times' "Pol Pot's Death: A Macabre Chapter Ends;
Cambodia: Shadowy Rebel Used Mass Murder in Bid to Reshape Society", the Khmer
Rouge radio read a statement saying "Our radio would like to declare that Pol Pot died of
illness at 10:15 p.m. on April 15 , 1998". Journalist Stephen Morris from the Boston
Globe in his editorial "Who Cares About Cambodia" describes Pol Pot's reign as "one of the most brutal totalitarian dictatorships ofthe 20 century." Under his regime money
was abolished, libraries and hospitals were smashed, and thousands of Buddhist pagodas
were destroyed. Pol Pot escaped an intemational tribunal where he would have been tried
on the account of genocide. The Vietnamese conducted a "trial" in 1979 that found Pol
Pot guilty of genocide, he was sentenced to death. This was not upheld, and Pol Pot was
able to flee to the isolation ofthe forests and mountains, where he would later die. There
are monuments to his rule such as the torture chambers ofthe Tuol Sleng prison, a former
"killing field" enclosed in a glass case, which contains unearthed skulls, with some still
wearing tattered blindfolds. Pol Pot's regime killed over two million Cambodians in the three years, eight months, and twenty days which he was in power.
Pol Pot's reign will be documented in Cambodian history. More sites of "Killing
Fields" me being discovered. The Khmer Rouge still exists but not in such extreme ways.
There are still uprisings and assassinations in Cambodia, much turbulence and unrest is
present to this day, one ofthe most recent incidents was during the 1996 elections. The
people that lived through those years will always remember the fear, the hunger, and the
pain. They will never forget the Khmers who turned against them to become killing Comeau 20
machines. Pol Pot's unorthodox visions of Communism were buried with arguably one of the most brutal dictatorships that Southeast Asia has encountered. Comeau 21
Interview Transcript Interviewee: Loung Ung Interviewer: Sarah Comeau Date: December 13*, 2001. 11am. Washington DC
Sarah Comeau: What do you remember about your childhood before Pol Pot came to power?
Loung Ung: I remember it was very peaceful. It was a lot of fun. I had three brothers and three sisters mid we lived in a nice house, we had everything we needed. My father was a politician and a high-ranking military official. So that afforded us a lifestyle of privilege. You know, it was just a normal childhood, I think very similar to many other American childhoods, we had toys mid food and nice clothes mid I spent my days going to school studying English, Chinese and Cambodian and studied six days a week and on the one day off, on Sunday, my father would take us to the swimming pool where we would play in the water, or he would take us across the street to the movie theater, with all nine of us where we would just go sit in the movie theater. We would sit in the dark and watch scary movies, so it was really normal.
SC: Why did you write your book?
LU: Its always been there and I think that one of my frustrations growing up in America after the wm was that when people heard of my story, and knew a little bit about it, they always seemed to say, it was so lucky that you were a child, you must have forgotten, you adapt better and it was easier ifyou went through it as a child. And it was really frustrating, it almost made me angry, people assume that as a child your feelings were not as intense, and you weren't there, you didn't suffer as much. When in actuality I thought that it was more confusing, it was harder because the only thing that we lack that the adults had was a way to articulate it, vocabulary to tell them what we were feeling. You know and I wanted to write the book in the voice of a childhood, so people know that children do go through this and that it is just as hard, and just as confusing, and just as scary. And the other reason I think that is my nieces, it originally started with my nieces even though a lot of them are still in Cambodia, when you have a quarter ofthe population die there's a lot of ghosts. People don't really want to talk about it, they want to go on mid live life in a time of peace, and yet for those who were not in the war there will always be those ghosts, they will feel it, they will see it, but no one ever talks about them. I just really wmit my nieces to know the history, and also so that a lot of my nieces and nephews and cousins have a chance to met their grandparents, their aunts, their uncles, and their grandmother. And I had the great fortune of knowing them for a few years. If they were ever going to met their grandparents more thmi just in passing conversation they can only met them through my heart, my mind, so I really wanted to give them that sense that their grandparents didn't just die in the war, that their grandpments didn't just suffer. Because when people talk about the war it is always just about the suffering, but I wanted them to know their grandparents as heroes, as really Comeau 22
great people, as grandparents who take kids to the movies so I really wanted them to know that.
