Mourners salute beloved Hmong leader Gen. Vang Pao

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Tens of thousands of mourners are flocking to central California this weekend to honor the late Gen. Vang Pao, a key United States ally in Vietnam who inspired unparalleled reverence among the ethnic Hmong he led in battle and later helped to resettle in far-flung communities across the globe.

Vang Pao, who commanded CIA-funded guerrillas in the jungles of Laos, died at age 81 on Jan. 6 near Fresno, where the Hmong community has spent weeks preparing an elaborate, six-day funeral service.

This morning, the casket containing the general’s body was scheduled to travel by a horse-drawn carriage through the city’s downtown, followed by a procession of hundreds of his relatives, bagpipers, drum majors and a color guard of Hmong veterans.

But whether the United States will allow the Southeast Asian hero to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery alongside American troops is uncertain, and hangs in the balance as this rural California city pays tribute to Vang Pao with a memorial “fit for a king.”

“There will not be anyone like Father anymore because he was truly a godsend,” said Chai Vang, one of the general’s 32 children. “All we can do is unite the community and form partnerships around the world to carry out the work he began.”

Fresno, a city of about half a million in the state’s agricultural heartland, has pulled out all the stops for the ceremony, and local businesses are gearing up to supply travelers with food, sell them commemorative buttons and take part in the historic gathering of the clans.

This afternoon, Hmong spiritual guides and funeral specialists will burn incense, chant songs, and play bamboo wind instruments to lead Vang Pao’s soul back to his childhood home in Longhay, Laos, where his spirit can don the placental jacket it will wear on its journey toward reincarnation.

On Saturday morning, his family will present chicken, rice, drinks and paper money for the general’s voyage into the afterlife. His relatives will then cook and serve food to funeral guests, making hot meals of the animals sacrificed in his honor in tents outside the convention center.