Bun Yom, Leader of the Cambodian Freedom Fighters will be at Borders Books in Redmond Town Center for his first presentation/discussion and signing for his new book. Tomorrow I’m Dead, the only known first-person account of the Cambodian Freedom Fighter’s heroic liberation of slaves from the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields.
Bun (pronounced “boon”) Yom will tell his first-hand story of being captured by the Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge at 14-years-old, the deplorable conditions while he worked as a Killing Field slave, his escape into the Cambodian jungle, and his training to be a Freedom Fighter. Bun then used his wisdom, courage and unprecedented compassion to rescued thousands of Cambodian people and rise to become the Cambodian Freedom Army’s greatest soldier. An unmatched tale of suffering, courage and heroism. This is his story.
Bun has a special message for kids to help them appreciate the lives and freedom we all enjoy every day.
Excerpt from “Tomorrow I’m Dead”
About 4:30 a.m., ten of us went to try to find more people hiding in the jungle. I found a lot of dead people but some were still alive. We found a baby crying, wandering around by himself. We found whole families that had been killed together lying near their houses. The city was empty. We looked in every room, every corner, inside and outside the houses. We made a sweep of the city, all in a line and saw many dead. We knew which way they had been running by which way their bodies faced.
We saw some people running across the field again, so we watched which way they went. There were about a hundred of them. We went out and tried to stop them. They were afraid of us, so we ran out in front of them and said, “Don’t worry; we are good people. We won’t hurt you. Look at our uniforms. We are the Cambodia Freedom Army. We know that the Khmer Rouge came to hurt people. Don’t run; you are safe now.” I said, “I will drop my gun, so you will believe me. Sit down with us.” All of them came out. It was hard to recognize them as people, they were so skinny and ragged. I talked with one older lady. She told me her story and we cried together. I hugged her and cried really hard. All I could feel in my arms was skin and bones. I called her “Mom.” The lady told me how the Khmer Rouge came in and started killing people in the city, so they ran to the jungle. They were scared and ate anything they could find.
For more information contact: Bill Chandler, 509-312-9455, contact@andantepublishing.com