Running Toward the Guns is an autobiographical story and an accounting of Chanty Jong’s personal inner self-healing journey that led to a successfully unexpected discovery. Jong survived the Cambodian genocide during the Khmer Rouge regime of 1975–1979, witnessing the horrors of the killing fields, torture, starvation and much more. Her vivid narrative recounts the suffering under the Khmer Rouge, her perseverance to survive physically and emotionally and her perilous escape to America. Her memoir relives the traumatic memories of her experiences and traces her arduous personal transformation toward a life of inner peace through intensive meditation.

Civil war erupted in Cambodia when Chanty Jong was eight years old. Having lived through the terror of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, she ultimately escaped to Thailand and later to the United States. She is presently giving speeches about her survival and life story.

Chanty’s family physician, Dr. Lee Ann Van Houten-Sauter, D.O., aided Chanty in describing her journey through her terror to healing. She lives in Williamstown, New Jersey.

Chanty Jong with Lee Ann Van Houten-Sauter
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 166
Bibliographic Info: 14 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8253-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4113-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Preface 1
Introduction 3
1. Happy Times: Life as I Knew It 11
2. Year Zero: The Khmer Rouge Took Control of Cambodia 25
3. Survival Was My Own Responsibility: Off to Children’s Camp 32
4. Death All Around: A Burned Image in My Brain 37
5. Running Toward the Guns: What a Choice! 55
6. My Second Escape: Life Had to Get Better, or Did It? 60
7. Refugee Life: My Will to Stay Alive Was My Only Mission 71
8. A New Start on Life: Stepping onto Land in America 91
9. Normalcy: Life Moves On… 105
10. Life Now Stands Still: The Past Returns, How Can This Be? 117
11. Pain: Physically and Emotionally I Needed to Feel Better 122
12. Healing the Hurt: My ­Inner-Self Healing Journey 133
13. The Next Step: Memories to Meditation to Major Breakthroughs 143
14. Life After Healing: Peace 150
Resources 155
Index 157