SC: What were you told by the govemment about why you were being forced to leave your home?
LU: Nothing. I didn't know anything about it, I was very young. We were just told to leave Phnom Penh because the Americans were bombing, and that's all we knew. I didn't know who the Americans were; I didn't know what the Americans were. But Ijust knew that they were bombing and we had to leave.
SC: Historian Etcheson refers to the forced movement as an "omnidirectional exodus." Do you agree with that?
LU: What do you mean by that?
SC: I don't know, I guess that it was viewed like an exodus, everyone was leaving, everyone was going [nods].
LU: I know Craig, Craig likes big words. I know Craig Etcheson very well, [ laughing], I just have to call him mid say that. It was forced migrations, everybody was leaving, ifyou remember the images of New Yorkers and Washingtonians during 9-11 that brought me back to the evacuation of Phnom Penh. Then you see New Yorkers running away from falling buildings, dazed and confused, not knowing where they would go, not knowing HOW they were going to get home, not knowing whether they should hitchhike, and the whole city sort of collapsed. That was Cambodia, we had two million people evacuated on April 17 from the city, you didn't know what you were going to pack, you didn't know ifyou were ever going to go back home, you didn't know if the city was going to collapse, all you knew was that you had to get out, had to get out. There were soldiers going around saying that the bombs, the planes were coming, and there were explosions in different parts. And so it was just sort of New York times ten. The hospitals were evacuated. [A Doctor portrayed in the "Killing Fields"] wrote his book on how he was in the middle of surgery. And then they said that they had to evacuate, and so all the nurses and stuff had to leave and he was in a moral dilemma. Does he leave this patient on the surgery table and leave? Or does he try to save the patients life? In the end he had no people to help, mid everybody was being kicked out, so he had to leave. It was New York times ten.
SC: Do you recall any governmental resistance, or resistmice to the govemment? Anyone standing up and saying "No"?
LU: I was a child so I don't really remember seeing that, I do know, my father and my brothers told me that those who resisted were shot dead at their doorstep, and so there really weren't a lot ofpeople resisting. People werejust so scared, you see people coming in with guns and mms and they had every intention, and you know that they will shoot you dead. Youjust move. Comeau 23
SC: In your book you talk a lot about the hate that you have towards them Khmer Rouge soldiers, do you think that they should be punished for their past actions in an intemational tribunal?
LU: Yeah. I definitely think that there me leaders ofthe Khmer Rouge that should be put on trial. And the United Nations and the Cmnbodimi govemment has been working on that, mid other different countries for a long time. It is at a stand still right now. But it looks like some kind of tribunal is in mind, and will probably take place within the next year or so we hope. I think that beyond the fact that people need to be punished for their crimes ofthe past, people who haven't been punished also create this environment of impunity, of second and third generation thinking that you can commit the most atrocious acts and not be punished for it. What does it matter if you just steal? So there needs to be a tribunal for a number of reasons and punishing people is just one of them.
SC: You had so much anger and hate towards the Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge do you still feel that intense emotion?
LU: I don't think that I ever had much anger towmds the Vietnmnese. I didn't know who the Vietnamese were, it wasn't my anger towmd the Vietnmnese, mid I hope that people who read my book understand that. It was the Khmer Rouge anger and hatred that sort of projected on to me. And I didn't know who the Vietnamese were, I didn't know them as a people, I didn't know them as a race. So as an eight-year-old child you don't really know your anger except when people tell you to be angry at a certain group and you do it because they give you food. I have a lot of anger and hatred towards the Khmer Rouge because they killed my parents, my sisters, mid my other relatives, and because they took me out of my home and put me in a field. Took me out of school and put me in a field where I leamed to shoot. Killed my girlfriends. So I have a lot of hatred towmds the Khmer Rouge for deeds that they did that I saw mid then suffered. As far as the Vietnamese go, I didn't know them, I only was angry at them because I was told to be angry with them and as a child of eight I had no choice.
