Ngo Quang Truong
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant General Ngô Quang Trưởng (December 13, 1929 — January 22, 2007) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
(ARVN). He was widely regarded as South Vietnam’s best officer and well-known for his uncompromising integrity and incorruptibility. Trưởng gained his commission in the Vietnamese National Army
in 1954 and moved up the ranks over the next decade, mostly in the Airborne Brigade
. In 1966, Trưởng commanded a division for the first time after he was given command of the 1st Division
after helping to quell the Buddhist Uprising
. He rebuilt the unit after this divisive period and used it to repel the communists and reclaimed the imperial citadel of Huế
after weeks of bitter street fighting during the Tết Offensive. In 1970, Trưởng was given command of IV Corps
in the Mekong Delta
and improved the situation there to such an extent that he allowed some of his forces to be redeployed to other parts of the country that were finding the communist pressure difficult.
In 1972, he was made the commander of I Corps
after incompetent leadership by General Hoàng Xuân Lãm
resulted in a South Vietnamese collapse in the face of the Easter Offensive, a massive conventional invasion by North Vietnam. He stabilized the ARVN forces before turning back the communists. In 1975, the communists attacked again. This time, President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
gave contradictory orders to Trưởng as to whether he should stand and fight or give up some territory and consolidate. This led to the demoralization of I Corps and its collapse, allowing the communists to gather momentum and overrun South Vietnam within two months. Trưởng fled South Vietnam during the fall of Saigon
and settled in Virginia
in the United States.
province of Kiến Hòa (now Bến Tre Province
). At the time, Vietnam was part of French Indochina
. After graduating from Mỹ Tho College, a French colonial-run school in the Mekong Delta provincial town of Mỹ Tho, Trưởng attended the reserve officer school
at Thủ Đức in Saigon, and was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Vietnamese National Army
in 1954. Upon graduation from Thủ Đức, Trưởng went immediately on to airborne school at the Command and Staff School of the Vietnamese National Military Academy at Đà Lạt. He served in the elite airborne brigade
the next 12 years. His first posting was as commander of 1st Company, 5th Airborne Battalion.
After graduating from Đà Lạt, he soon saw action in a 1955 operation to eliminate the Bình Xuyên
river pirates who were vying with President Ngô Đình Diệm’s government for control of Saigon and the surrounding area. In recognition of his performance against the Bình Xuyên, Trưởng was promoted to first lieutenant.
When the Republic of Vietnam was created in 1955, the VNA became the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
(ARVN).
, in central Vietnam. This attack destroyed the base area of the Việt Cộng’s B-1 Front Headquarters.
In 1965, Trưởng led the 5th Airborne Battalion on a helicopter assault into the Hắc Dịch Secret Zone in the vicinity of the Ong Trinh Mountain in Phước Tuy Province
(now Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province) southeast of Saigon, the base area of the 7th Việt Cộng Division. In two days of fighting, Trưởng’s 5th Battalion inflicted heavy casualties on two communist regiments, and he was awarded a battlefield promotion to lieutenant colonel and the National Defense Medal, Fourth Class.
After the battle, Trưởng became chief of staff of the Airborne Brigade and then became chief of staff of the division later in the year. His reputation for valour and fairness gained the attention of the senior generals in Saigon. General Cao Văn Viên
, chief of the Joint General Staff from 1965 to 1975, later described Trưởng as “one of the best commanders at every echelon the Airborne Division ever had.“”
Two years later, Trưởng was chief of staff of the Airborne Division, which was commanded by General Dư Quốc Đống
. Trưởng’s reputation for bravery, honesty, and fairness (even though he was free of the political maneuverings of his compatriots in the officer corps) got him noticed in Saigon. The ARVN chief of staff, General Cao Văn Viên
, called Trưởng “one of the best commanders at every echelon the Airborne Division ever had.”
In 1966, violent civil disorders broke out in central Vietnam, and Buddhists protested military control of the government. Trưởng was asked to quell the rebellious 1st Division in Huế, which had decided to stop military operations with the communists in solidarity with the Buddhist protest movement. A Buddhist, Trưởng, was uncomfortable with his mission, but he carried out his orders professionally. On June 18, he commanded three airborne battalions that entered the city and restored order within two days and he put the 1st Division under government control.
