Posted 9:19 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025
For Yia Vue, the “Secret War” that occurred alongside America’s involvement in Vietnam is much more than a seldom-discussed chapter of history.
Fifty years after the war’s end, Vue describes it as a powerful force that transformed the lives of her family and countless others, while driving an influx of Hmong refugees from war-torn Laos to the United States, many of whom settled in Wisconsin.
This fall, Vue, a double-major in English writing rhetoric and cultural anthropology at UW-La Crosse, explored the human impact still echoing from that distant conflict through an exhibition of photographs: “Fifty Years Later: Commemorating the End of the Secret War.”
The project carried deep personal meaning for Vue, whose late father was a child soldier in the war, and who had many relatives serve from both sides of her family.
Vue’s exhibition concluded in mid-November, but she hopes that by continuing to discuss the war, its aftermath and its profound effect on her family, she can pay tribute to the strength and sacrifice of the Hmong and Lao people, and build broader understanding of a conflict that is often forgotten.
The exhibition was made possible by support from UWL’s departments of Art; Archaeology & Anthropology; and Race, Gender, & Sexuality Studies — among other partners.