SC: The Khmer Rouge lived such a better life than the average citizen; they got more food, nicer clothes, more privileges... when you were enrolled in that training camp did you feel compelled to join them?
LU: You weren't really compelled to join these people because they had more. The number one reason was that you wanted to eat. When you spend years seeing people die from starvation, the hunger in your stomach is often the number one motivation. I think you always feel compelled to join, mid hate is a strong thing, and if you are taught to do it day by day mid you are surrounded by it, it is very painful and it covers the sadness. It is very easy to go into, hate is much easier to go into thmi sadness, sadness when you feel it bre^s you, hate when you feel it, it makes you think that you are stronger, for the moment miyway. Yeah there were times when I'm sure all of us, in one way or another, joined them. Comeau 24
SC: How did you feel when your mother kicked you and your sister out?
LU: Didn't like it. It was really hmd [pause]. I felt really sad and really angry, Ijust didn't understand why she needed to do it.
SC: In your travels around Cambodia while trying to escape did you ever encounter any ofthe "Killing Fields?"
LU: Ifyou are implying the mass graves, the 20,000 mass graves that are discovered Cambodia. No, I never fell into a mass grave. I have seen dead bodies in places, but I never went into a mass grave myself.
SC: Are there any misunderstandings about what the "Killing Fields" actually are? The movie the "Killing Fields," was that an accurate representation ofthe period?
LU: Yeah I did see the movie. I don't know. I think politically there was a lot lacking in the movie. It was focused on central characters [which were] the Americans. But I think as far as how people suffered it was worse, worse in real life. The hunger, the deprivations, the starvations, the torture, the forced migration, it was worse in that you were sepmated from loved ones while you were doing it. You don't know when it's going to end. That is probably why it is worse than the movie. In the movie, you know going in there that he is going to get out, you know that it will end in two- and- a - half-hours. During the war you don't know if it is going to end in three days, or three weeks, or three years eight months and twenty-one days. And so every day is a new day, mid every day was almost a dark and hopeless day, and you just had to survive and you didn't know if it was ever going to end. And that was really hard. Sometimes you wondered why you were even surviving. Because ifyou had to go through another three years of this do you even want to go through life? For whatever reason, because we are a Buddhist culture and because it is hard to kill yourself, a lot of people you had no choice but to go on with life, and I think that part was fairly accurate that the people really suffered.
SC: What were the most difficult aspects of life under Pol Pot that you had to write about?
LU: The most difficult pmt to write was when I lost my parents. That was really really difficult, it's hmd to be a child if your dreams are not of going on vacation, getting a puppy, and doing little things that children should do, but your dreams were, mid your prayers were that your parents were killed with bullets and not hit on the back ofthe head with some blunt instrument and pushed into some mass grave where they might or might not be dead but they were being buried. For mmiy Cambodians who lost families or loved ones, our dreams and prayers were that they were killed with bullets. And that really does a psyche on your soul. That was really really difficult. So that part was always really really hard. So all through my life I had always dreamt and envisioned and fmitasized that they were killed with bullets. But when I wrote the book, I had to write in a really honest way, I had to write in ways that, though that is my fantasy there are many mmiy realties to my parents fate. That possibly my mother might be killed with my sister. And if my Comeau 25
mother was killed, who saw who die first? Did the bullets hit them both at once? Or did my mother die first and my sister is crying or did my sister die first and my mother is crying? And how is my father? Was he there? Did he hear people being killed behind him? Those are all the different varieties, the different parallels in a parallel universe that I imagine happening. I got criticized for writing about those realities. Because people said you didn't really know what happened to your father. Well what your eyes don't see your mind makes up. And that just does worse, mid I didn't wmit just to represent and write a fantasy. I wanted people to know that my mind makes up a lot of different images and what I wrote in the book is just one of them.
