The Minnesota Senate passed a bill Wednesday granting some veterans benefits to Hmong and Lao soldiers who fought with the U.S. military in Laos during the Vietnam War.

"You cannot tell the story of Minnesota without the story of the Hmong," said Sen. Aric Putnam, DFL-St. Cloud, chair of the veterans subcommittee. "This is about us. Our Hmong neighbors and friends today live the legacy of those soldiers who we can and should respect with our decision today."

About 50 Hmong veterans attended the vote at the Capitol. An estimated 900-plus Hmong and Lao veterans in Minnesota would receive benefits recognizing their contributions fighting in special guerilla units in Laos, said Sen. Foung Hawj, DFL-St. Paul, the bill's lead author.

Some of the benefits include special designations on their drivers licenses, veteran burial ceremonies and grave markers. Health care benefits would not be included.

The Senate's version of the bill passed unanimously as part of the veterans policy and appropriations omnibus bill. The House will vote on its version of the bill Tuesday.

"It's a great legacy to leave, because it's our history," Hawj said after the vote. "It's important to recognize the history."

Many of the Hmong veterans are in their 70s and 80s, including Houa Moua, who was recruited to fight in the Secret War when he was 13 and served for four years.

"I'm very happy because some of my friends are too old, and they cannot come here, but they very much need benefits," he said.

Sen. Susan Pha, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said she was 2 when her father died in Laos during the Secret War, a covert CIA-military backed operation during the Vietnam War. About 35,000 Hmong soldiers died fighting in the war, according to a report by the Special Guerrilla Units Veterans and Families of USA, Inc.

"It is very deserving for us to give it to them [Hmong and Lao veterans], so they can die with that dignity in the honor that they deserve and earned," said Pha, who is one of the bill's co-authors.

Minnesotans who are U.S. citizens and who served in the Secret War in Laos would be eligible to receive some veterans benefits under the proposed bill, Hawj said.

Big Lake resident Ya Lee said in an interview that he was 17 when he was recruited to join the Secret War as a T-28 fighter pilot.

"What I'm asking for is little, little recognition," said Lee, now 72.

An advisory task force would determine eligibility. Veterans could also access benefits by showing proof that they gained U.S. citizenship through a vetting process established by a federal law passed in 2000 that expedites naturalization for soldiers who fought in Lao-based guerrilla units supporting the U.S. military from 1961 to 1978.

The original Senate version of the bill provided full veterans benefits to Hmong and Lao veterans, but Hawj and Pha said some Republican lawmakers opposed the costs. Hawj and Pha amended the bill to focus on recognition and to include some low-cost benefits.

Sen. Jeff Howe, R-Rockville, one of the bill's most vocal opponents, appeared on a conservative radio show and said Hmong veterans fought in the Secret War for financial motive.

"I went, wait a minute, you're gonna let these guys, and you know, maybe they deserve it, but as far as I'm concerned, all of those folks were mercenaries." he said on the Al Travis Show on station KDHL in Faribault.

He said that he offered to help Southeast Asians about a decade ago in their effort to receive veteran recognition, but he said they couldn't reach an agreement.

"They were hired by the CIA and the U.S. government to fight our fight, and now you're gonna put them and allow them to be buried in these cemeteries before you take guys like you — guys like other folks that wore our uniform, swore an oath to this country — and you're gonna put them in line before you guys? Before my guys? I don't get it," Howe said.

Howe was unavailable for comment.

His comment about Hmong soldiers fighting as mercenaries was "really disrespectful" and dismissive of their contributions in the war, Pha said.

Lee said he was upset by Howe's comments because many Hmong men were recruited when they were very young and "had no choice." He added after the Senate vote that "I feel happy. Too many years have passed by that we haven't achieved this."

Lee Pao Xiong, director of the Center for Hmong Studies at Concordia University in St. Paul, said the CIA recruited and trained Hmong soldiers because American soldiers weren't officially allowed to operate in Laos due to the Geneva Agreements.

"To say that we are mercenaries is very insulting for us, and dishonors my uncle who died in the war to protect American interests, and it dishonors my dad who lost his hearing because of constant fighting in the battle front," he said. "These people need to go back and learn their history."

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This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota's immigrants and communities of color. Sign up for a free newsletter to receive Sahan's stories in your inbox.