even one solid meal a day. I had no idea I would come to the United States. I never could have predicted all the things that would happen to me.” Then he added, “or all the things that I would be able to make happen.”
Nawuth knows what freedom means.
Time Line of Khmer Rouge Occupation and More
1962
Pol Pot becomes Secretary General of Cambodian Communist Party.
1964
Nawuth Keat is born in the small village of Salatrave, Cambodia. He is the fifth of Seang and Thy Keat’s eight children.
1965
Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk breaks off relations with the United States because he fears he will be removed from power. He allows North Vietnamese rebels to set up bases in Cambodia to fight the U.S.-backed government in South Vietnam.
1968
Pol Pot becomes the leader of a rebel group. He is forced to flee into the Cambodian jungle to escape King Sihanouk. While living in the jungle, Pol Pot forms a movement that becomes the Khmer Rouge. They wage a rebel war against the Cambodian government.
1970
King Sihanouk is removed from power by a U. S.-backed military coup. The Khmer Rouge republic is created. The Cambodian Prime Minister, General Lon Nol, takes power.
EARLY 1970S
The Cambodian army begins losing territory to the Khmer Rouge and Northern Vietnamese.
1973
The Khmer Rouge attacked Salatrave, Nawuth’s hometown. Nawuth and his family try to flee, but are caught. Five members of his family are killed. Nawuth is shot three times, but he survives.
1975
Prime Minister Lon Nol is overthrown and the Communist Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, take over Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. They immediately begin evacuating people from towns and cities to create a society based on farming. City residents are forced to the countryside to work the land. Former King Sihanouk briefly becomes head of state again.
1976
Cambodia is renamed Democratic Kampuchea. King Sihanouk resigns and Khieu Samphan becomes head of state with Pol Pot as Prime Minister.
1977
Nawuth is living in a group hut and working in the rice fields of Salatrave with his younger brothers. Sometimes his sister Chantha and her husband Van Lan work nearby.
DECEMBER 1978
Vietnam invades Cambodia after Khmer Rouge rebels continually cross the border. The Cambodia-Vietnam War begins and the Vietnamese remove the Khmer Rouge from power, driving them into the countryside.
JANUARY 1979
Vietnamese troops take over Phnom Penh, drive Pol Pot to the border of Thailand, and begin their ten-year occupation of Cambodia. The People’s Republic of Kampuchea is created.
1979
Escaping the Khmer Rouge who still control the countryside, Nawuth and his family flee to Battambang.
SUMMER 1980
Chantha, Van Lan, Vibol, Bunna, and Nawuth walk to Thailand.
WINTER 1982
Nawuth boards his flight to the U.S. and to long-awaited freedom.
1989
The last Vietnamese troops withdraw. The country is renamed Cambodia.
1993
Free elections are held in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge boycotts them. King Norodom Sihanouk returns to the throne after a new constitution brings back the monarchy.
1996
The Khmer Rouge movement is weakened when high-level Khmer Rouge begin breaking their allegiance to the party.
1997
The Cambodian government asks the United Nations to put Khmer Rouge leaders on trial for their crimes. Pol Pot is ousted as Khmer Rouge leader.
1998
Pol Pot dies. His death signals the end of the Khmer Rouge.
1999
The last Khmer Rouge surrender.
2001
Cambodia passes a law to create a court dedicated to trying members of the Khmer Rouge for the crimes they committed when in power.
2004
King Sihanouk abdicates the throne.
2009
Khmer Rouge trials begin.
PHOTOGRAPHIC INSERT
I am fourth from the left, posed with some of my siblings during happy times in Cambodia. From the left, they are Chantha, Lee, Bunna, me, Hackly, and Chanty. At the time the picture was taken, my oldest sister Chanya had married and moved away, and my baby sister, Chantu, was not born yet.
During
Nawuth knows what freedom means.
Time Line of Khmer Rouge Occupation and More
1962
Pol Pot becomes Secretary General of Cambodian Communist Party.
1964
Nawuth Keat is born in the small village of Salatrave, Cambodia. He is the fifth of Seang and Thy Keat’s eight children.
1965
Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk breaks off relations with the United States because he fears he will be removed from power. He allows North Vietnamese rebels to set up bases in Cambodia to fight the U.S.-backed government in South Vietnam.
1968
Pol Pot becomes the leader of a rebel group. He is forced to flee into the Cambodian jungle to escape King Sihanouk. While living in the jungle, Pol Pot forms a movement that becomes the Khmer Rouge. They wage a rebel war against the Cambodian government.
1970
King Sihanouk is removed from power by a U. S.-backed military coup. The Khmer Rouge republic is created. The Cambodian Prime Minister, General Lon Nol, takes power.
EARLY 1970S
The Cambodian army begins losing territory to the Khmer Rouge and Northern Vietnamese.
1973
The Khmer Rouge attacked Salatrave, Nawuth’s hometown. Nawuth and his family try to flee, but are caught. Five members of his family are killed. Nawuth is shot three times, but he survives.
1975
Prime Minister Lon Nol is overthrown and the Communist Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, take over Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. They immediately begin evacuating people from towns and cities to create a society based on farming. City residents are forced to the countryside to work the land. Former King Sihanouk briefly becomes head of state again.
1976
Cambodia is renamed Democratic Kampuchea. King Sihanouk resigns and Khieu Samphan becomes head of state with Pol Pot as Prime Minister.
1977
Nawuth is living in a group hut and working in the rice fields of Salatrave with his younger brothers. Sometimes his sister Chantha and her husband Van Lan work nearby.
DECEMBER 1978
Vietnam invades Cambodia after Khmer Rouge rebels continually cross the border. The Cambodia-Vietnam War begins and the Vietnamese remove the Khmer Rouge from power, driving them into the countryside.
JANUARY 1979
Vietnamese troops take over Phnom Penh, drive Pol Pot to the border of Thailand, and begin their ten-year occupation of Cambodia. The People’s Republic of Kampuchea is created.
1979
Escaping the Khmer Rouge who still control the countryside, Nawuth and his family flee to Battambang.
SUMMER 1980
Chantha, Van Lan, Vibol, Bunna, and Nawuth walk to Thailand.
WINTER 1982
Nawuth boards his flight to the U.S. and to long-awaited freedom.
1989
The last Vietnamese troops withdraw. The country is renamed Cambodia.
1993
Free elections are held in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge boycotts them. King Norodom Sihanouk returns to the throne after a new constitution brings back the monarchy.
1996
The Khmer Rouge movement is weakened when high-level Khmer Rouge begin breaking their allegiance to the party.
1997
The Cambodian government asks the United Nations to put Khmer Rouge leaders on trial for their crimes. Pol Pot is ousted as Khmer Rouge leader.
1998
Pol Pot dies. His death signals the end of the Khmer Rouge.
1999
The last Khmer Rouge surrender.
2001
Cambodia passes a law to create a court dedicated to trying members of the Khmer Rouge for the crimes they committed when in power.
2004
King Sihanouk abdicates the throne.
2009
Khmer Rouge trials begin.
PHOTOGRAPHIC INSERT
I am fourth from the left, posed with some of my siblings during happy times in Cambodia. From the left, they are Chantha, Lee, Bunna, me, Hackly, and Chanty. At the time the picture was taken, my oldest sister Chanya had married and moved away, and my baby sister, Chantu, was not born yet.
During
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