From Cambodia, Executive Director for IRCO

[From 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge regime was responsible for
the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people in Cambodia—primarily
through forced labor, starvation, and execution. They outlawed all
religion, abolished banking, confiscated private property, and
relocated citizens, forcing them to work at collective farms. Anyone
who spoke out was quickly reminded of the Khmer Rouge’s motto: “To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss.” Sokhom Tauch
was one of the lucky ones who escaped.—eds.]

“When the Khmer Rouge was coming to power, I was an ensign in the
Republican Navy—very young. We were warned to hide for maybe a day or
two, until it was safe to return. So some friends and I tried to cross
the Indo-China Sea in one of the smaller naval boats. But it was too
small, and too slow. Luckily we found some bigger ships to travel with.
We got to Malaysia, but they wouldn’t let us in. That’s when we got
word from Cambodia that we shouldn’t come back—you are going to be
killed. I was supposed to get married in two weeks to my fiancée, an
arranged marriage. Later I found out she was dead.

“Somehow my commander talked to the US ambassador in Kuala Lumpur,
and they suggested we sail to the Philippines. But they wouldn’t let us
in, because we were flying a Cambodian flag. So the US Navy gave us an
American flag and uniforms, and we are allowed into their naval
base.

“After staying for a month or so, we shipped to America. I didn’t
know much about the United States—I’d never heard of Portland. All I
knew was San Francisco, and the song about leaving your heart there.
And I knew Detroit was making cars! But when a busload of Americans met
us at the airport with a sign that said, ‘Welcome to the US.’ I felt so
happy, my tears dropped. But I was also sad I had to leave
Cambodia.

“In Portland, I was placed in an apartment, and started going to
school. I was a bus boy, a dishwasher, a janitor, and all that time I
stayed in school, studying bookkeeping. I came to IRCO in 1976, where I
worked for accounts payable, as well as being a Cambodian translator.
Slowly I worked from being at the bottom of the stack to becoming
executive director. When I came here I didn’t even know what a quarter
looked like. But I always paid attention at my jobs, and was patient
while always trying to do the best I could.

“Meanwhile, my mother didn’t know what happened to me. She thought I
was dead. Every week she would go to the temple to pray. Finally in
1984, I was able to send a note back to my town, and it got to my
mother! She then sent a letter to me, asking many personal questions
about my family to see if it was really me. Two years later I flew
there to meet her, and I had forgotten what she looked like. She didn’t
recognize me at first, either. But when she asked, ‘Are you Sokhom?’
there were tears of joy. Eventually I was able to get her to the United
States.

“I’ve stayed at IRCO now for 30 years—because I know what it’s like
to be new to this country. I talk to the refugees who just get here,
just to make them feel welcome and less scared. When you’re new, it’s
important to have somebody.” (WSH)