Huy Mann, Soldier
was not really ready for love when I was 18. Mann and I first met on the Khmer New Year, when he was on a short leave from the army. It was love at first sight for him. And when he had his unit chief ask my mother for my hand in marriage, I didn’t […]
Kauv Choa, Soldier
Kauv Choa married me when he was 22 and I was 18. Although we lived in the same village, we had never met before his parents came to mine to arrange our engagement. My parents asked for a 100 riel dowry; it was a lot of money at that time. But because his parents loved […]
Kang Nan, Soldier
This picture was taken during the Lon Nol regime in Phnom Penh. I had moved there to live with my younger cousins because I didn’t want to join the Khmer Rouge. I’m not sure why my friends and I decided to have our picture taken, and we didn’t dress properly. I was wearing a pair […]
Sek Moeun, Soldier
My husband worked for the civil aviation administration at Pochentong Airport when we met. He was responsible for security at the airport at a time when people were trying to burn it down. Moeun was much more educated than I. He could speak English and French fluently, as well as Chinese because he was half […]
Sum Sras, Army Medic
I was ordained as a monk when I was 12 years old. But after a year, I resigned because I had very little knowledge of Buddhist teachings. At the time of the coup d’etat against King Sihanouk, I was a village chief. I supervised more than 50 houses, although I was not allowed to collect […]
Chhuon Sopheak, Military Policeman
My mother died when I was young and my father did not have enough money to support my education. So, I moved from Prey Vent Province to Phnom Penh where I lived with my brother-in-law Chann Kim Hor. He was a sergeant in the army and asked me to take the entrance exam to become […]
May Phy, Policeman
During the Lon Nol regime my husband Mai Phy was a policeman in Phnom Penh. He also worked for a humanitarian organization that distributed food. He often traveled to the provinces to give rice, fish paste, canned fish, fish sauce, soy sauce, and mosquito nets to people who suffered because of the war. I was […]
Kong Meardey, Banker
My mother died when I was too young to remember and my father died when I was ten. Thus, I grew up to be a very independent person. After the death of my father, my godfather, who was a district chief in Kampong Thom Province, asked if he could adopt me. He died when I […]
Buoy Sreng, Newspaper Publisher
Before I was born, my father was a teacher in Pursat Province, where he fell in love with my mother Kang Sophat; she was the daughter of merchants. She studied until Baccalaureate I and then quit school to help her parents sell goods in the market. My grandmother arranged for my father to take another […]
Ai Va, Food Services Manager
My husband and I were cousins; we grew up together in Kampong Cham Province. Our parents arranged our marriage when he was 25 and I was 18. Va was a good, gentle, and hard working person. In 1970, Va was promoted to chief of the food services department at the Sokha Hotel in Kampong Som […]