Roberts group of escapees follow the roosters crow and creep towards what seem to be a village. They create the plan and Robert leads the pack in. What they found is a quaint Thai village and stumbled upon some locals who immediately assume this group are Khmer Rouge soldiers. Because of this lack of trust, Robert's group is thrown into jail and tortured to get information. Yes they are in Thailand, but as Thai prisoners. 

Music Written By: Acerylio Chen

Robert’s group of 5 walk towards the forest and follows their leader. They all agree to never let this guy out their sight, it fear that he would take the money and run. About 1/3 of their way into the forest, they encounter a massive storm. This rainstorm, ended up saving the groups lives. They end up getting lost and encounter dangerous animals and lack of food and direction. 

Growing up, my father always shared small snippets of this story. I was captivated and it was a major spark of curiosity that led me to the creation of the podcast today. 

Music Written By: Acerylio Chen

The Vietnamese have officially taken over the country, and everyone is flooding the Thai border in hope to get out of the country. The street is not opening, and people are starting to consider walking through the dangerous forest to reach Thailand. There are lots of criminals who took advantage of this demand, leading people into the forest to be stranded. Robert finds a trustworthy guy, gets a group together and takes the risk of walking through the forest. 

Music Written By: Acerylio Chen

Robert reunites with the family but understands that there is just not enough food to stay on the side of the road forever. Robert gets a group together and they all decide to walk towards Nimitt to pick up scraps left after the massacre. At the time, the Vietnamese soldiers were still fighting the Khmer Rouge. Since there was no food left, Robert sees a warehouse storage in the middle of the battlegrounds, and decides to raid it. While doing so, he gets stuck in the middle of active fire. 

Music Written By: Acerylio Chen

Episode 19 - The Massacre at Nimitt 

The majority of the Khmer Rouge soldiers are now back at their “home base”, in the jungles between Thailand and Cambodia, which happens to be where more and more refugees are trying to cross in order to escape their country. There are a few Vietnamese soldiers are guarding the town of Nimitt, however not enough to truly protect the thousands of people who are flooding to the border. One night, the Vietnamese soldiers pulled out from the town, allowing the Khmer Rouge soldiers to raid the city and attack. Thousands of people were murdered, as the Khmer Rouge wanted to kill anyone in sight. They pushed all the refugees back so far back, it felt they were back at square one. These are the parts of history that people don’t hear about. These are the untold truths. 

Music Written By: Acerylio Chen

Epsiode 18: The war is upon us, and Robert makes the decision that he needs to escape to the Thailand border. The Khmer Rouge soldiers seems to be gone, leaving it wide open for people to leave as they please! He keeps walking and starts realizing that many people are trying to cross the border. He is so hungry and meets a nice family that offers to be with him and share food since he is alone. Robert still has not found any of his family members, but at this point, the goal is to get out of Cambodia ASAP. He reaches a town called Nimitt, right before the Thai border, and is met by Vietnamese soldiers. 

Music Written By: Acerylio Chen

Episode 17 - Vietnamese Invasion 1978

Robert starts hearing more and more bombs in the distance. All the people in these labor camps had no idea who was bombing who - but they did know they have been waiting for a change for the past 3.5 years.  People know that something different is happening, which is exciting. As the Khmer Rouge soldiers get more scared of the situation, they kill more people in a last attempt to feel powerful. Over time, less and less Khmer Rouge guards seem to be around. Robert waits for the right moment to make a move. 
 
 Music Written By: Acerylio Chen

Episode 16 - The Best Day in His Life 

While Robert is being fed at another camp location under a new leader, Robert runs into a familiar face who also recognizes him. He is a distant relative who was lucky enough to marry a Khmer Rouge solider - therefore has protection. He secretly tells Robert to come meet him at his place to get more food and medication that he would need to stay alive. Robert figures out a way to meet him and this uncle gives him a bunch of food and antibiotics. For the first time in Robert’s life, he feels a sense of security. It was the best day of his life during the 3.5 years with the Khmer Rouge. 

Music Written By: Acerylio Chen

Mama has become such a powerful character in our story, that it wouldn't feel right to not officially introduce her. In this epsiode we will learn more about where she was born, how she grew up, and a small clip of Auntie Amanda recalling her mother's strength. 

RIP Mama, we miss you and love you dearly. 

Music Written By: Acerylio Chen

Episode 15: Robert leaves the hospital and gets an assignment to pick up herbs close to where Mama’s camp was. He made the executive decision to use this opportunity to visit Mama, regardless of the risk. At this point he has slowly started to loose hope that there were going to be future chances for him to see his mom. While he was with Mama, she secretly rubbed some sugar on his body so he would be able to have some sustenance. He slowly gains his energy back, and with new energy comes a new found motivation to figure out how exactly he can gain trust of the Khmer Rouge soldiers. 

Music Written By: Acerylio Chen