A Refugees American Dream, Leth Oun
A Refugees American Dream, Leth Oun
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
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A Refugee's American Dream
From the Killing Fields of Cambodia to the U.S. Secret Service

Author: Leth Oun, Joe Samuel Starnes

Narrator: Tim Lounibos

Unabridged: 10 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/10/2023


Synopsis

"I saw many killed. I almost starved. But I escaped to refugee camps in Thailand and eventually made it to the U.S." Thus begins Leth Oun's poignant and vivid memoir. A survivor of the Cambodian Killing Fields—having spent a torturous three years, eight months, and ten days imprisoned by the Khmer Rouge—Oun thrived in America, learning English, becoming a citizen, and working as an officer in the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division. In A Refugee's American Dream, Oun shares hard memories of Cambodia, where his father was executed, and his family enslaved in labor camps.

Following the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Oun survived a year of homelessness then nearly four years in refugee camps. Arriving in America, seventeen and penniless, Oun struggled, washing dishes at a Chinese restaurant for $3.15 an hour. Still, he persevered, graduating from Widener University and completing thousands of hours of training to pursue a career in the Secret Service.

While on President Obama's protection team, he returns to Cambodia after thirty-two years, reunites with family, and bonds with Reik, the Secret Service dog he handles. Through his most difficult moments, Oun displays truly inspiring resilience that ultimately leads to great achievements.

About Leth Oun

Leth Oun, a native of Cambodia who survived the Killing Fields, is a veteran United States Secret Service officer. He has protected presidents and vice presidents in four administrations in forty-nine states and more than a dozen countries. A political refugee who immigrated to Maryland in 1983, he became an American citizen in 1990. He is a 1998 graduate of Widener University where he majored in sociology and minored in criminal justice. Before going to work for the federal government in 2000, he held numerous jobs that ranged from working as a bank teller to clerking at convenience stores to washing dishes for $3.15 an hour. He and his wife, Sophy, also a survivor of the Killing Fields, have been married since 1985 and have two grown children.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ken on April 13, 2023

In 1976, Leth Oun is a 10-year-old working in what amounted to a slave labor camp in the Killing Fields of Cambodia. In 2012, Leth Oun is part of the uniformed Secret Service detail traveling with President Obama on his visit to Cambodia. This book is about everything that happened in between. The t......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on April 10, 2023

This is a harrowing and inspiring memoir of a remarkable man. Beautifully, but unsentimentally written, you appreciate the earthly miracle of someone who not only survived unimaginable tragedy, but thrived in a way so few can and do.......more

Goodreads review by Andrea on May 04, 2023

It’s hard for me to say that this was a good book. It was. But really it was a devastating book. Leth Oun narrates his harrowing experience in the Cambodian Killing Fields, homelessness after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, refuge camps in Thailand, to coming to the US as a refugee. His experiences are......more

Goodreads review by Mom on May 04, 2025

Amazing autobiography of a survivor of the Cambondian killing fields who prospers in America with his family. A joyful celebration of life, family, love and the resiliency of the human spirit. That sounds trite but this guy's experience shows how powerful a single person can be holding the single in......more

Goodreads review by Cindy on September 19, 2024

My heart ached as I listened to this account of suffering and torture. Love prevailed. And believe it or not, I believe The God of 1st Timothy 1:17 watched and still watches over you. He miraculously led you. Thankyou for sharing the private and painful account of your past. Bless your work with oth......more