In an interview with VOA, Yauo Yang, a 23-year old Hmong refugee in Wausau, Wisconsin, says as a National Guard soldier, he has been called to active duty and depoyment to Iraq by the end of the year.
Yang, a senior majoring in communications and psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, says he has to quit school for about a year and a haft to serve in Iraq for a period of about a year.
Yang came to the U.S. in 1987. Not yet a citizen and as a refugee from Laos, Yang feels a certain sense of duty to pay back to his adopted land and also to show that beeing a refugee doesn't mean being a burden for the government and the community.
Yang joined the National Guard in November 2002, in part for the tuition help. He plans to go back to school to finish his study and try to get a job as a TV reporter after his mission in Iraq.