(RF) and Popular Forces
(PF) that augmented them. Trưởng’s dedication to his unit and leadership significantly raised the morale of his subordinates. As part of his strategy of better integrating the territorial forces with the regular army, Trưởng had his battalion commanders act as district chiefs, who normally worked only with the territorial forces. As a result, the regulars began to coordinate their pacification campaigns more effectively with the paramilitary forces.
In 1967, Trưởng’s 1st Division assaulted and dismantled the Việt Cộng infrastructure and a large part of their fighters from the Luong Co-Dong Xuyen-My Xa Front in Hương Trà District in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province
. Trưởng was rewarded with promotion to brigadier general.
During the Tết Offensive, Trưởng led the 1st Division in the Battle of Huế as the communists were expelled from the old imperial city after three weeks of bitter street fighting. Following the famous victory in the citadel, Trưởng was given a second star and made a major general. In August 1970, he was assigned to command IV Corps
, which oversaw the Mekong Delta region. He was based at the corps headquarters in Cần Thơ. General Creighton Abrams
, the head of American forces in Vietnam, recommended Trưởng to President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
, saying, “I can recommend, without any reservations at all … Trưởng. I think he’s proved over and over and in all facets—pacification, military operations, whatever it is”. He was promoted to lieutenant general in June 1971.
During his period in charge of IV Corps, the region’s regular forces were depleted because a proportion of them were across the border as part of the Cambodian Campaign, seeking to destroy communist jungle bases, supplies and staging grounds for an invasion into South Vietnam.
Trưởng used the Regional and Popular Forces that he had enhanced to fill the void, and they strengthened the government control in the region despite having nominally less resources. In the forests surrounding U Minh
, Trưởng’s outpost building programs resulted in a record number of communist defectors as the populace became more confident in his forces' ability to provide security. When American Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker
came to inspect an outlying military base that Trưởng had built, he asked if the general intended to stay there. Trưởng replied "Yes, forever". Trưởng was so successful in pacifying the Mekong Delta that he allowed some of his forces to be redeployed to other parts of South Vietnam.
Known for his unbending integrity, Trưởng vigorously moved against "ghost" and "ornamental" soldiers, deserters and conscription evaders in his region.
Abrams said that only Trưởng and Phạm Văn Phú
among the division and corps commanders had not begun to psychologically crack under the pressure of the communist onslaught.
During the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) Nguyen Hue Offensive (known in the West as the Easter Offensive) of 1972, he was given command of I Corps
, replacing the disgraced Lieutenant General Hoàng Xuân Lãm
. General Trưởng held communist forces at bay before Huế
and then launched (against the initial resistance of President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
and MACV) Operation Lam Son 72. During the counteroffensive, he successfully pushed PAVN forces back to the city of Quang Tri (which was retaken in September) and advanced on to the Cua Viet River.
. I Corps fielded three infantry divisions, the elite Airborne and Marine Divisions, four Ranger Groups and an armored brigade. Until mid-March, due to Trưởng's highly effective leadership, the North Vietnamese had only tried to cut the highways, despite having five divisions and 27 further regiments far outnumbering Trưởng's men. At a meeting on March 13, Trưởng and the new III Corps commander, Lieutenant General Nguyễn Văn Toàn
briefed Thiệu. By this time, South Vietnam was suffering from severe cutbacks in US aid, and the loss of Ban Mê Thuột in the central highlands, which threatened to split the country in two and isolate Trưởng's I Corps from the capital.
Thiệu laid out his plan to consolidate a smaller proportion of territory so that the forces could more effectively defend the area. As Trưởng understood it, he was free to redeploy his forces south to hold Đà Nẵng, South Vietnam's second largest city, thereby abandoning Huế. Offshore oil deposits were thought to be nearby the port of Đà Nẵng. Fearful of and preoccupied with stopping a coup, Thiệu also decided to remove the Airborne and Marines to Saigon, leaving I Corps exposed.
