Give the soldiers anything they want.

[**The following is an excerpt from Loung Ung’s amazing memoir about her experiences as a young girl who survived the Khmer Rouge atrocities in Cambodia during the late 70s. Here, the family is fleeing the capital city of Phnom Penh after the Khmer Rouge takes control of it and forces the residents to evacuate to the countryside.**] >”The truck’s out of petrol and there’s no petrol station around here,” Pa says. “Looks like we have to walk the rest of the way. Everybody grab only some clothes and all the food you can carry. We have a long way to go yet.” Pa then orders us what to take and what to leave behind. >”You!” someone yells. We all stop what we are doing and stand paralyzed. >”You!” A Khmer Rouge soldier comes over to us. “Give me your watches.” >”Certainly.” With shoulders bent to show submission, Pa takes the watches off of Meng and Khouy’s wrists. Pa does not look the soldier in the eyes as he hands the watches over. >”All right, now move,” the soldier orders and then walks away. When he is out of earshot, Pa whispers that from now on we are to give the soldiers anything they want or they will shoot us. _____________________________ **Source:** Ung, Loung. “Evacuation, April 1975.” *First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers*. Harper Perennial, 2017. 27. Print.