The killing fields on paper

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Nagas are multi-headed dragons that live underground and occasionally interfere with humans when they feel humans are disrespecting the land. They can dispense prosperity, but usually what they release is catastrophe. What happened in Cambodia in the late 1960s and early 1970s can only be described as a catastrophe.
This memoir is the story of Mae Bunseng Taing, a teenaged Chinese Cambodian. It starts in 1968, when the Cambodian civil war started. The "freedom fighters" became known as the Khmer Rouge. They were eventually defeated, but not before they killed millions of their own citizens through overwork and starvation. When that didn't work, they shot them for any reason or no reason at all.
The first Mae knows about this is when a refugee from deeper in the country passes through Poipet fleeing to Thailand tells them of things the freedom fighters are doing. She is not completely believed. The first thing these freedom fighters do when they arrive at Poipet is force all the townspeople out of their homes and into the countryside. Worse things happen. It is hard to believe what Mae and his family suffer through.
After the civil was is crushed, things do not get better. Mae's father decides the family must leave Cambodia. They are not safe there any more. So the family joins a large group of other refugees going to Thailand, the closest country to where they are. It starts out well, but soon the Thailand government feel overwhelmed. They bus the refugees to a mountainside near the border with Cambodia filled with landmines, give them a little water and rice and tell them to "go home".
Mae's story does get better. He and what remains of his family do find refuge in the United States. He told parts of his story to his son James, who helps him write the fuller story so it wouldn't be lost and forgotten.
It really is horrible what we humans can do to one another. This book is a perfect example of that. I was aware of the subject before I read the book. I watched The Killing Fields when it came out and I have a copy of the film if I ever forget. I highly recommend this book. Learn what we need to keep from doing to our neighbors. Never forget what we have done in the past.