Thiệu called Trưởng to Saigon on 19 March to brief him on the withdrawal plan. Trưởng intended to order a retreat to Huế, Đà Nẵng and Chu Lai
, and then move all the forces to Đà Nẵng to regroup and dig in. The president then stunned Trưởng by announcing that he had misinterpreted his previous orders: The old imperial capital of Huế was not to be abandoned, despite losing two divisions in recent days.
In the meantime, the withdrawal preparations and the increasing North Vietnamese pressure caused civilians to flee in fear, clogging the highway and hampering the withdrawal. Trưởng then requested permission for a withdrawal of his forces into the three enclaves as planned; Thiệu ordered him to "hold onto any territory he could with whatever forces he now had, including the Marine Division", implying that he could retreat if needed.
Trưởng returned to Đà Nẵng to be greeted by the start of a North Vietnamese offensive. President Thiệu made a nationwide radio broadcast that afternoon proclaiming that Huế would be held "at all costs", contradicting the previous order. That evening Trưởng ordered a retreat to a new defense line at the My Chanh River to defend Huế, thereby ceding all of Quảng Trị Province. He was confident that his forces could hold Huế, but was then astounded by a late afternoon message from Thiệu that ordered "that because of inability to simultaneously defend all three enclaves, the I Corps commander was free ... to redeploy his forces for the defense of Đà Nẵng only." The people of Quảng Trị and Huế began to leave their homes by the hundreds of thousands, joining an ever-growing exodus toward Đà Nẵng.
Meanwhile, the North Vietnamese closed in on Đà Nẵng amid the chaos caused by Thiệu's confused leadership. Within a few days I Corps was beyond control. The South Vietnamese tried to evacuate from the other urban enclaves into Đà Nẵng, but the 1st Division collapsed after its commander Brigadier General Nguyen Van Diem, angered by Thiệu's incoherent abandonment, told his men that "We've been betrayed ... It is now sauve qui peu (every man for himself) ... See you in Đà Nẵng." The overland march, pummelled by communist artillery the entire way, degenerated into chaos as the 1st Division descended into anarchy as it moved toward Đà Nẵng. The remainder of the force deserted or began looting. Only a minority survived and some disillusioned officers committed suicide.
As anarchy and looting enveloped Đà Nẵng, and a defense of the city becoming impossible, Trưởng requested permission to evacuate by sea, but Thiệu, baffled, refused to make a decision. When his communications with Saigon were sundered by communist shelling, Trưởng ordered a naval withdrawal, as Thiệu was not making a decision either way.
With no support or leadership from Thiệu, the evacuation turned into a costly debacle, as the communists pounded the city with artillery, killing tens of thousands of people. Many drowned while jostling for room on the boats; with no logistical support from Saigon, those vessels sent were far too few for the millions of would-be evacuees. Only around 16,000 soldiers were pulled out, and of the almost two million civilians that packed Đà Nẵng, a little more than 50,000 were evacuated. As a result, 70,000 troops were taken prisoner, along with around 100 fighter jets. Trưởng and his officers swam to a boat in the sea and evacuated to Saigon. In quick succession the remaining cities along the coastline collapsed and half the country had fallen in two weeks.
Known for his empathy and solidarity with his men, Trưởng was devastated by the collapse of troops, particularly the 1st Division that he had built up over the preceding decade. Upon arriving in Saigon, he was reportedly hospitalized for a nervous breakdown
as a result of the collapse in I Corps. An American officer who had worked closely with him heard of Trưởng's plight, and arranged for him and his family to leave on an American ship amid the chaos of the fall of Saigon
and the communist takeover of South Vietnam.
, Arkansas
, while his two daughters and second son fled Saigon with a US State Department employee to Seattle. Trưởng's youngest son, aged four, ended up at Camp Pendleton, California
; the toddler did not speak English and was not identified for a few weeks.
After all of his family was accounted for, Trưởng relocated them to Falls Church, Virginia
, a suburb of the Washington DC metropolitan area not far from the Pentagon
. In 1983, Trưởng became an American citizen and moved to Springfield, Virginia
. He studied computer program
ming at Northern Virginia Community College
and worked as a computer analyst for the Association of American Railroads for 10 years until he retired in 1994.
Trưởng wrote several military history works commissioned by the United States Army Center of Military History, as part of its Indochina Monographs series. These were The Easter Offensive of 1972 (1979), RVNAF and US Operational Cooperation and Coordination (1980) and Territorial Forces (1981).
