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I was wrong about the final ceremony for General Vang Pao and it seems that
all our efforts to reach the President to reverse the Arlington decision by
the Army failed as well - because the Fresno Bee just reported the article
below.

This is just one final insult from the White House regarding the General's
death...it seems the President and First Lady who talk so much about
supporting the "Families of Fallen Soldiers" couldn't even find the time to
acknowledge and send condolences to the Family of the "biggest hero of the
Vietnam War" - As a Vietnam Veteran, I find this whole affair with Arlington
and the White House just plain disgraceful.

There are civilians, authors, TV producers, 3 Italian POWs and 1 German POW
and 27 foreign nationals all buried in Arlington National Cemetery...but not
the biggest hero of the Vietnam War...it turns my stomach and is truly a
very sad day for America.

Here is the Story from the Fresno Bee:

6-DAY VANG PAO FUNERAL ENDS, LEAVES FRESNO
Posted at 07:35 AM on Wednesday, Feb. 09, 2011
By BoNhia Lee / THE FRESNO BEE

The six-day funeral for Gen. Vang Pao in Fresno entered its final stages
this morning, as the Hmong leader's casket was led out the Fresno Convention
Center.

A person playing a qeej -- a Hmong musical instrument -- and a woman dressed
in a traditional costume led the procession out of the convention center's
New Exhibit Hall. Vang's casket, draped in an American flag, followed behind
them. People sobbed and mourners kneeled as the casket passed in the lobby.

As Hmong war veterans saluted, the casket was taken to a hearse waiting on M
Street.

Thirteen buses waited outside the hall to take mourners on the procession to
Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale.

Funeral organizers had laid out a white runner out sprinkled with flower
petals before the casket, which has been at the New Exhibit Hall since an
elaborate opening ceremony Friday.

As dawn broke, hundreds of Hmong mourners remained at the exhibit hall,
where a blessing ceremony was held through the night. Many who remained
helped clean up or clear the floor of chairs.

Vang, 81, died Jan. 6 at a Clovis hospital.