Phen Tuy escaped from Cambodia with family members during the Pol Pot regime. (JEFF LOUGHLIN/The Patriot Ledger)By L.E. CAMPENELLA
The Patriot Ledger
MILTON - Phen Tuy’s childhood ended with the sound of bullets and cannon fire.
When the Communist Khmer Rouge regime took power in Cambodia in 1975, her simple days of living on the family farm, playing games while her parents boiled sugar and harvested rice, gave way to years of slave labor, separation from her parents and the anguish of death in Cambodia’s Killing Fields.
"I saw a lot of things," Tuy said. "All the time people were dying, people were crying."
Through it all, Tuy persevered. Her father died in the jungle leading his family to safety in Thailand, but his wife and children survived.
Tuy eventually moved to the United States, settling first in California and then moving to Milton.
Now 41, she is a group leader at Haemonetics, a Braintree company that specializes in blood collection and separation devices.
She has been married to her second husband, Steven Smith, for 10 years. They have one child from their marriage and five from previous marriages.
Her life today could not be more different than the one she left behind 31 years ago.
She was 10 when the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia. Over the next four years, one-quarter of the country’s population was killed, an estimated 1.7 million people.
Tuy’s oldest sister, Saon, was among those forced to leave the capital city, Phnom Penh. The family presumes Saon was killed.
"She just disappeared," Tuy said.
Tuy’s father and brother-in-law fought with government troops against the Khmer Rouge. Their village was destroyed.
"We had no home," Tuy said. "We had nothing."
Word spread from village to village that everyone had to leave and that Khmer soldiers were seeking professionals and educators.
"We had to leave now or they would kill us," Tuy said, "and we were warned to say we were farmers."
The family went to stay with relatives, but still they were in danger.
They wound up in a labor camp and managed to survive for three years. Every day they faced a grim choice: work or starve. Workers earned a watery bowl of rice.
"I worked day and night," Tuy said.
"If you don’t work you don’t get food, you get kicked and beaten," Tuy said. "I needed to work because I needed food."
Tuy scowls as she recounts the rats, chipmunks, dogs, and birds she ate to survive.
"When you’re hungry you’ll eat anything," Tuy said.
Desperate to get out of the camp, the family volunteered for a work camp about 100 miles from the Thai border.
They were jammed into a railroad car with no ventilation, bathroom facilities or room to move for the trip.
"Are we going to die? Are they going to kill us? Nobody knew," Tuy said.
The Khmer Rouge was accelerating its executions because Vietnamese forces had invaded Cambodia. Among those marked for death was her sister, Soean. She was ordered to dig her own grave.
"They put a blindfold on her, she was told to kneel down ... they were going to kill her with a hoe," Tuy said.
Tuy begged the soldiers to stop, saying her parents were Khmer Rouge. The lie convinced the soldiers they would suffer retribution for killing her sister.
"They let her go," Tuy said.
The incident sent the family into the jungles for safety in Thailand, but days before they reached the border, her father, Choun Bour, died of dysentery.
"I miss him. I wish he could have made it," she said, fingering the only photo of him that remains.
Tuy, her mother, a sister and other relatives lived at a Thai refugee camp for several months until a humanitarian group, World Vision, arranged to bring her to America in 1979.
L.E. Campenella may be reached at lcampenella@ledger.com
When the Communist Khmer Rouge regime took power in Cambodia in 1975, her simple days of living on the family farm, playing games while her parents boiled sugar and harvested rice, gave way to years of slave labor, separation from her parents and the anguish of death in Cambodia’s Killing Fields.
"I saw a lot of things," Tuy said. "All the time people were dying, people were crying."
Through it all, Tuy persevered. Her father died in the jungle leading his family to safety in Thailand, but his wife and children survived.
Tuy eventually moved to the United States, settling first in California and then moving to Milton.
Now 41, she is a group leader at Haemonetics, a Braintree company that specializes in blood collection and separation devices.
She has been married to her second husband, Steven Smith, for 10 years. They have one child from their marriage and five from previous marriages.
Her life today could not be more different than the one she left behind 31 years ago.
She was 10 when the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia. Over the next four years, one-quarter of the country’s population was killed, an estimated 1.7 million people.
Tuy’s oldest sister, Saon, was among those forced to leave the capital city, Phnom Penh. The family presumes Saon was killed.
"She just disappeared," Tuy said.
Tuy’s father and brother-in-law fought with government troops against the Khmer Rouge. Their village was destroyed.
"We had no home," Tuy said. "We had nothing."
Word spread from village to village that everyone had to leave and that Khmer soldiers were seeking professionals and educators.
"We had to leave now or they would kill us," Tuy said, "and we were warned to say we were farmers."
The family went to stay with relatives, but still they were in danger.
They wound up in a labor camp and managed to survive for three years. Every day they faced a grim choice: work or starve. Workers earned a watery bowl of rice.
"I worked day and night," Tuy said.
"If you don’t work you don’t get food, you get kicked and beaten," Tuy said. "I needed to work because I needed food."
Tuy scowls as she recounts the rats, chipmunks, dogs, and birds she ate to survive.
"When you’re hungry you’ll eat anything," Tuy said.
Desperate to get out of the camp, the family volunteered for a work camp about 100 miles from the Thai border.
They were jammed into a railroad car with no ventilation, bathroom facilities or room to move for the trip.
"Are we going to die? Are they going to kill us? Nobody knew," Tuy said.
The Khmer Rouge was accelerating its executions because Vietnamese forces had invaded Cambodia. Among those marked for death was her sister, Soean. She was ordered to dig her own grave.