SC: Why did your brother choose to immigrate to America?
LU: There was nothing in Cambodia after the wm. There was no economy, there was no rule, we weren't sure if the Khmer Rouge was going to come back into power and we would be in danger again. There was no food, and just a lot of suffering. We wmited a chance for a better life; we wanted a chance to have a life, to have a future, to have hope. And so we were going to come to America all of us, but we couldn't risk walking on the mind fields having lost so many members of our fmnily. And we did not have enough money to get everyone on the boat. So two of us came out and we were going to be here for three yems and then go back and sponsor the rest of our family members out but it didn't work that way. The US did not normalize relationships with Cambodia until 1992. And by that time everyone was twelve yems older mid married with kids, also when we came to the US jobs weren't all that plentiful. Because we were immigrants, we didn't speak English, we would get minimum wage jobs, so it really wasn't that easy like we envisioned.
SC: What type of formal education have you received?
LU: I have a degree in political science. A bachelor degree in political science.
SC: So you went to elementary school...
LU: I went to grade school and high school and college in America.
SC: I think that we are done.
LU: Wow! That's really good; you thought that you needed an hour.
SC: I know, oh wait. How did your family and the members of your community view Pol Pot?
LU: He's hated [Laughter]. I think that he is really hated. We don't like him; I certainly don't have any good feelings about him. When I saw on television that he died, the members ofthe media were airing mid reairing the last interview they had with him, and they were making him this old fragile man and everybody was talking about how charismatic, and humane mid gentle he was and I thought to myself, if I could reach my Comeau 26
hmids into the television screen and wrap it around his neck and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze I would have done it. And yet it is sad that he died, I think he had a lot of answers to the questions that we had, mid then he took it with them to his grave, he never apologized, he didn't show any remorse to his deathbed. The day he died he kept saying again mid again mid again that he loved Cambodia, he was the father of Cambodia, mid he admitted to a few mistakes which might have caused people to die but, everything he did he did for Cambodia. That's just like an abusive father smacking you around and killing you saying you know I did it out of love. It's a complete insult to all the wonderful pments out there in the world and Cmnbodia who did everything they could to save their children.
SC: How do you think being so young, mid having to endure such horror, impacted your memory?
LU: It certainly didn't give me a lot of good memories. I think a lot of other children, a lot of my friends who grew up, you ask them to take a trip down memory lane, they remember their first mitt. Some ofthe most wonderful memories they have as children are great memories that they want to relive and think about. They remember the first puppy, when mom brought home the new baby, they remember the first time they went to grade school, they remember their first plmie ride, they remember their first trips to Disney World, they remember their first cake. It's all those wonderful memories I have a few good memories from my childhood. Going to the movie theaters with my father, eating fried crickets, running down the streets but a lot more of my memories were.. .1 remember the first body that I saw lying dead, I remember the first body that I poked a stick in mid looked and saw maggots crawling in there. I remember the first guy that was publicly executed, I remember the mother who was trying to breast feed her dead child, because the child is dead and she wouldn't give him up. I remember people lying in the streets and in their houses dying of starvation, and not having the strength to brush the fly off of them. I remember bloated bodies being pushed off the house, and buried underneath. Those me my first memories. That impacted my psyche a lot, I think that in thirty years I have had to rebuild my life and put more good memories in. From the time I was five to the time that I was nine my most vivid memories me of horrors and death and executions and persecutions. And people always ask me how do you remember those things? And its because they weren't common events. You can ask any American kid, and your memories me enhanced when there are special things going on. You remember the first mitt, you remember the first bike, you remember those first things because it wasn't ordinmy. And in my life during the war every day was an out of ordinary day. Every day you had to remember things. It wasn't as if I got up and I took a walk down the street mid it was the same thing everyday. It was if I didn't take that same road I could step on a mine, and no matter ifyou were five, no matter ifyou were twelve, when you see the first dead body you don't ever ever forget it. Ifyou have been hungry and you see your rib cage and you see your body bloated you never ever ever forget that feeling and that image. When you see people suffering [pause] even ifyou were three or five you never ever forget it. No matter ifyou wanted to you don't forget it. [pause]
SC: Going back to Cmnbodia what was that like since the death of Pol Pot? Comeau 27
