Songkane Sackaly: From Laos to American Diplomacy

Came from Laos as a refugee, served in the U.S. Army in Iraq, and joined the Foreign Service.

Fled

Laos

Status

Refugee

Arrived in the U.S.

after 1987

Service

Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State; U.S. Army veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom

Region

Southeast Asia

Songkane Sackaly, known as Kane, came to the United States as a refugee from Laos after 1987. His family was part of the long exodus that followed the Communist takeover of 1975 and continued well into the late 1980s, as people from Laos kept crossing into Thailand and waiting in camps for resettlement.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army out of high school, trained at Fort Benning, Georgia, and deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He later earned a degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from American University. He served as a Congressional Affairs Fellow with the House Foreign Affairs Committee, took part in the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program, and became a Foreign Service Officer, with service in the Near East region.