Unless you’ve seen the 1984 film “The Killing Fields,” the horror of the Cambodian genocide is unknown to many Americans. However, Dr. Wills Vanray, optometrist and owner of Lake Dillon Eye Care, remembers this dark part of history well. He lived through it.
As a child, Vanray was caught in the hold of the Khmer Rouge as the regime attempted to kill all of the educated people in the country. Vanray came from an educated family, which was quickly targeted. In Vanray’s family, 58 members were murdered. Vanray and his mother escaped by foot to a refugee camp in Thailand.
“We made it by total luck,” Vanray said. “We were shot at, bombed at … that’s why I have a passion to go back and help.”