LU: You know Cmnbodia is a very special place, America is my home for the most part but Cambodia will always be my hemt. And I feel that. I feel really strongly about that. It was my first love, my first language, it was my first feel of heat, the love of colors, to this day I will never love greener greens than the greens of Cambodia, and I think that all roads should be rustic colors of monks robes, and I don't understmid why in America we cant have red roads, I think that every month there should be flowers in bloom, it's the way they me in Cambodia, mid I think the we should have really all these wonderful tropical fruits outside of bananas, strawberries, [laughing], mid oranges. I don't like vegetables in America and I don't like fruits in America because they are sooooooo boring! [laughing]. In Cambodia, Oh My God... you have papaya, you got dragon fruit, you have guava, you have different types of varieties of bananas, big bananas, small bmianas, thumb size bananas...It's just so wonderful, it is my first love, its my first language, its my first experience that I had of being with a family, of being loved, of having innocence. And so going back to Cmnbodia, now after Pol Pot and doing the work I have done, and writing allows me to reconnect with those memories as well, you know more and more each time I walk down the street I get a little bit more feelings of that I have walked down the same street years before. I remember a couple years of go I went swimming, there are a number of swimming places for foreigners, I was in the pool and I looked up and it was like BAM! You got hit with a memory. And so right afterward, I called my brother up and said I was convinced that I swam there before, and he said that's the exact place that we used to go swimming in. But walking into it, I didn't remember it. And even now where there was a restaurant now there is a workout place, you know it's America; you know there's gyms everywhere even though it's Cmnbodia. But there never used to be gyms everywhere. But I was just sitting there and I just got HIT with that memory that I have been there before. I must have been three, four, or five when I was doing that. So there is still wm and suffering, but for the most part I feel really good going back because I am doing something. It's hard to do something, it's heartbreaking, but I also know that when I go back and I see the suffering, that I mn taking action to alleviate that. Ijust can't encourage people enough, that when you feel bad about something and when people traveled to India and Asia and they feel bad about the destruction mid the suffering you feel that way because you know it's going to be like that. But ifyou know that you are doing something then it allows you to have much of a better freer time. It allows me to go out to bars mid have drinks with my girlfriends, it allows me to go out dancing, it allows me to spend money on a nice shirt versus thinking that it will feed a family, because you are doing something.
SC: You still love Cambodia after every horrible thing that you have experienced; you still consider it your heart?
LU: I do, I do still consider it my heart. For a long time I didn't. For a long time I didn't want to have miything to do with Cambodia. For a long time I wanted to be an American, I wanted to change my nmne, I wanted to have operations on my eyes, I wmited to be just like all my other friends. I wanted to be like you [laughing]. You are pretty, I'm sure you're popular, you have a ton of friends, I wanted to be like that. But when you try to forget about war mid bad things, you also don't allow yourself to remember the good Comeau 28 things. Selective memories don't really work that well for me. I chose to forget about Cambodia I also chose to forget about the movie theaters with my father, I also forget about going to the markets with my mother, I also forgot about holding hands with my sisters, and going out to play, and putting on red dresses. And so there is that. And now I go back to Cambodia mid I am allowed to remember a time when there is innocence, a time when there is true love, a time when there is true pure feelings and I think after the war, I don't know about other people, but I am guessing that they are pretty much like me you never get to have a pure emotion again. When you are extremely happy there is also a seed of sadness. Knowing that there are loved ones that are not there with you. If you get married you know that you don't have fathers to walk you down the aisle. Ifyou are happy you wonder why you should be so happy because it could get taken away from you. When you are sad you think that you should be happy because you me so blessed with life that you really got to be happy. So you don't really have to have one true emotion miymore, I remember as a child being extremely happy with fried crickets, being extremely happy and not having others sad or guilt or bitter or resentful or angry feelings mixed in with all that happiness. When you have a guilty feeling you don't have that happy feeling that really should be there, it gets a little confusing, I remember a time when you feel whole, you feel solid, and you feel unfractured, and now maybe it's just growing up, maybe all grownups feel this way, I feel really pulled, I feel a lot of responsibility and I feel there are some things that should be done, I really wish that I could have one pure feeling mid stick with it. But I don't have it.
