HOF123: Channa Kong

During the invasion and evacuation of Phnom Penh, Cambodia by the Vietnamese, Channa Kong’s military family was ordered out of the city and into the countryside. After the evacuation, Channa contracted a high fever and experienced symptoms of dizziness. This was exacerbated by the scorching hot weather and crowd congestion, which led her to faint. She later regained consciousness but lost contact with her family members.

For the next five years, Channa would experience one of Cambodia’s most horrendous periods in its history. It was sometime after the Vietnamese occupation that she would reunite with her family, all except for one, whom she looked forward to meeting with when she discovered that her family was alive.