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Book Cover for: Liberated from the Khmer Rouge, Chhuong So

Liberated from the Khmer Rouge

Chhuong So

Chhuong So was born in 1972 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia into a family of two parents, a grandmother, three sisters, and a brother. His family's lives changed drastically in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge invaded Cambodia.


Instead of going to school, the Khmer Rouge put him to work tending cattle and planting rice paddy bunches in the fields in the Bamboo Village of Prey Veng, Cambodia. Then, he was sent to work in the labor camp in Prey Clog Village of Cambodia from 1977 to 1979, until the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia and liberated the people. By then, he had lost both parents, their grandmother, and a brother. His sister, Kom, was separated from them at the border of Cambodia and Thailand in 1979.


In the years that followed, he and his remaining siblings found shelter in refugee camps and an orphanage center in Thailand where his formal education began. After an extensive interview process by UN personnel, he and his siblings were able to come to the US in 1982, where his education continued and a new life unfolded. Liberated From The Khmer Rouge is the story of the life Chhuong So built, against all odds.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Luminare Press
  • Publish Date: Sep 26th, 2024
  • Pages: 376
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.00in - 6.00in - 0.88in - 1.48lb
  • EAN: 9798886795424
  • Categories: MemoirsWars & Conflicts - GeneralAsia - Southeast Asia

About the Author

So, Chhuong: - Chhuong So was born in 1972 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. His family was composed of two parents, a grandmother, three sisters and a brother. However, in 1975, the Khmer Rouge invaded Cambodia and closed all the schools. Instead of going to school, the Khmer Rouge put him to work tending cattle, and to plant rice paddy bunches in the fields in the Bamboo Village of Prey Veng, Cambodia. Then he was sent to work in the labor camp in Prey Clog Village of Cambodia from 1977 to 1979. In 1979, the Vietnamese's army invaded Cambodia and liberated the Cambodians. His siblings and he had lost both parents, grandmother, and a brother. His sister Kom was separated at the border of Cambodia- Thailand in 1979. In 1979, he and his siblings walked toward the Cambodia -Thai border refugee camps and stayed there a short time for temporarily. However, they moved and they found themselves living in the orphanage center in the Refugee camps of Thailand and this is where his formal education began. His siblings and he were interviewed by over several interviewers from the U.N personnels to come to the U.S.A. They flew to the U.S. in 1982. He was educated in the United States of America. He graduated from Seward Park High School and earned a High School Diploma in general education. At the Berkeley School, where he earned an Associate Degree in Applied Science, where he majored in Business Administration. Then he attended Hunter College of the City University of New York, where he studied Sociology. He left Hunter College. He worked over twenty- five years in various positions: such as in retail, hospitality, library, a restaurant, a convenience store and the food service. Many years later, he had continued his education at the State University of New York, Empire State College and he has earned a degree of Bachelor Science.