Trưởng died of cancer on 22 January 2007, at the Inova Fairfax Hospital
in Falls Church, Virginia. At the time of his death, Trưởng was survived by his wife, three sons, two daughters, twelve grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. After his death, the Virginia House of Representatives and Senate passed a joint resolution "Celebrating the Life of Ngo Quang Truong".
, the US commander in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, said that Trưởng "would rate high on any list of capable South Vietnamese leaders … [other U.S. commanders] so admired Truong that they would trust him to command an American division." His successor Creighton Abrams
, who oversaw the American war effort until 1972 said "General Truong was capable of commanding an American division".
Lieutenant General Robert E. Cushman, and his main subordinate, Lieutenant General Richard G. Stilwell
, who operated alongside Trưởng in I Corps in the 1960s said that because of Trưởng's efforts, the ARVN 1st Division was "equal to any American unit." General Bruce Palmer Jr. said that Trưởng was "probably the best field commander in South Vietnam." In 1966, Trưởng's American adviser wrote to General Harold K. Johnson, describing the Vietnamese officer as "dedicated, humble, imaginative and tactically sound."
General Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded US forces during the Gulf War
against Iraq
in 1991, served as Trưởng's adviser in the 1960s when he was deployed to South Vietnam as a major during a campaign at Ia Đrăng. He wrote in his autobiography It Doesn't Take A Hero, that Trưởng "did not look like my idea of a military genius: only five feet seven … very skinny, with hunched shoulders and a head that seemed too big for his body … His face was pinched and intense … and there was always a cigarette hanging from his lips. Yet he was revered by his officers and troops—and feared by those North Vietnamese commanders who knew of his ability." Schwarzkopf said that Trưởng was "the most brilliant tactical commander I'd ever known" and that "Simply by visualizing the terrain and drawing on his experience fighting the enemy for fifteen years, Truong showed an uncanny ability to predict what they were going to do".
Lieutenant Colonel James H. Willbanks, who served in Vietnam and is now a military history professor, said
Unlike some South Vietnamese generals who had grown rich as they ascended the ranks, Trưởng was regarded as being completely incorruptible and lived a "spartan and ascetic" life. According to Cushman, Trưởng did not own a suit, and by the time he was appointed to command IV Corps, his wife tended to pigs, which were kept behind his basic living quarters in the headquarters at Cần Thơ. Cushman said that Trưởng was always looking for means to raise his soldiers' material and family lives. Trưởng did not tolerate favouritism. He once received a request to transfer his nephew from the frontline to a desk job; he refused and the nephew was later killed in action. General Bruce Palmer, Jr.
, said Trưởng “deserved a better fate” than the mauling of his soldiers amid Thiệu’s confused orders and the collapse of South Vietnam.
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
(ARVN). He was widely regarded as South Vietnam’s best officer and well-known for his uncompromising integrity and incorruptibility. Trưởng gained his commission in the Vietnamese National Army
Vietnamese National Army
On March 8, 1949, after the Elysee accords, the State of Vietnam was recognized by France as an independent country ruled by Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại. The Vietnamese National Army or Vietnam National Army was the State of Vietnam's military force created shortly after that. It was commanded by...
in 1954 and moved up the ranks over the next decade, mostly in the Airborne Brigade
Vietnamese Airborne Division
The Vietnamese Airborne Division was one of the earliest components of the State of Vietnam's military forces . The Vietnamese Airborne Division began as companies organised in 1948, prior to any agreement over armed forces in Vietnam...
. In 1966, Trưởng commanded a division for the first time after he was given command of the 1st Division
1st Division (South Vietnam)
The 1st Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam —the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975—was part of the I Corps that oversaw the northernmost region of South Vietnam, the centre of Vietnam....
after helping to quell the Buddhist Uprising
Buddhist Uprising
The Buddhist Uprising of 1966 was a period of civil and military unrest in South Vietnam, largely focused in the I Corps area in the north of the country in central Vietnam...