SC: How is your family?
LU: They are doing really well. My brother in America is doing really well, a hard worker, if anything else Cambodians, in addition to being really beautiful, strong, resilient people, they are also one ofthe hardest working people, they just work and work and work, education is really important. It is a wonderful country, wonderful people. Their survival is just miraculous, all the other Cambodian survivors, my brother and sister who are still in Cambodia are now parents to five, six children. They me really doing well, they are working hard. Trying to build their lives in a time of peace. And that is made different by landmines because there are so many Imidmines in the ground. And each time someone steps on a landmine its really not just destruction ofthe person, the injury ofthe person, but the dismantling ofthe whole society, from economy to religion to environment, and also the psychological reliving ofthe war past. Every time you hem something explode. It takes you back to the bombings, the gunshots, that we all heard, that we all had to escape to survive. Otherwise they are doing fine, they are really resilient people.
SC: Thank you so much.
LU: Thank you, you are fabulous, God. I got another ten minutes. Comeau 29
Interview Analysis
The job of a historimi is to document and analyze the past. In order to do that the
historian must ask: What is history? That question was also asked by historian Edward
Hallett Carr who declared that history "is a continuous process of interaction between the
historian, and his facts, mi unending dialogue between the present and the past" (931).
Oral history, however, is a conversation between the historian and mi individual who was
either a witness or a pmt of history. Oral history is imperative to the study of past events, it documents personal accounts, in a way other primary sources cannot. Even though oral
history is necessary to the study of history, like all historical sources, it is not always an
accurate source. Oral history helps one get closer to the goal of objectivity. Though oral
historian Schelsinger Jr. mgues that is it impossible to be objective because of
"unconscious preconceptions". During the 1970's Cambodia experienced a civil wm
where millions of Cambodians died unmercifully at the hands of communist leaders.
People were relocated to communes, where many would work twelve to sixteen hours
daily, living on a meager mnount ofrice. Cambodian refugee, Loung Ung, grew up
during this time of turmoil. Loung Ung's interview provided mi accurate account ofthe tragedies during the Khmer Rouge rule. Her story verified the facts, which have been
documented by historians. This interview is valuable to the history of Cambodia's
"Killing Fields" because it helps obtain the goal of objectivity, while providing an
effective example ofthe importance of oral history.
Oral history is one version of an historical event. Oral historian Donald Ritchie
states that "oral history is a collection of spoken memories and personal commentmies of Comeau 30
historical significance through recorded interviews and is the oldest form of recorded
history" (1). Oral history is important to the study of history; it gives the historian a
different sense of what happened. It is mi "invaluable tool that helps us [historians] to re
create a sense ofthe past" (223), historimis William Wheeler and Susan Becker stated in their book. Discovering the American Past. Unfortunately not all personal accounts are
accurate, some might have what historian Schelsinger Jr. refers to as "unconscious
preconceptions." These "preconceptions" are biases that are based on race, culture,
history, society, age and gender. These "preconceptions" will effect a person's selective
interpretation of facts. These me the issues that cause problems when using oral history.
