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American journalist Nate Thayer, known for his coverage of the end of the Khmer Rouge regime and the emergence of modern Cambodia, died in early January at the age of 62. A unique group of Southeast Asian refugees gathered in late February to honor him. VOA’s Chetra Chap was there.
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((TITLE: TV Montagnard Thayer Journalist - Chap
HEAD: Once-Forgotten Montagnards Remember Journalist Nate Thayer
TEASER: Late reporter credited with saving group of Indigenous fighters the US recruited during Vietnam War and then left behind in Cambodia
TWEET:
DATE:
PUBLISHED AT: 03/03/2023 at 8:25
BYLINE: Chetra Chap
DATELINE: Washington
CAMERAPERSON: Sisovann Pin
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Original, Nate Thayer Collection (photos), William Chickering Collection (photos)
Script Editors: KEnochs; Bowman
PLATFORMS:
TRT: 2:51
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE:
EDS NOTES: While Nate Thayer died in Jan. and we did a web piece, this memorial service was held just last weekend. ))
((INTRO))
[[American journalist Nate Thayer, known for his coverage of the end of the Khmer Rouge regime and the emergence of modern Cambodia, died in early January at the age of 62. A unique group of Southeast Asian refugees gathered in late February to honor him. VOA’s Chetra Chap was there.]]
((NARRATOR))
Renowned Khmer Rouge journalist Nate Thayer, ((Mandatory CG: Nate Thayer Collection)) perhaps best known as the journalist who interviewed Pol Pot, died on January 3, 2023, at the age of 62 at his home in Massachusetts. ((end courtesy))
But for a small group of Southeast Asian refugees in North Carolina, he is remembered as the man who told their story to the world and saved them.
((Y Bhong Rcam, Former Montagnard FULRO Army (ENG, but Voiceover used)))
“Nobody came to help the Montagnard people, just the group with Nate Thayer only. … He is a good guy, a good man and helped Montagnards because we stayed in the jungle a long, long time, a long time, 17 years.”
((NARRATOR))
The group is called the Montagnards, or Dega, Indigenous people in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. ((Mandatory CG: Nate Thayer Collection)) Numbering roughly one million before the Vietnam war, they were predominantly Christians, converted by French and American missionaries in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
During the Vietnam War the Montagnard FULRO army, or United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races army, was formed to secure greater autonomy and self-determination for minority groups in Vietnam. ((Mandatory CG: William Chickering Collection)) They were recruited by American forces during the Vietnam war. ((end courtesy))
((Mandatory CG: Nate Thayer Collection)) But when the war ended and the U.S. left Vietnam, the Montagnards were left behind and thousands were forced to flee into the mountains of Cambodia. ((end courtesy))
((Y-Duen Buondap, Dega Central Highlands Organization (ENG)))
“We’re so sad when U.S. left us because they said they promised to come back to the Central Highlands to help our people, but we had no connection.”
((NARRATOR))
In 1992, Nate Thayer broke a story about forgotten Montagnard forces ((Mandatory CG: Nate Thayer Collection)) left behind in the jungles of Cambodia after the Vietnam war. The story made the world remember the Montagnard fighters, something that is credited with boosting pressure to rescue them and ultimately helped hundreds escape to the United States. ((end courtesy))
((Y-Duen Buondap, Dega Central Highlands Organization))
“Nate said ‘if you send those people back to Vietnam, Vietnam [would] kill them all. So we have to keep them, to rescue them, to save their lives and send them to third country.’”
((NARRATOR))
Peter Maguire, author of “Facing Death in Cambodia,” said Nate Thayer’s “journalism and advocacy” was the reason that “today North Carolina has the largest Montagnard population outside of Vietnam.”
((Peter Maguire, ‘Facing Death in Cambodia’ Author))
“Most of the press focused on the Pol Pot interview, the Peabody, not accepting the award, the tobacco-chewing gonzo journalist, but they overlooked what I believe was the most important story of his career, which was the FULRO Montagnards.”
((NARRATOR))
But that story isn’t overlooked here, (Mandatory CG: Nate Thayer Collection)) where one journalist, whose work saved hundreds of lives, will always be remembered.
((Chetra Chap, VOA News, Greensboro, North Carolina)) ((end courtesy))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateMarch 3, 2023 08:49 EST
BylineChetra Chap
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English