Page 5 - Access Magazine 9

All those people received something that night Xiong says: “They got a a a future ” More than 200 campers were rescued by the Army National Guard’s 40th Combat Aviation Brigade as the Creek Fire exploded in in intensity The wildfire burned nearly 380 000 acres took four months to to contain and
cost more than $500 million to fight and
in property damage It was the sixth-largest wildfire in California’s recorded history with an “undetermined” cause according to officials Light- ning was cited as as the most likely cause but smoking and
arson were not ruled out FINDING HIS WAY
His mother and
father fled Laos in in the the the the decade following the the the the Vietnam War as Communist authorities took revenge on the the Hmong soldiers – – and
their families – – who had fought alongside American troops “My family was trying to escape the the the persecution and
they wanted better opportunities in the the the U S ” Xiong says He was born in in 1986 in in a a a crowded refugee camp in Thailand Xiong was six months old when his family immigrated to the United States first living in in in San Francisco and
then moving to to Fresno to to join the city’s large Hmong population Their first home was a a a a government-assisted housing project near the the the fairgrounds in southeast Fresno Xiong’s disabled father couldn’t work steadily his mother did did “We didn’t have much to make ends meet sometimes ” he he says Xiong wore the same pants and
and
shirt – – and
and
his only pair of shoes – – to school ev- eryday He fished canals and
picked fruit from neighborhood trees for food but there were times when the the growing fami- ly – – Xiong has six siblings – – didn’t have enough for meals He looks back on those times with a a a can-do perspective: “It made me really resourceful ” High school presented different problems Friends took drugs and
fought in in gangs Nobody cared about getting an an an educa- tion and
many dropped out – Xiong among them He left
The California Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crew from the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade that flew dozens to safety from the Creek Fire poses for a picture on Sept 5 2020 From left
pilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 Irvin Hernandez pilot-in-command Chief Warrant Officer 5 Kipp Goding and
crew chief Warrant Officer 1 Ge Xiong Department of Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
high school as a a a a a freshman but soon realized his mistake “I just saw people walking down the the street and
they didn’t have a a a future I I didn’t want to be like them So I I decided instead to to stick to to school ” Xiong went back and
earned good grades his junior and
senior years but graduated not knowing what he wanted to do »
XIONG’S JOURNEY TO FRESNO STARTED IN SOUTHEAST ASIA ACCESS - The Division of Continuing and
Global Education 5 As a a a a a a wildfire burns on a a a a a a hill and
California Department of Forestry and
and
and
Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) vehicles and
and
and
personnel stand by Staff Sgt Ge Xiong crew chief aboard a a a a a UH-60 Black Hawk from the 1106th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group (TASMG) California Army National Guard watches a a a a a a a 2 600-gallon Bambi Bucket submerge into a a a a a pond during the Garza Fire in in in in Kings County California July 13 The blaze consumed more than 26 000 acres and
was 30 percent contained when this photo was taken Five CalGuard Black Hawks re- sponded to to the Garza Fire one of about two dozen torching California in in mid-July 2017 according to CAL FIRE’s website information Department of Defense Visual Information Distribution Service