Even though these "preconceptions" color the persons account, oral history is a necessmy
method of documenting history. It is needed in order to get the historical event truly
recorded; the voices of all people and their experiences make history, not just those who
make the textbooks.
When interviewing Loung Ung I leamed much about the importance of oral
history. Oral history is important in her life, because she longed to pass down her
experiences to her nieces and nephews, she did this by writing a book. First They Killed
My Father. "I just wanted my nieces to know the history" (Ung Personal Interview 1),
Ung replied when asked, "Why did you write your book?" This interview is valuable in
different ways than the book that she wrote. Throughout the interview there are some
similmities with her answers mid the book, yet there me mmiy different topics and
emotions which were not discussed in her book. One example would be the reason why the book was written, another being her current feelings towmds Cmnbodia, Pol Pot, and
how she had to deal with her experiences from her youth. The interview also offered Comeau 31
something that the book did not, emotions. While interviewing, the atmosphere was
personal and the interviewee was emotional and sincere. Upon reading the book one has the same reactions, but when the story is told in person those emotions are overpowering.
Oral history was importmit in this example because it gave something that the book did
not, emotions, and additional information.
There are a couple things that I would have done differently if I could interview
Loung Ung again. I would have expanded on her responses more thmi I did. What she
had to say was so powerful, I did not think of other questions to ask her while she was
speaking until I was transcribing my interview. I would have referred back to passages in
her text and quoted her, in response to some of her answers. If more time were available I
would have loved to go to coffee with her, to meet her and have a conversation off the
record, so we could get to know each other better. I had not met her until I walked into
her office to interview her. Overall I am very proud of my interview with Loung Ung, the
answers to my questions were powerful and were what made this project successful.
Loung Ung verified gathered information on this subject.
This interview says a lot about the Cambodian revolution. Even though it is only
one woman's account ofthe events, it captures the scene where many people lived and
died; the Cambodian "Killing Fields." Loung Ung states her encounters with the Khmer
Rouge, mid the difficulty of living through this time, even though she was a young girl.
She discusses how her imagination overcame her when she had to deal with the death of
her mother, sister, and father. She talks about how her youth made the memories even
more significant. Loung's reasoning for remembering these horrific events, instead of
forgetting them like many refugees try to do, was that "they weren't common events. You Comeau 32
can ask any American kid, and there memories are enhanced when there are special things going on" (Ung Personal Interview 6). She also remembers these things because they were her childhood, she grew up with them. Loung states that Cambodia will
"always be [her] heart" (Ung Personal Interview 7), even after her experiences. This
interview verified the facts that were found in the contextualization entitled "Cambodia's
Killing Fields." Her story verifies the horrors, which were written in that paper. Her story
even outdoes the horrors ofthe history textbooks. Historian John A. Garraty and historimi
Mm:k C. Cmnes wrote a textbook titled A Short History ofthe American Nation. In this text, the Cambodian genocide is not mentioned. The only time the country of Cambodia
is discussed in the eight-hundred-twenty plus page book is in a paragraph, when referring to the Vietnam War, when Americans dropped bombs on Cambodia to injure the
Vietnamese. Young historians do not leam about the horrors mid tragedies of this 1970's
genocide. This interview is important because it teaches those about what the textbooks
do not write about. The books are gentle compared to what really happened. When asked
if the movie, "The Killing Fields", was mi accurate representation ofthe period? Loung
replied:
[A]s far as how people suffered it was worse, it was worse in real life. The hunger, the
deprivations, the starvations, the torture, the forced migration, it was worse in that you
were separated from loved ones while you were doing it. You don't know when it was
going to end. That is probably why it is worse than the movie [...] a lot of people had no
choice but to go on with life, and I think that part was fairly accurate that the people
really suffered. (Ung Personal Interview 4)
The contextualization discussed the numbers of dead, the way people suffered, the forced migrations, the suffering while living on the communes. The interview talked Comeau 33
about her stmA^ations, the way a body looked when it was starving, the first dead body that she lay eyes on. In short, the interview was more personal thmi the book, which
increased the power ofthe interview, m^ing it harder to listen to and analyze, because the emotions were there.
