Your current location:HOME >politics >Immigrant's $1.3B Powerball win spotlights the Iu Mien community 正文
TIME:2024-05-21 20:35:43 Source: Internet compilationEdit:politics
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Cheng “Charlie” Saephan wore a broad smile and a bright blue sash emblazoned with
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.
Cannes 2024: Studio Ghibli takes a bow with an honorary Palme d'Or2024-05-21 20:22
Heartstopping moment five year2024-05-21 20:08
Laverne Cox dons fascinator and cleavage2024-05-21 19:34
Adin Hill flashes old playoff form as Golden Knights beat Stars 22024-05-21 18:54
Investigators return to Long Island home of Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect2024-05-21 18:51
Family tree reveals Taylor Swift is a descendant of French King Louis XIV2024-05-21 18:47
Alabama court won't revisit frozen embryo ruling2024-05-21 18:35
Rita Ora, 33, and husband Taika Waititi, 48, put on a very loved2024-05-21 18:31
The Latest2024-05-21 18:24
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections2024-05-21 17:59
Hollywood star Shia LaBeouf is spotted on the streets of Gavin and Stacey's hometown Barry2024-05-21 20:33
Nicki Minaj surprises Barbz as she brings out Cyndi Lauper to perform Pink Friday Girls in Brooklyn2024-05-21 20:26
Vegas use of injured reserve prompts questions about salary cap. Other NHL teams do same thing2024-05-21 19:47
Gas and propane stoves linked to 50,000 cases of childhood asthma, study finds2024-05-21 19:22
Kevin Pillar gets 1,000th career hit in Angels' win at Texas2024-05-21 19:05
Turkey CUTS trade with Israel over IDF's bombing war in Gaza2024-05-21 19:04
Real Madrid wins the Spanish league after Barcelona loses at Girona2024-05-21 18:59
After fourth wettest April ever, now Scotland gets… WILDFIRES!2024-05-21 18:59
Climber found dead on Denali, North America's tallest peak2024-05-21 18:45
Tragic Titan sub may have crumbled under 'micro2024-05-21 17:56