Prom Vannak a hero in the fight against human trafficking

In 2009, Prom Vannak, pictured in a Washington, D.C., hotel June 17, 2012, jumped from a Thai fishing boat on which he was a slave and swam for freedom in Borneo. In Washington on June 19, he's being recognized as one of the world's heroes in the fight against human trafficking. As the State Department releases its annual report on advance and failures made in combating the modern slave trade, Prom is among 10 people worldwide whom U.S. officials describe as heroes in the fight against human trafficking, who didn't wait for government action and made a positive difference. (Cliff Owen/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)