Chhuong So was born in 1972 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia into a family of two parents, a grandmother, three sisters, and a brother. His family's lives changed drastically in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge invaded Cambodia.

Instead of going to school, the Khmer Rouge put him to work tending cattle and planting rice paddy bunches in the fields in the Bamboo Village of Prey Veng, Cambodia. Then, he was sent to work in the labor camp in Prey Clog Village of Cambodia from 1977 to 1979, until the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia and liberated the people. By then, he had lost both parents, their grandmother, and a brother. His sister, Kom, was separated from them at the border of Cambodia and Thailand in 1979.

In the years that followed, he and his remaining siblings found shelter in refugee camps and an orphanage center in Thailand where his formal education began. After an extensive interview process by UN personnel, he and his siblings were able to come to the US in 1982, where his education continued and a new life unfolded. Liberated From The Khmer Rouge is the story of the life Chhuong So built, against all odds.