Hmong Pioneers: Honoring the First Wave," a St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN) documentary film, tells the stories of struggle, determination and success, despite great odds, of Hmong refugees in St. Paul. In 1975, at the tumultuous close of the Vietnam War, the Hmong people in Laos fled their homes, livelihoods and culture, and began to arrive in the U.S. as refugees. Since that time, St. Paul has become the largest home of Hmong Americans; Hmong Pioneers is their story.lm.