. He rebuilt the unit after this divisive period and used it to repel the communists and reclaimed the imperial citadel of Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
after weeks of bitter street fighting during the Tết Offensive. In 1970, Trưởng was given command of IV Corps
IV Corps (South Vietnam)
The IV Corps was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975...
in the Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
and improved the situation there to such an extent that he allowed some of his forces to be redeployed to other parts of the country that were finding the communist pressure difficult.
In 1972, he was made the commander of I Corps
I Corps (South Vietnam)
The I Corps Tactical Zone was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975. It was one of four corps which the ARVN oversaw. This was the northernmost region of South Vietnam, bordering North Vietnam...
after incompetent leadership by General Hoàng Xuân Lãm
Hoang Xuan Lam
Hoàng Xuân Lãm was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and a native of the city of Huế. Given responsibility for the I Corps Tactical Zone in 1967, Lãm coordinated the South Vietnamese offensive known as Operation Lam Sơn 719 which aimed at striking the North Vietnamese logistical...
resulted in a South Vietnamese collapse in the face of the Easter Offensive, a massive conventional invasion by North Vietnam. He stabilized the ARVN forces before turning back the communists. In 1975, the communists attacked again. This time, President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Nguyen Van Thieu
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was president of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1975. He was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , became head of a military junta, and then president after winning a fraudulent election...
gave contradictory orders to Trưởng as to whether he should stand and fight or give up some territory and consolidate. This led to the demoralization of I Corps and its collapse, allowing the communists to gather momentum and overrun South Vietnam within two months. Trưởng fled South Vietnam during the fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
and settled in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in the United States.
Early years and military beginnings
Trưởng was born on December 19, 1929, to a wealthy family in the Mekong DeltaMekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
province of Kiến Hòa (now Bến Tre Province
Ben Tre Province
Bến Tre is a province of Vietnam. It is one of the country's southern provinces, being situated in the delta of the Mekong River.-Administration:Politically, Ben Tre is divided into eight districts:*Ba Tri*Bình Đại*Châu Thành*Chợ Lách*Giồng Trôm...
). At the time, Vietnam was part of French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
. After graduating from Mỹ Tho College, a French colonial-run school in the Mekong Delta provincial town of Mỹ Tho, Trưởng attended the reserve officer school
Thu Duc Military Academy
Thủ Đức Military Academy was an officer training school of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . It was located in the Thủ Đức district of the capital Saigon....
at Thủ Đức in Saigon, and was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Vietnamese National Army
Vietnamese National Army
On March 8, 1949, after the Elysee accords, the State of Vietnam was recognized by France as an independent country ruled by Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại. The Vietnamese National Army or Vietnam National Army was the State of Vietnam's military force created shortly after that. It was commanded by...
in 1954. Upon graduation from Thủ Đức, Trưởng went immediately on to airborne school at the Command and Staff School of the Vietnamese National Military Academy at Đà Lạt. He served in the elite airborne brigade
Vietnamese Airborne Division
The Vietnamese Airborne Division was one of the earliest components of the State of Vietnam's military forces . The Vietnamese Airborne Division began as companies organised in 1948, prior to any agreement over armed forces in Vietnam...
the next 12 years. His first posting was as commander of 1st Company, 5th Airborne Battalion.
After graduating from Đà Lạt, he soon saw action in a 1955 operation to eliminate the Bình Xuyên
Binh Xuyen
Bình Xuyên, often linked to its infamous leader, General Le van "Bay" Vien, was an independent military force within the Vietnamese National Army whose leaders once had lived outside the law and had sided with the Viet Minh...
river pirates who were vying with President Ngô Đình Diệm’s government for control of Saigon and the surrounding area. In recognition of his performance against the Bình Xuyên, Trưởng was promoted to first lieutenant.
When the Republic of Vietnam was created in 1955, the VNA became the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
(ARVN).
Rising through the ranks
In 1964, Trưởng was promoted to major and made commander of the 5th Airborne Battalion. He led a heliborne assault into Đỗ Xá Secret Zone in Minh Long District, Quảng Ngãi ProvinceQuang Ngai Province
Quảng Ngãi is a province in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam, on the coast of South China Sea. It is located 883 km south of Hanoi and 838 km north of Ho Chi Minh City.-History:...
, in central Vietnam. This attack destroyed the base area of the Việt Cộng’s B-1 Front Headquarters.
