History not only remembers the glory days of a country, but also the ugly face of its wars. Cambodia has had its fair share of violence from the powerful dictatorship of one man, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge soldiers. He ravaged the country from 1975 to 1979 and in that short period of time was able to execute 17,000 people or more. Almost 10,000 bodies were dumped in an area in Choeung Ek, more popularly known as the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. According to historians and analysts, Pol Pot’s reign may have killed a total of 1.7 to 2.5 million people in a country with a population of only 8 million.

Located about 17 kilometers from the capital city of Phnom Penh, Choeung Ek used to be a well-known orchard and Chinese graveyard. Today, it is marked by a Buddhist stupa and a show area that is filled with more than 5,000 human skulls. Some smashed or shattered, these are actual skulls found in the Killing Fields, each one representing an innocent life that was undeservingly cut short. …