As a little kid living in a refugee camp in Thailand, Tun Win dreamed of serving in the U.S. Military.
“I saw a black and white movie and the U.S. Army looked so cool,” said Tun Win.
A lot had to align for this dream to come true, as each year less than 1% of refugees are accepted to resettle in the U.S. As Tun says,
It’s like winning the Powerball. It’s unbelievable for it to happen.”
In 2012, 10-year-old Tun Win and his grandparents, his legal guardians, found that luck was on their side when they were resettled as refugees to Minnesota.
“We didn’t know English so we were worried about ending up on the streets. But we knew the U.S. gives one of the best educations in the world, so my grandparents took the risk. It’s the best decision we made,” said Tun Win.
After graduating from Central High School, Tun Win joined the Minnesota National Guard.
They were yelling at me, trying to turn me from a civilian into a soldier. I had to do hard stuff, but I got through it,” said Tun Win.
Tun Win is used to doing hard things; the hardest has always been being separated from his parents and siblings who lived in Thailand.
That changed with a phone call to Tun Win. On his 4,000th day in Minnesota, Tun Win learned that Arrive Ministries would be resettling his family to Minnesota.
I was shaky at the airport. I was super nervous. My parents didn’t recognize me, we’d been apart for over a decade.”
These last few months have allowed Tun Win to spend time with his parents and siblings and help them have a smooth transition to Minnesota.
I finally feel like I’m the big brother I am supposed to be,” said Tun Win.
When I told my father that I joined the Army, he was really proud of me, and that means a lot to me.”
