For Yauo Yang, inclusion is a guiding principle. He moved to Wisconsin as a child and went on to join the Army National Guard, where he taught fellow U.S. soldiers about Hmong history. After his service, he became a pastor and founded a church in central Wisconsin. Yang shares his experience as part of StoryCorps’ Military Voices Initiative, which is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Editor’s note: Parts of this story describe battleground violence.