In 1965, Trưởng led the 5th Airborne Battalion on a helicopter assault into the Hắc Dịch Secret Zone in the vicinity of the Ong Trinh Mountain in Phước Tuy Province
Phuoc Tuy Province
Phước Tuy Province was a province of South Vietnam. It now mostly corresponds to Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, just southeast of Ho Chi Minh City....
(now Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province) southeast of Saigon, the base area of the 7th Việt Cộng Division. In two days of fighting, Trưởng’s 5th Battalion inflicted heavy casualties on two communist regiments, and he was awarded a battlefield promotion to lieutenant colonel and the National Defense Medal, Fourth Class.
After the battle, Trưởng became chief of staff of the Airborne Brigade and then became chief of staff of the division later in the year. His reputation for valour and fairness gained the attention of the senior generals in Saigon. General Cao Văn Viên
Cao Van Vien
Cao Văn Viên was a Vietnamese soldier who served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and rose to the position of Chairman of the South Vietnamese Joint General Staff...
, chief of the Joint General Staff from 1965 to 1975, later described Trưởng as “one of the best commanders at every echelon the Airborne Division ever had.“”
Two years later, Trưởng was chief of staff of the Airborne Division, which was commanded by General Dư Quốc Đống
Du Quoc Dong
Lieutenant General Dư Quốc Đống was an officer of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.He served as the commander of III Corps, which oversaw the region of the country surrounding the capital Saigon, from 30 October 1974 until January 1975, when he was replaced by Lieutenant General Nguyễn Văn Toàn....
. Trưởng’s reputation for bravery, honesty, and fairness (even though he was free of the political maneuverings of his compatriots in the officer corps) got him noticed in Saigon. The ARVN chief of staff, General Cao Văn Viên
Cao Van Vien
Cao Văn Viên was a Vietnamese soldier who served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and rose to the position of Chairman of the South Vietnamese Joint General Staff...
, called Trưởng “one of the best commanders at every echelon the Airborne Division ever had.”
In 1966, violent civil disorders broke out in central Vietnam, and Buddhists protested military control of the government. Trưởng was asked to quell the rebellious 1st Division in Huế, which had decided to stop military operations with the communists in solidarity with the Buddhist protest movement. A Buddhist, Trưởng, was uncomfortable with his mission, but he carried out his orders professionally. On June 18, he commanded three airborne battalions that entered the city and restored order within two days and he put the 1st Division under government control.
General
As a result of his efficient display, Saigon made the appointment permanent. With his hands-on leadership, Trưởng quickly moulded the unit, which had a poor reputation prior to his arrival, and had been heavily weakened by the infighting of the past year, into one of the best units in the ARVN. Trưởng handpicked his leading subordinate officers and put his battalions in the hands of majors who had many years of combat experience. Unlike most, he eschewed politics in choosing his officers, and implemented new training programs to improve the capability of his troops and RegionalSouth Vietnamese Regional Force
During the Vietnam War, the South Vietnamese Regional Forces were roughly akin to militias. Recruited locally, they fell into two broad groups - Regional Forces and Popular Forces . During the early 1960's the Regional Forces manned the country-wide outpost system and defended critical points, such...
(RF) and Popular Forces
South Vietnamese Popular Force
During the Vietnam War, the South Vietnamese Popular Force consisted of local militias that protected their home villages from attacks by first National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam forces and later by People's Army of Vietnam units...
(PF) that augmented them. Trưởng’s dedication to his unit and leadership significantly raised the morale of his subordinates. As part of his strategy of better integrating the territorial forces with the regular army, Trưởng had his battalion commanders act as district chiefs, who normally worked only with the territorial forces. As a result, the regulars began to coordinate their pacification campaigns more effectively with the paramilitary forces.
In 1967, Trưởng’s 1st Division assaulted and dismantled the Việt Cộng infrastructure and a large part of their fighters from the Luong Co-Dong Xuyen-My Xa Front in Hương Trà District in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province
Thua Thien-Hue Province
Thừa Thiên-Huế is a province in the North Central Coast of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quang Tri Provice to the north and Da Nang City to the south, Laos to the west and the South China Sea to the east. The province has 128 km of coastline, 22,000 ha of...
