Article

In this personal narrative, Ken McCullough, U Sam Oeur's translator, describes how his life intersected with U Sam Oeur's before and after Oeur's imprisonment in Cambodia under Pol Pot's regime, and relates how he became Oeur's translator.

McCullough explains, "Sam and I were classmates at Iowa from '66-'68 and had adjacent apartments for a time. We became close friends. It was my plan to eventually travel to Cambodia and work with Sam in translating Cambodian folk tales into English. Sam returned to Cambodia in '68 as soon as he finished his degree, married, taught for a short time, then entered light industry in several managerial positions. We corresponded until 1970 when Sam informed me that there was little point in writing anymore as all the mail was being censored by the government. I heard nothing from or about him until fourteen years later, when I learned that he volunteered as a captain in the army for two years ('70-'72), then returned to continue working his way up the managerial ladder of Cambodian industry. He was elected a member of Parliament and was selected as a delegate to the U.N. And he continued to write poetry. Then, in April '75, the Khmer Rouge took over. Sam, his wife, son and mother-in-law were herded from their home and spent the next four years in a succession of six concentration camps..."

full text >