"They put a blindfold on her, she was told to kneel down ... they were going to kill her with a hoe," Tuy said.
Tuy begged the soldiers to stop, saying her parents were Khmer Rouge. The lie convinced the soldiers they would suffer retribution for killing her sister.
"They let her go," Tuy said.
The incident sent the family into the jungles for safety in Thailand, but days before they reached the border, her father, Choun Bour, died of dysentery.
"I miss him. I wish he could have made it," she said, fingering the only photo of him that remains.
Tuy, her mother, a sister and other relatives lived at a Thai refugee camp for several months until a humanitarian group, World Vision, arranged to bring her to America in 1979.
L.E. Campenella may be reached at lcampenella@ledger.com
11 comments:
The Killing Fields! It seems that almost every khmer has some story to tell, myself included. The Viet engineered it to break Khmer's sang-froid and spirit, but soon the world may be able to confirm that it was in fact Hanoi and their Viet-khmer endoctrinated by the Viets themselves that killed millions of Khmers.
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Le << Killing Fields >>! Il nous semble que chacun d'entre nous a quelque chose a raconter y compris moi. Les Viets s'ingenient a briser l'esprit et le sang froid des Khmers. Un beau jour, peut etre, le monde pourrait confirmer que ce sont les Viet-Khmers endoctrines par les Viets eux-memes qui masaccraient presque deux millions de khmers.
10/04/06
AKniJaKhmer
this is my first time seeing a story about cambodia/cambodian in the Patriot Ledger. story like this is so inspiring, too bad the Ledge didn't get the main point. the story lacks substance, and a message.
THis is the tragedy caused by the most clairvoyant Sihanouk who has brought this killing machine into Cambodia. At present he is still vey prouded that he can kill all Cambodian people by his clairvoyant thinking in 5 years of civil war and three years and 8 months in killing without oppostions. Please do not blame others for the killings committed your own leaders. If you do not learn this lesson, this tragedy will repeate again by your own leaders again. We can be happy if we lost the war to invading neighbours and they really killed us. But our victims will not rest very well because the killing were caused by our Father of the Nation ( Sihanouk ). This man is always blaming others for his stupidity. We must learn this lesson if we do not want this lesson to repeat again.
To 5:49AM!
What the fuck are you talking about Sihanouk blaming other for his stupidity?
If these fucken Vietcong kept their fucken Vietname war on their side of the fucken border and Cambodia wouldn't be like this! Tell me who dropped the bombs on these Vietcong in Cambodia? Now, how the hell did all these Vietcong find themself in Cambodia in the first place?
You got the Vietcong mentality and you should tell all the Vietcong to kiss my ass!
Re: Anonymous's comment @6:46 AM
Why the VietCongs ended up in our side of the border, in other words, Khmer's land? To my knowledge, there are two things: The B-52 Bombings and the Nuoc Mam (fish sauce). B-52 bombings after effect can make the VietCong lose their mind and started barking just like a dog. (This is true, and I kid you not!) As for the Nuoc Mam (fish sauce), it's rather some sort of reward before death. The VietCongs superiors forced litres and litres of Nuoc Mam down their soldiers's throat until they turned mellow and drunk, thus feeling less fearful but disoriented (you know the feeling of getting drunk, rihgt?) and you guessed where they ended up...(this is true stuff..and I kid you not!)...
10/04/06
AKnijaKhmer
P.s. Kah Tral is the #1 place for Nuoc Mam industry...that's why The Viet had to twist Hun Sen's arm to sign it over to them
I say bomb the fucken Nuoc Mam industry! Koh Tral island is only 15 miles from Cambodia and the Vietcong claimed as their?
Here is a little dirty secret about fish sauce industry! There are ton and ton of flys and maggots floating on fish sauce before it is bottled up to the public for sale! Man! It taste great ain't it! It is fucken dirty!
By the way I eat fish sauce in my house! It can stink the whole fucken house!
Oh shit just a correct to my above statements! By the way I don't eat fish sauce in my house! It can stink the whole fucken house!
I agreed with 5:40 comments and also the comment about the Viet swallowed a lot of Cambodia land. Sihanouk can only think about his greedy royal title and Ah Hun Sen can only think his greedy power to control Cambodia and his master, the Viet. How much money do Ah Hun Sen and his gangsters have in the bank? I bet a lot of money. If he lost power, what will happen to their will. It might be frozed by the international communities. These are the very bad roots of destroying Cambodia. No more royal and socialist systems in Cambodia. We need democracy to govern our country, but it needs western and US to help.
Need to eliminate Ah Hun Sen, Sihanouk, and their members from mother land. The more they live, the more Cambodia will be destroyed. Sooner or later will be part of Vietcong. Now they started to change the street name to honor Ah Meh Dourk Norm Youn (Ah HO chi minh)one by one.
A lot of F and S words. This is the way of the KHMERS critics or make comments.
To 3:59a.m
The way I look at it, I couldn't agree with you more. All puzzles will fall into places in the end and I cann't wait to see the world will finally realize who brought all Hell to Cambodia this past 36 years. I'm very glad that someone out there seeing the same thing I did.
Thank you
To 8:07PM
ahahahah!
Sorry for the F and S words! Human invented these words for pure expression of human emotion! I just use it to express my emotion to the fullest! There is nothing wrong with that! I just have too much frustration with stupid Cambodian politic and I don't need to conform with Cambodian child's play politic!
Say what you want and Say what you will!
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