. Trưởng was rewarded with promotion to brigadier general.
During the Tết Offensive, Trưởng led the 1st Division in the Battle of Huế as the communists were expelled from the old imperial city after three weeks of bitter street fighting. Following the famous victory in the citadel, Trưởng was given a second star and made a major general. In August 1970, he was assigned to command IV Corps
IV Corps (South Vietnam)
The IV Corps was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975...
, which oversaw the Mekong Delta region. He was based at the corps headquarters in Cần Thơ. General Creighton Abrams
Creighton Abrams
Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. was a general in the United States Army who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968–72 which saw U.S. troop strength in Vietnam fall from a peak of 543,000 to 49,000. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1972 until shortly...
, the head of American forces in Vietnam, recommended Trưởng to President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Nguyen Van Thieu
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was president of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1975. He was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , became head of a military junta, and then president after winning a fraudulent election...
, saying, “I can recommend, without any reservations at all … Trưởng. I think he’s proved over and over and in all facets—pacification, military operations, whatever it is”. He was promoted to lieutenant general in June 1971.
Corps commander
During his tenure in the Mekong Delta, Trưởng established a system of outposts along the border with Cambodia to block infiltration of communist personnel and supplies into the region. He used the three divisions in his corps in regimental-sized combined arms task forces and staged sweeps to seek and destroy communist forces in their strongholds. He also increased the capability of the Regional Forces and Popular Forces—which had a reputation for unreliability—in his area, making them a productive part of his anti-communist apparatus. Trưởng later said that these forces “shed their paramilitary origins and increasingly became full-fledged soldiers”. It was estimated that although they provided 50% of the manpower, the RF and PF cost only 5% of total military costs.During his period in charge of IV Corps, the region’s regular forces were depleted because a proportion of them were across the border as part of the Cambodian Campaign, seeking to destroy communist jungle bases, supplies and staging grounds for an invasion into South Vietnam.
Trưởng used the Regional and Popular Forces that he had enhanced to fill the void, and they strengthened the government control in the region despite having nominally less resources. In the forests surrounding U Minh
U Minh
U Minh is a district of Cà Mau Province in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam.As of 2003, the district had a population of 91,438. The district covers an area of 764 km². The district capital lies at U Minh....
, Trưởng’s outpost building programs resulted in a record number of communist defectors as the populace became more confident in his forces' ability to provide security. When American Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker
Ellsworth Bunker
Ellsworth F. Bunker was an American businessman and diplomat...
came to inspect an outlying military base that Trưởng had built, he asked if the general intended to stay there. Trưởng replied "Yes, forever". Trưởng was so successful in pacifying the Mekong Delta that he allowed some of his forces to be redeployed to other parts of South Vietnam.
Known for his unbending integrity, Trưởng vigorously moved against "ghost" and "ornamental" soldiers, deserters and conscription evaders in his region.
Abrams said that only Trưởng and Phạm Văn Phú
Pham Van Phu
Major General Pham Van Phu was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was born in Ha Dong, North Vietnam.-Military service:Phu was a company officer in the 5th Battalion of Vietnamese Paratroopers of the Army of the State of Vietnam at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu...
among the division and corps commanders had not begun to psychologically crack under the pressure of the communist onslaught.
During the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) Nguyen Hue Offensive (known in the West as the Easter Offensive) of 1972, he was given command of I Corps
I Corps (South Vietnam)
The I Corps Tactical Zone was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975. It was one of four corps which the ARVN oversaw. This was the northernmost region of South Vietnam, bordering North Vietnam...
, replacing the disgraced Lieutenant General Hoàng Xuân Lãm
Hoang Xuan Lam
Hoàng Xuân Lãm was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and a native of the city of Huế. Given responsibility for the I Corps Tactical Zone in 1967, Lãm coordinated the South Vietnamese offensive known as Operation Lam Sơn 719 which aimed at striking the North Vietnamese logistical...
. General Trưởng held communist forces at bay before Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
and then launched (against the initial resistance of President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Nguyen Van Thieu
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was president of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1975. He was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , became head of a military junta, and then president after winning a fraudulent election...
and MACV) Operation Lam Son 72. During the counteroffensive, he successfully pushed PAVN forces back to the city of Quang Tri (which was retaken in September) and advanced on to the Cua Viet River.
