Madison Board Removes Hmong General's Name From School

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Madison Board Removes Hmong General's Name From School A new Madison elementary school won't be named for Hmong General Vang Pao after all. Reporter: Associated Press

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A new Madison elementary school won't be named for Hmong General Vang Pao after all.

The Madison Metropolitan School Board decided last night to go through the name selection process again, removing Vang Pao's name, after he was charged earlier this month with trying to overthrow the government of Laos.

Board members apologized to the Hmong community profusely but in the end voted 7-0 to remove the name from the school, which is under construction.

Board member Lawrie Kobza says it's simply not the time to name a school after Vang Pao.

He's one of 10 Hmong leaders charged in federal court in California with conspiracy to overthrow the communist Laotian government by killing officials and leveling government buildings.

They pleaded not guilty yesterday in Sacramento.

Vang Pao led CIA-backed Hmong forces in Laos against communists in the 1960s and 1970s.

The conflict claimed thousands of lives.

Many Hmong credit him with freeing them from oppression in southeast Asia and helping them build new lives in the U.S., where he immigrated in 1975.