Biography of colonel vang chou

We attended the Hmongstory 40 Fresno grand opening back in December of last year. We immediately knew that we wanted to attend the next opening of the traveling Hmongstory 40 exhibit when it reached its second destination in Merced, CA.

While we were looking forward to attending the exhibit, we knew there would also be some sadness due to news we received of the passing of Lieutenant Colonel Peter Chou Vang on May 4.

Thaddeus Miller of the Merced Sun-Star wrote an article “Merced Hmong community leader dies” about Lt. Col. Vang Chou (Peter Chou Vang) and his amazing accomplishments. Peter was one of the first handful of Hmong pilots trained at Udon, Thailand, to fly T-28 planes in Laos and Vietnam, serving in the Royal Lao Air Force under General Vang Pao.

He was General Vang Pao’s right-hand man where air power was concerned.

Peter spoke about his life when we interviewed him for our Time of Remembrance Oral Histories