848 DAYS: A Beautiful Journey tells the story of Cambodian genocide survivor David and his family's journey to reach America in 848 days after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. Born in 1969 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, David was only six years old when the Khmer Rouge came to power and forced the entire country of Cambodia to the countryside as part of their radical Year Zero cleansing campaign. It is estimated that 25% of the Cambodian population died during the four years of forced labor, starvation, brutal torture, mass executions, and diseases. He narrowly escaped death in the youth labor camp. This is the inspiring story of David and his family's cunning survival during the Khmer Rouge genocide period and his enduring struggles at the youth labor camp; their extraordinary journey by foot, after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, to Thailand; and their eventual settlement and integration in the United States. Despite his lack of childhood development and learning gaps, David went on to earn both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has enjoyed financial success through a lucrative career in engineering and by means of investing. He has traveled extensively throughout the world and found love and happiness along the way. He held the highest security clearance with the Department of Defense (DoD), having secured a Top Secret, Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) with CI polygraph clearance. He is currently a Principal Engineer at T-Mobile USA in Seattle, Washington.
