Around 7,000 years ago — First evidence of people living in northwest Cambodia
802–1431 — Hindu-Buddhist Angkor kingdom flourishes in SE Asia
1863 — France takes over Cambodia as a protectorate
1920s — Chileng’s grandfather immigrates from China to Cambodia
1941 — France installs Prince Norodom Sihanouk as king of Cambodia
October 1950 — Chileng is born in Phnom Penh
1953 — Cambodia wins independence from France and becomes the Kingdom of Cambodia under King Sihanouk
1955 — Sihanouk abdicates to pursue a political career; his father becomes king and he becomes prime minister
1958 — Chileng’s mother dies
1966 — Chileng meets Chan at school
1969 — With Vietnam War intensifying, the United States begins secret bombing of North Vietnamese troops in eastern Cambodia
March 1970 — Lon Nol wrests power from Sihanouk in a coup d’etat and establishes the Khmer Republic; the Cambodian communists, or Khmer Rouge, gain ground
June 1970 — Chileng graduates from high school
August 1972 — Chileng drops out of school to become a policeman
Late 1973 — Chileng’s father dies
February 1974 — Chileng marries Devi
Early 1974 — Chileng joins the army
January 1975 — Chileng’s son, Sokhanarith, is born
April 1975 — Khmer Rouge overthrow Lon Nol and establish Democratic Kampuchea. In the next four years, they evacuate the cities, destroy the country’s infrastructure, turn the population into slave laborers, and cause the deaths of up to one-third of the people
April 18, 1975 — Chileng and family evacuate Phnom Penh, heading south, then east on Highway One
July 1975 — Chileng’s father-in-law is taken away by the Khmer Rouge
— Chileng and family arrive in Prayap village in southeast Cambodia near the Vietnamese border
Fall 1975 — Chileng joins bamboo-cutting crew
Fall 1976 — Chileng’s grandmother dies
Early 1977 — Chileng leaves Prayap to work at canal and levee worksite
April 1977 — Wife and baby killed, Chileng escapes to Vietnam
May 1977 — Chileng is transferred to Bon Teng Refugee Camp in Saigon
July 1978 — Chileng is transferred to Long Anh Refugee Camp for military training
December 1978 — Chileng is one of thousands of Cambodian soldiers attached to Vietnamese troops who invade Cambodia
January 7, 1979 — Vietnamese troops take over Phnom Penh
February 1979 — Chileng is demobilized
— Vietnamese establish the People’s Republic of Kampuchea
Spring 1979 — Chileng returns to Prayap to search for family members
Summer 1979 — Chileng finds work in Phnom Penh at a roofing factory
Late summer 1979 — Chileng escapes to the Nong Chan Border Camp on the Cambodian-Thai border, then moves to Camp 007 nearby
October 1979 — Chileng escapes Cambodia for Khao-I-Dang Refugee Camp in Thailand
November 1979 — Chileng reunites with Chan at refugee camp
January 5, 1980 — Chileng and Chan marry
March 1980 — Chileng reunites with his three younger brothers
October 1980 — Chileng and Chan have a daughter, Sokhary
May 1980 — Chileng and family arrive in the United States
1981 — International community refuses to recognize the Vietnamese-backed government of Kampuchea; Khmer Rouge government-in-exile retains seat at the United Nations
1982 — Chileng and Chan have a son, Sokchea
— Khmer Rouge gain strength and fight a guerrilla war
1983 — Chileng gains permanent employment
1989 — Vietnamese troops withdraw from Cambodia; prime minister Hun Sen renames the country the State of Cambodia and re-establishes Buddhism as the state religion
1991 — Peace agreement is signed by Cambodian government, various resistance forces, and neighboring countries; United Nations transitional authority shares power with representatives of various factions
— Elections result in power-sharing among parties; monarchy is restored with Sihanouk again king, and country is renamed Kingdom of Cambodia
1994 — Khmer Rouge splits; Ieng Sary and some defect to the government
April 1998 — Pol Pot dies in exile
1998 — Khmer Rouge collapses
September 1998 — Chileng is sentenced to federal prison
October 2004 — Chileng is diagnosed with liver cancer
April 2005 — Chileng passes away