A Cambodian American helps her dad process his past as a survivor of genocide

Bo Uce still vividly remembers his experiences as a child soldier under the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia — the freezing nights, the constant hunger, the violence. He doesn’t talk much about his past. But his daughter, Victoria Uce, wants to know how her dad’s childhood during the Cambodian Genocide affected him and influenced how he raised her.

Emily Kwong, host of the LAist podcast series Inheriting, guides Bo Uce and Victoria Uce through a conversation about their family history, and how to care for generations of survivors and their descendants.

Bo Uce (left) and his daughter Victoria Uce (right) at the Khemara Buddhikaram Temple in Long Beach.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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Meet Victoria Uce

The Khmer community in Long Beach is a constant for Victoria Uce, defining and surrounding her throughout her life. Her temple, the Khemara Buddhikaram Buddhist Temple, has become an important sanctuary for Victoria Uce’s family and their Khmer community.

“Everyone here [at the temple] is a survivor of the genocide,” she says.

What Victoria Uce is talking about is the killing of Cambodian citizens and other ethnic minorities under the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979. An estimated 2 million people in Cambodia died from starvation and mass execution by the Khmer government.

Both of Victoria Uce’s parents came to the United States as refugees, having grown up under the Khmer Rouge. Her father, Bo Uce, was orphaned at a young age and was forced into the regime’s youth brigade.

What Victoria Uce doesn’t understand is how she and her sister were raised with so much warmth and love, even though her parents experienced harsh and traumatic childhoods. While in the brigade, her father often suffered from starvation.

“[My dad] … used to steal food for his siblings. But if you're caught you risk death,” Victoria Uce says. “How is that something you go through as a kid?”

Though she can’t comprehend the magnitude of her parents’ trauma, Victoria Uce wants to understand how they survived. She hopes by doing that, she can start to understand her own behaviors.

“I did notice that with me and my sister, our hunger cues were definitely a lot more skewed than most people,” Victoria Uce says. “I would eat past [being] full, because I was always told ‘I didn't have food growing up, so you're lucky.’ So to this day I still hate wasting food. But I also have to work around my hunger cues.”

A brief history of the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian genocide

The Khmer Rouge fully claimed power in Cambodia on April 17, 1975, after the regime captured the country’s capital, Phnom Penh. Under the new regime, leader Pol Pot attempted to purge Cambodia of its previous culture and history.

• Citizens were forced to take up farming in the hopes the country would establish an agrarian society.
• Doctors, lawyers, and former military personnel from the previous Cambodian government were executed.

Bo Uce says his father, a high-ranking military official, and his mother, were among the estimated 2 million Cambodians killed by the Khmer Rouge during the regime’s multi-year campaign of genocide.

Uce family photos

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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Bo Uce and the rest of his family were evacuated to the countryside, where they lived in communes.

The Khmer Rouge established work and military units with thousands of kids, including then 7-year-old Bo Uce. These children were separated from their families and worked from sunrise to sunset, making fertilizer for crops, herding animals, and carrying weapons to battlefields. They also worked during harsh weather conditions with inadequate clothing. If they questioned superiors, they were beaten, Bo Uce says. He was in the children’s brigade for a year, before the regime lost power. Though he ultimately made it to the U.S., Bo Uce’s memories still haunt him.

“[He tells me] ‘I didn't know you [could] still carry that kind of pain in your body. It's been decades. I was just a kid. But it still affects me to this day,'" Victoria Uce says. "And it is things that he's always brushed off.”

How can I listen to more of this story?

Hear Episode 3 of "Inheriting":

Listen to all episodes of "Inheriting" wherever you get your podcasts and on LAist.com/Inheriting.