Column: After witnessing atrocity, Cambodian promotes peace

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Commentary by Dr. Sally Brown Bassett

Ung
Ung

Loung Ung was five years old when her world erupted into war on April 17, 1975. The Khmer Rouge stormed Cambodia’s capital of Phnom Penh and turned the country into a vast labor camp.

For four years, they dictated when they ate, slept and worked. Anyone perceived as a threat to the regime was executed in mass graves. The genocide has been estimated at 1.7 million out of a population of 7 million Cambodians. Among the victims were Loung’s parents, two sisters and 20 relatives. She was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans.

When Loung was 10 years old she ended up in America. It took years to find inner peace. She returned to Cambodia for the first time in 1995 (15 years after leaving) and discovered her passion. She learned 45,000 Cambodians had become amputees due to landmines. She wanted to help survivors of war survive the peace. Her long kept journals became books. “First They Killed My Father” became a national bestseller.

Several years ago Loung stayed with me and my family for a few days as she told her story to audiences. I could not help but compare my life to hers in 1975. Americans had no idea what was happening on the other side of the world. I certainly did not as I started my career as a flight attendant the same week Loung’s life shattered.

What an extraordinary woman Loung has become. Her biggest message is that peace is an action. “If you want it, you must choose it, work for it, and strategize to get it,” she said.


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