Immigrant's $1.3B Powerball win spotlights the Iu Mien community
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Cheng “Charlie” Saephan wore a broad smile and a bright blue sash emblazoned with the words “Iu-Mien USA” as he hoisted an oversized check for $1.3 billion above his head.
The 46-year-old immigrant’s luck in winning an enormous Powerball jackpot in Oregon earlier this month — a lump sum payment of $422 million after taxes, which he and his wife will split with a friend — has changed his life. It also raised awareness about Iu Mien people, a southeast Asian ethnic group with origins in China, many of whose members fled from Laos to Thailand and then settled in the U.S. following the Vietnam War.
“I am born in Laos, but I am not Laotian,” Saephan told a news conference Monday at Oregon Lottery headquarters, where his identity as one of the jackpot’s winners was revealed. “I am Iu Mien.”
During the Vietnam War, the CIA and U.S. military recruited Iu Mien in neighboring Laos, many of them subsistence farmers, to engage in guerrilla warfare and to provide intelligence and surveillance to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail that the North Vietnamese used to send troops and weapons through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam.
Related articles
Brazil replaces injured goalkeeper Ederson in Copa America squad
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil coach Dorival Júnior has replaced injured goalkeeper Ederson with Sao P2024-05-21Utilities complete contentious land swap to clear way for power line in Mississippi River refuge
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Utilities looking to finish building a high-voltage power line linking Iowa and2024-05-21New York appeals court rules ethics watchdog that pursued Cuomo was created unconstitutionally
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A state commission that investigates ethical violations in New York was created2024-05-21Eurovision Song Contest 2024: How BBC newsreader Maryam Moshiri, who has joined the presenting line
For viewers of the BBC News channel (or anyone who has a social media account), the face of Maryam M2024-05-21Bichette has 4 hits, Berríos snaps 4
TORONTO (AP) — Bo Bichette had three doubles among his four hits, José Berríos pitched six solid inn2024-05-21Twins ambush Mariners ace Logan Gilbert with a 5
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Manny Margot highlighted a five-run first inning for Minnesota with a three-run d2024-05-21
atest comment