There are roughly 150,000 Hmong people in the U.S., laargely concentrated in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California. Several million Hmong people remain in China, Thailand, and Laos. (Cited from: hhttp://www.athenet.net/~jlindsay/Hmong_tragedy.html)
Coming to the US
"Forgotten Soldiers" is a lengthy article by Susan M. Barbieri, staff writer, in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Sunday, May 1, 1994, Page 1A:
Hmong veterans are aware that many Americans do not welcome refugees who do not speak English. They know that many are unaware of how the Hmong took orders from Americans, cooked food for them, guarded them, carried them when they were wounded, wrapped their bodies when they were killed.
When their American friends left in 1974, Hmong hopes for a free Laos were dashed. Tou Yang, 41, constantly relives the years after the American pullout, when he and the other Hmong resisters were trapped in the mountains, valleys, and jungles that teemed with hostile troops. Though his body is here in Minnesota, Tou Yang's spirit walks in post-1974 Laos. "The Americans left and we felt abandoned and there was no escape. We couldn't get to Thailand; we couldn't get to freedom; our leaders left us. Now that we are in America, we still feel like we've been abandoned," he said....
While serving in special guerrilla units during the Vietnam War, between 10,000 and 20,000 Hmong men, women and children were killed, and more than 100,000 fled to Thai refugee camps. There are 27,000 Hmong in Minnesota, and an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 of them fought in the CIA's special forces....
Vietnam veteran Bob Anderson is deeply involved with the local Hmong population and often travels to Laos.... "The Hmong who fought in (General) Vang Pao's army understood they were fighting for the Americans and that they were in some sense an American army. They often mention the promise that was made. It's not clear who made it and when, but some promise was made that if the war went badly, the Hmong would be taken care of," Anderson said. "The Hmong were used."