PHOTOGRAPH FOR TIME BY MARISSA ROTH


Better Days
General Vang Pao, right, during his fighting years. Vang was recruited by the CIA in 1961 to fight the communist advance in Southeast Asia. Fabled for their resourcefulness and valor, the Hmong became the backbone of a secret CIA-trained militia that helped disrupt Viet Cong supply lines and rescue downed U.S. pilots
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