This day March 5th, in 1799, 32 years ago, the Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces (KPNLAF) was born in the Cambodian enclaves of the Northwestern borders with Thailand. The KPNLAF was the military component of the Khmer People National Liberation Front, a politico-military front that was officially proclaimed 8 months later, on October 9th, in opposition to the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia. This short Post is written to remember and to pay tribute to their contribution to the struggle for peace and freedom of our native land. Many of them had paid the ultimate sacrifice of their life.
To refresh our memory, we must be reminded that after the fall of the Khmer Republic in 1975, there were few groups of armed soldiers along the borders with Thailand with their aims to fight the Khmer Rouge. In America and in France with veteran politicians like MM. Son Sann and In Tam were discussing on promoting organizations to deal with the troubling situation in Cambodia.
After the Vietnamese tanks rolled en masse into Cambodia in the Christmas day of 1978 and their victory on 7 January the next year, in mid-January a meeting took place in Washington DC to assess the situation and strategize a plan of action. MM. Son Sann and In Tam and a few representatives from different corners of the US were there; I was there too. At that time, we have known that Prince Sihanouk was in New York addressing the United Nations, and we all that it was good to negotiate with him to have him to leave the Khmer Rouge and to lead the new Resistance against the Vietnamese. Then former Prime Minister Son Sann left to New York. Taking the opportunity to visit New York I took the train to that city and met with my newly acquainted friend Siv Sichan.
It was a coincidence, because PM Son Sann was there alone with Sichan, and after the introduction, he asked me to be with him. To make the story short, here we were the three of us, in the PM hotel room waiting for Prince Sihanouk’s phone call. There were 2 calls spacing apart by some times. There was no speakerphone but the conversation was audible. What were said between the PM and the Prince, after the greetings, were that the PM proposed to organize a front and to offer the leadership to him. The Prince refused and reconfirm in the second call. The next day I accompanied the PM to the New York Airport in the snowy day to fly back to Washington DC, and I took my flight to Seattle, Washington State.
So back in Paris, PM Son Sann planned his next move. There was no option but the armed struggle. There was also some movement between Thai politicians in Paris. Anyway, on early February he sent PM Son Sann dispatched 2 former officers of the old Cambodian armed forces to the Cambodian Thai borders. Mission: To bring together the factions to form a fighting front. These two are General Dien Del and Colonel Nguon Pitoreth. The group leaders at that time were Chea Chhut, Prum Vith, Luong Sinak aka Ta Meang, Sieam Sam Onn aka Ta Luoth, So Serey, etc. In a bit over a month, after a nearly Impossible Mission, on March 5, the KPNLAF was formed with approximately 1,600 troops. General Dien Del was named Chief of Staff.
PM Son Sann arrived later with his children Soubert and Monir, and M. Neang Chin Han, and Prof. Suon Kaset. Other people such as Colonel Ea Chuor Kim Meng and Lt. Col. Thou Thip , prof. Suon Sophat, etc. were there to help set up the Khmer People National Liberation Front. The troops were around 2,000 from 13 separate fighting groups. And more and more came to join them from all over the world.
This Day is a day to remember. The fighters of the KPNLAF play a big role that contributes later to the liberation of Cambodia from Vietnamese intervention, and the Paris Political Settlement signed October 23rd, 1991.. Don't let their sacrifice be forgotten...
Note: A book to read: The Khmer People’s National Liberation Front (KPNLF) & Road to Peace, written by M. Kong Thann, 2009.
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