Foundation touby lyfoung biography

Touby Lyfoung was a Hmong political and military leader.
Phagna Touby Lyfoung was a visionary leader who wanted his Hmong people to live prosperously, harmoniously, and with dignity in the Kingdom of Laos.
At Hmong Village, a Hmong mall on the East Side of Saint Paul, there is a gallery celebrating many of the Hmong leaders in Hmong history.

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The People Beneath a Moon Before the River

Silent Strategies: U.S. Covert Operations and the Secret War in Laos

By Hmongstory Legacy•September 15, 2024

In the late 1950s, Laos—one of Southeast Asia’s smallest and most remote countries—became an unexpected focal point in the Cold War. With the Geneva Accords of 1954 declaring Laos a neutral state, direct military intervention was forbidden. Yet the United States, viewing Laos as a key battleground in its strategy to curb the spread of communism, found ways to exert influence without breaking the rules. This influence began quietly, through covert programs like the Program Evaluation Office (PEO), designed to provide military support to the Royal Lao Army (RLA) while maintaining the appearance of civilian aid. Over time, U.S. involvement deepened with operations like Project Hotfoot and Operation White Star, laying the foundation for what would later become the Secret War. This paper traces the development of these covert operations and their impact on Laos, while examining the roles of U.S. agencies

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Touby Lyfoung

Politician and Military Leader

Touby Lyfoung
Tub Npis Lis Foom in his old age
Pronunciation	[túᵐbìlìfɔ̰̃]
Born	1919 (1919) in Nong Het, Laos,French Indochina
Died	April 1979 Prison Camp Number One in Houaphan Province
Education	Graduated from a French high school in Vinh, North Vietnam
Known for	Being the first Hmong politician in the Royal Lao Government

Touby Lyfoung (RPA: Tub Npis Lis Foom [túᵐbìlìfɔ̰̃], Pahawh: 𖬆𖬰𖬧𖬵 𖬃𖬰𖬨𖬵 𖬃𖬰𖬞 𖬌𖬰𖬜𖬵[túᵐbìlìfɔ̰̃]: 1919–1979) was a Hmong political and military leader. Born in 1919 in Nong Het, Laos, he became the first Hmong politician to achieve national prominence. During his long career, which began under French colonial rule and extended to the communist takeover in 1975, he supported the Royal Lao Government (RLG) and American involvement in the Secret War.

Under French Rule

Touby Lyfoung was the son of Ly Xia Foung, a very well respected man among the Hmong community of Laos, and the grandson-in-law of Lo Bliayao, one of the f

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4,000-3,000 BCE

Oral tradition and evidence from archives and archaeological finds suggest that Hmong people originated near the Yellow and Yangtze rivers in China. Known as industrious farmers, the Hmong are credited with being among the first people to cultivate rice and to spread this staple throughout Asia. For the next several thousand years, the Hmong struggled to gain independence as Imperial China suppressed uprisings by smaller kingdoms and ethnic minorities in the quest to unite all people of China

Around 1790 to the 1860s

For centuries, the Hmong lived autonomously in remote areas of China, retaining a unique culture despite ongoing conflicts with Imperial China. Major uprisings, such as the Miao Rebellion (1795–1806) and the Taiping Rebellion (1850-64), occurred when Chinese rulers used military might to suppress the Hmong and other ethnic minorities. These conflicts resulted in a mass exodus by the Hmong into the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia—areas known today as Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and Vietnam.

We always knew that our history was