Family wins perilous fight

Mieng Lao and his wife, Keng, seated in front, are surrounded by their children and grandchildren at Asia Bistro & Seafood restaurant on Vaughn Road, the family business. (Photo Lloyd Gallman)

By Alvin Benn
Montgomery Advertiser (USA)

Ask Mieng Lao what America and Independence Day mean to him and you can see his eyes glisten.

Most of us view the Fourth of July as a day off of work and a time for family gatherings, good food and fireworks to end the celebration.

For Lao, Tuesday will bring a remembrance of salvation, of freedom from terrorism and death.

It's because he's a survivor of an Asian holocaust, one that claimed the lives of so many relatives and friends that he's lost count.

The reason for his nightmares is the infamous despot Pol Pot, whose rule in Cambodia 30 years ago led to the slaughter of nearly 2 million of his own people.

Lao, 62, who owns and operates the Asia Bistro & Seafood restaurant on Vaughn Road, was forced into slave labor camps in the Cambodian jungles. Many of those around him died of starvation and disease. Others were executed.

Pol Pot demanded that bullets be saved, so his troops used whatever they had in their hands to beat people to death. Some victims were buried alive.

Those who managed to survive were ordered to dispose of the bodies. Lao remembers helping move 10 bodies. It's as clear to him today as it was three decades ago.

"We put them in hole," he said. "I think maybe I wind up same way. I know how lucky I am to be in America."

The Pol Pot regime lasted three years. During that time, about 25 percent of Cambodia's 8 million people died, including much of the country's intellectual class.Those who wore glasses, taught school, ran businesses, treated the sick or represented them in court were first on Pol Pot's hit list.

Lao was a merchant and he was Chinese -- two factors that earmarked him for relocation to the jungles, rice fields and a possible appointment with death.

"If someone heard us speak Chinese we could be in trouble," said Lao, who was born and raised in Cambodia. "It was bad for us because of who we were."

Lao and other refugees were sponsored by the Lutheran Church, and when they landed in Seattle in 1979, they knew their dreams had come true.

"We feel like we get second life in America," he said during an interview at his restaurant.

In his "first" life, he lost his wife and young son. His little boy became sick and died, and his distraught wife, unable to cope with the death and destruction around her, committed suicide.

Lao remembers receiving a $5 bill from one of the sponsoring Lutherans at the airport in Seattle. Then he and other Cambodian refugees were given tickets for their relocation to Asheboro, N.C.

A relative who had arrived earlier and opened a restaurant put Lao to work washing dishes. He soon became a cook and began saving his money. He used much of his savings to bring other members of his family, including his mother, to the U.S.

Lao's second wife, Keng, was a childhood friend and classmate. After the Pol Pot regime fell, the two were able to contact each other and love helped heal the wounds that had haunted them for so long.

Eventually, the couple moved to Montgomery, where they opened their first restaurant at the Normandale Shopping Center.

A few years later, they relocated to McGehee Road, where they operated Emperor's Garden for 15 years before moving to their new restaurant on Vaughn Road several months ago.

Three weeks ago, on Father's Day, Mieng and Keng Lao were honored by those nearest and dearest to him. Paying their respects at lunch were five daughters, five granddaughters and other relatives.

The couple's two youngest daughters -- Hong and Yong -- are University of Alabama at Birmingham scholarship students. Hong is a senior who plans to become a dentist. Yong will focus on biology and other scientific pursuits.

The sisters, who will be roommates this fall, have worked at the restaurant since they were little girls -- doing what they could to help until they were old enough to become waitresses.

Mention "ABC's" to the Lao family and seven of them will smile. To them it means "American Born Citizens." Seven in the family are naturalized citizens.

"I love this country with all my heart and feel that it is the best place to live," said Hong. "I hope that other Americans have the same pride that I have and continue to express it."

Mieng and Keng Laos will express their pride in America on Tuesday by closing their restaurant and their cash register.

They want to celebrate their country's birthday, too.