Loung Ung

Loung UngRogerK [Public domain]My hero is Lounge Lung. She was born in 1970 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. When she was 5 years old, she was forced to move to the countryside. When she was eight her parents and her siblings were killed by the Cambodian Communists and she was forced to be a child soldier with her brother.

Loung Ung is now a spokesperson for landmine-free world. She is also one of the “100 Global Leaders of Tomorrow.” She now has won an “Excellence in Adult Non-fiction Literature” award for the work she has done over her adult life. Loung has been in many magazines and now works in the Vietnam Veterans of America. The reason Loung Ung is known as a hero is because she is brave, caring, and unselfish.

She ran away with only her brother; that makes her brave. She went back to Cambodia to see if her brother and her friends were safe; that makes her caring. And finally, she is unselfish because she puts everyone before her. To me, Loung Ung is a hero because she has been through so many things and has come out happy and strong. She is also my hero because, even though she almost lost everyone in her life, she sums up the happiness to go through life with a smile on her face. That is a big thing to do and I respect her for that. This is why Loung Ung is my hero.