GENTRY — More than 100 people from northern Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri attended a memorial service for General Vang Pao at the Decatur Community Center last Saturday.

General Vang Pao served as an international political and cultural leader for the Hmong people. He was revered as a military hero who led the Hmong guerrilla army in a CIA-backed battle against communists during the Vietnam War.

The general is also credited with helping resettle tens of thousands of Hmong refugees in the United States. He died on Jan. 6 in Clovis, Calif., at the age of 81.

The Decatur memorial service, which was hosted by the Hmong Association, Inc., was one of many across the country over the past few weeks. According to Russell Thao, president of the Hmong Association, Inc., there has been some kind of memorial service for the general every weekend since he died. A similar service was held in southern Arkansas on Saturday, he said.

The Decatur service lasted from 3 p.m.. until 10 p.m. It began with a video of the general speaking at the 2005-2006 New Year celebration in northwest Arkansas. Pao made appearances in Decatur, Gentry and Springdale when he visited the area, according to Kher Thao.

The service continued with speakers making presentations about Hmong culture, history and the funeral plans, in their native language. Nine Hmong Association, Inc., representatives - or the leaders of the local clans - also gave tributes to Pao.

Randall Thao said he was a child during the war, but many of the older generation present on Saturday fought under the general.

Pao’s funeral is planned for Feb. 4-9 at the Fresno, Calif., Convention and Entertainment Center. Plans for the service are said to be fit for a king, according to news headlines posted on the General Vang PaoMemorial Web site, www.gvpmemorial.com.

Crowds of 30,000 to 40,000 people are expected to attend the funeral, along with dignitaries from around the world, according to the Web site. The king of Thailand is among the foreign leaders planning to attend the funeral, even though the king is very elderly himself, Randall Thao said.Pao was U.S. ally in Vietnam

Pao, originally a farmer, joined the French in resistance to Japanese occupiers of French Indochina in World War II. After that, he fought the Viet Minh with the French, who eventually lost in 1954. During the war in Vietnam, Pao led a CIA-financed resistance to the communists in Laos. After the takeover of South Vietnam by the communists, Pao left Laos, as did thousands of other Hmong people, and eventually settled in the United States. Pao died in Clovis, Calif., on Jan. 6.

News, Pages 1 on 01/26/2011