As a child growing up in Cambodia Ronnie Yimsut played among the ruins of the Angkor Wat temples surrounded by a close knit community As the Khmer Rouge gained power and began its genocidal reign of terror his life became a nightmare In this stunning memoir Yimsut describes how in the wake of death and destruction he decides to live Escaping the turmoil of Cambodia he makes a perilous journey through the jungle into Thailand only to be sent to a notorious Thai prison Fortunately he is able to reach a refugee camp and ultimately migrate to the United States where he attended the University of Oregon and became an influential leader in the community of Cambodian immigrants Facing the Khmer Rouge shows Ronnie Yimsut s personal quest to rehabilitate himself make a new life in America and then return to Cambodia to help rebuild the land of his birth