Hog's Exit: Jerry Daniels, the Hmong, and the CIA

It just didn't sit right. The American Embassy had reported the accidental death of Jerry "Hog" Daniels by carbon monoxide poisoning. Three decades later, his family, friends, and coworkers remain unconvinced that the U.S. government told them the truth. A former CIA case officer during the "secret war" in Laos, Jerry Daniels was experienced, smart, and careful. Raising even more doubts, his casket was "Permanently Sealed" before being shipped home to Missoula, Montana, where he was honored with a three-day funeral ceremony organized by his former comrades-in-arms, the Hmong hilltribe warriors from Laos. First-person accounts from Americans and Hmong, ranchers and refugees, State Department officials and smokejumpers capture the life of "Hog" Daniels and offer speculation on the unsettling circumstances of his death. Equally important, Hog's Exit is the first complete account in English to document the drama and beauty of the Hmong funeral process.

ISBN-13: 9780896727922

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Texas Tech University Press

Publication Date: 05-20-2013

Pages: 496

Product Dimensions: 9.24h x 6.16w x 1.15d

Series: Modern Southeast Asia

Gayle L. Morrison has worked with the Hmong community since 1977 in education, refugee services, private enterprise, and as an oral historian, researcher and writer. Her first book was Sky Is Falling: An Oral History of the CIA's Evacuation of the Hmong from Laos (1999). Based on the quality of her oral history research, she received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in 2003-2004. She lives in Santa Ana, California, and Missoula, Montana.