This interview is historically valuable. What Loung Ung stated about her
experiences in Cambodia during the 1970's is powerful, depressing, mid disturbing. This
interview reinforced evidence and knowledge ofthe period, yet it challenged many textbooks edited versions ofthe "Killing Fields" mid the experience. The extreme
measures and lifestyle that Loung lived through are not mentioned in the textbooks. The
emotional mid physical abuse are not talked about along with the numbers ofpeople who
died. Her story is valuable to history because it is a first hand account ofthe deaths, the
starvation, and the communist rule. Historians that documented the facts in their history
books, are reliable sources, but not powerful ones, Loung Ung can recount from her
memory what happened. Personal accounts and oral history is important because the
information that the interviewee gives will reinforce or challenge the information which
historians have collected. Loung Ung's interview is credible and verifies the facts ofthe
Cambodian genocide.
The horrors ofthe mass evacuation ofthe cities, especially Phnom Penh, historian
Craig Etcheson refers to as a "omnidirectional exodus" (144). Another refugee,
Bunheang Ung describes the movement as a "mass evacuation of a city swollen with
refugees, mid the sick and wounded of a war where no callousness, cruelty, suffering and
despair compounded the sense of shock and disorientation which the command to leave
had produced" (Stuart 11). The wounded and ill were taken from hospitals, families Comeau 34
pushed their disabled loved ones on beds through the streets (Comeau 6). Loung Ung talks about a doctor who had to leave a patient on the surgery table to die (Ung Personal
Interview 2). It was an evacuation of millions ofpeople, young, old, sick, healthy. Loung
Ung refers to the evacuation of Phnom Penh as "New York times ten" (Ung Personal
Interview 2). Loung Ung's version ofthe Cmnbodimi genocide matched the historical
facts.
Loung Ung goes into in depth detail of how her imagination ran wild when she
had to think of how her parents died. Her vivid images ofthe different ways to die
verified the history books; her account shows the world how the Cambodians were
brutally murdered. Her interview verified history but it was more moving than miy
historian recalling the facts. It is powerful because she grew up during that time, she lived through and saw the horrors. This is important to the study of that period of turmoil in
Cambodia. Her interview proves how valuable oral history is to the study of a certain time, event or period.
This is in reference to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, New York. Comeau 35
Appendix One rrr :[" LAOS
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vjwwlonelyplanet com/mapshells/south_east_asia/cambodia/cambodiahtm Comeau 36
Appendix Two
www cybercambodia com/dachs/kilhngs/images/doeuk-deadjpg Comeau 37
Works Consulted/Works Cited
Ablin, David, Hood, Marlowe. The Cambodian Agony. New York: M.E. Shmpe Inc.,
1987.
Becker, Susan, Wheeler, William, Surviving the Great Depression. Discovering the
American Past: A Look at the Evidence. Vol II. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1986.
Bona, Chantos, Kieman, Ben. Peasants and Politics in Kmnpuchea 1942- 1981. New
York: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 1982.
"Cambodian Killings Denied." Washington Post 12 Oct. 1979: A22.
Cames, Mark C, Garraty, John A. A Short History ofthe American Nation. New York:
Longman. 2001.
Carr, Edward Hallett. What Is History? New York: Vintage Books, 1961.
Chandler, David P. The Tragedy of Cambodian History. New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1991.
Criddle, Joan D, Mam, Teeda B. To Destroy You is No Loss. New York: Atlantic
Monthly Press, 1987.
Etcheson, Craig. The Rise and Demise of Democratic Kampuchea. Boulder, Colorado:
Westview Press, 1984.
Kamm, Henry. Cmnbodia; A Report From a Stricken Land. New York: Arcade
Publishing, 1998.
Kieman, Ben. The Pol Pot Regime: Race. Power, mid Genocide in Cmnbodia under the
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