SAINT PAUL, Minn — Beginning August 1, Minnesota will formally begin recognizing veterans of the Secret War in Laos, closing a chapter that has stayed open for more than fifty years. The law, authored by Veterans Subcommittee Chair Aric Putnam (DFL-St. Cloud), and Senators Foung Hawj (DFL-Saint Paul), Susan Pha (DFL-Brooklyn Park), and Tou Xiong (DFL-Maplewood), establishes the process for state agencies to identify these veterans and extend to them the recognition and benefits outlined in the law.
Between February 1961 and May 1975, the Special Guerrilla Units and Irregular Forces fought in Laos alongside American soldiers. They rescued downed American pilots, defended supply lines, and held ground that American troops could not. The war was never acknowledged publicly while it was fought, and the men who fought it were not acknowledged after it ended.
“For fifty years, these men carried a service record that no government would confirm,” said Senator Hawj. “They were enlisted to fight a war the United States would not name, and when it was over they were left to prove something the world had agreed to forget. With this new law, Minnesota is putting an end to that silence. We honor their service and their legacy, and we are proud.”
The law provides honor guard details at the funerals of SGU Veterans and eligibility for burial in Minnesota’s state veterans cemeteries. Because of this new law, veterans of the Secret War will, once the program is in place at the Department of Public Safety, be eligible for a special “SGU Veteran” designation on their driver’s licenses beginning on January 1, 2027.
“We do not get to choose which service counts,” said Senator Putnam, chief author of the bill and chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs. “These men fought for the United States, and this state has an obligation to them that does not expire because the war was secret or because it took us too long to get here. On August 1, Minnesota starts meeting that obligation.”
This law builds on legislation that was passed in 2025 by implementing the policies recommended by the SGU Task Force directing the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs to begin accepting applications and directs county veteran service officers across the state to help veterans and their families file these applications.
“Hmong families in Minnesota know these men. A father, an uncle, a grandfather who fought beside American soldiers and then spent the rest of his life being told there was no paperwork for it,” said Senator Pha, chair of the SGU Task force. “This law is for the families who never stopped believing their fathers, even when the state refused to.”
Those families carried the story here, and Minnesota became home to one of the largest Hmong communities in the country.
“Veterans of the Secret War in Laos carried the burdens of battle while history scarcely spoke their names,” said Senator Tou Xiong (DFL-Maplewood). “ Minnesota takes the lead, breaking that long silence. With the enactment of this law, we declare that their courage was not forgotten, their sacrifice was not in vain, and their service shall no longer stand in the shadows. Beginning August 1, our gratitude will be expressed not merely in words, but through the honors and benefits they have earned. This is a proud day for Minnesota, and a measure of justice, long delayed, for those who stood with America in its hour of need and upholds the integrity of America’s reach and word throughout the world.”
HF 3522 was signed into law as Chapter 96. It passed the Senate 67-0 and the House 134-0.
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Vice Chair of the Higher Education Committee. He serves on the Jobs and Economic Development Committee and Taxes Committee.
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