Brandon Twp.- Nou Yi Yang will finally be able to rest in peace.
The Laos immigrant died in March and was buried in Seymour Lake Cemetery on a hilltop that reminded him of the hills and mountains of his homeland. But eight months after his death, his dying wish had not yet been carried out by his family because of a cemetery ordinance prohibiting monuments or markers exceeding 60? in height or 38? in width.
At the Nov. 7 township board meeting, the board granted the wishes of Yang’s family, allowing them to place a monument 10 feet in height, with a base 6 feet wide, at the site.
‘I wanted a big monument so all the people who came by can say this is Mr. Yang’s monument and so all the grandchildren will know he is there and if anyone wants to come and visit, they will know the place,? said Michael Yang, Nou Yi’s son. ‘He will never disappear because the monument is there. It means a lot to our family because that is what he wanted. We appreciate it.?
In requesting the board to change the ordinance, township clerk Jeannie McCreery noted that Nou Yi Yang’s children feel it is their duty to provide the most impressive monument possible to honor his life.
Nou Yi Yang was born Jan. 1, 1910 in Xiengkhuang, Laos. He married twice and was father to seven sons and six daughters. He worked as a chief of village (our equivalent of mayor) for the Laos government during the mid-1900s. In the early 60s, he joined the Lao-Hmong Special Guerilla Units (SGU), recruited by the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. Nou Yi Yang was a Chief Warrior and recruited 400-500 soldiers during the war. In 1965, Nou Yi Yang became a board adviser for the Hmong people in Laos. Michael Yang, four other sons and about eighty percent of the men in the Yang family fought alongside Nou Yi Yang in support of the U.S. Army until 1975.
After the war ended, Yang migrated to Thailand, then France, before arriving in the United States in the early 80s, where he joined most of his family. In 1987, he settled permanently in Michigan.
‘He never returned to Laos,? said Michael Yang. ‘He missed it, but it would be tough for him to return because he was old.?
In July 2000, Commander Nou Yi Yang was presented ‘The Defenders of Freedom Citation? by the U.S. Congress. He received U.S. citizenship in 2003 and on March 19, 2005 was awarded posthumously the Vietnam Veterans National Medal.
For several years prior to his death, Nou Yi Yang had been searching for a burial site for himself. While visiting a grandson in Brandon Township, he saw the Seymour Lake Cemetery and told his children it reminded him of Laos, where most people are buried on small mountains and hills.
The family purchased three lots to enable them to customize the monument and promised Nou Yi Yang a monument of his liking would be built.
In a letter to McCreery last month asking for the ordinance change, Yang’s son William wrote, ‘In our Hmong culture and tradition, when a promise is made to a person before him or her (pass) away, their soul and spirit will never live in peace until their wish is fulfill(ed). We know that till this day my father’s spirit is still amongst us and is waiting for his monument to be built before he can rest in peace. In our tradiiton it is a bad omen when their wish is not fulfilled…?
The family is pleased their wish has now been granted.
‘He’s one of the Hmong leaders not only in Laos but also in this country and he is well known in the community,? Michael Yang said. ‘The monument will carry his leadership. He passed away, but his spirit and soul are still there at the cemetery.?