Collapse of South Vietnam
Trưởng remained in command of I Corps until the collapse of South Vietnam, when the north of the country lapsed into anarchy amid confused leadership by President Nguyễn Văn ThiệuNguyen Van Thieu
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was president of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1975. He was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , became head of a military junta, and then president after winning a fraudulent election...
. I Corps fielded three infantry divisions, the elite Airborne and Marine Divisions, four Ranger Groups and an armored brigade. Until mid-March, due to Trưởng's highly effective leadership, the North Vietnamese had only tried to cut the highways, despite having five divisions and 27 further regiments far outnumbering Trưởng's men. At a meeting on March 13, Trưởng and the new III Corps commander, Lieutenant General Nguyễn Văn Toàn
Nguyen Van Toan
Lieutenant General Nguyễn Văn Toàn was born in Huế and served as a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam .-Military education:Toan graduated from the Dalat Military Academy in 1952 and became an armor officer....
briefed Thiệu. By this time, South Vietnam was suffering from severe cutbacks in US aid, and the loss of Ban Mê Thuột in the central highlands, which threatened to split the country in two and isolate Trưởng's I Corps from the capital.
Thiệu laid out his plan to consolidate a smaller proportion of territory so that the forces could more effectively defend the area. As Trưởng understood it, he was free to redeploy his forces south to hold Đà Nẵng, South Vietnam's second largest city, thereby abandoning Huế. Offshore oil deposits were thought to be nearby the port of Đà Nẵng. Fearful of and preoccupied with stopping a coup, Thiệu also decided to remove the Airborne and Marines to Saigon, leaving I Corps exposed.
Thiệu called Trưởng to Saigon on 19 March to brief him on the withdrawal plan. Trưởng intended to order a retreat to Huế, Đà Nẵng and Chu Lai
Chu Lai
Chu Lai is a sea port, urban and industrial area in Dung Quat Bay, Núi Thành district, Quang Nam province of Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai Airport.-Vietnam War:...
, and then move all the forces to Đà Nẵng to regroup and dig in. The president then stunned Trưởng by announcing that he had misinterpreted his previous orders: The old imperial capital of Huế was not to be abandoned, despite losing two divisions in recent days.
In the meantime, the withdrawal preparations and the increasing North Vietnamese pressure caused civilians to flee in fear, clogging the highway and hampering the withdrawal. Trưởng then requested permission for a withdrawal of his forces into the three enclaves as planned; Thiệu ordered him to "hold onto any territory he could with whatever forces he now had, including the Marine Division", implying that he could retreat if needed.
Trưởng returned to Đà Nẵng to be greeted by the start of a North Vietnamese offensive. President Thiệu made a nationwide radio broadcast that afternoon proclaiming that Huế would be held "at all costs", contradicting the previous order. That evening Trưởng ordered a retreat to a new defense line at the My Chanh River to defend Huế, thereby ceding all of Quảng Trị Province. He was confident that his forces could hold Huế, but was then astounded by a late afternoon message from Thiệu that ordered "that because of inability to simultaneously defend all three enclaves, the I Corps commander was free ... to redeploy his forces for the defense of Đà Nẵng only." The people of Quảng Trị and Huế began to leave their homes by the hundreds of thousands, joining an ever-growing exodus toward Đà Nẵng.
Meanwhile, the North Vietnamese closed in on Đà Nẵng amid the chaos caused by Thiệu's confused leadership. Within a few days I Corps was beyond control. The South Vietnamese tried to evacuate from the other urban enclaves into Đà Nẵng, but the 1st Division collapsed after its commander Brigadier General Nguyen Van Diem, angered by Thiệu's incoherent abandonment, told his men that "We've been betrayed ... It is now sauve qui peu (every man for himself) ... See you in Đà Nẵng." The overland march, pummelled by communist artillery the entire way, degenerated into chaos as the 1st Division descended into anarchy as it moved toward Đà Nẵng. The remainder of the force deserted or began looting. Only a minority survived and some disillusioned officers committed suicide.
As anarchy and looting enveloped Đà Nẵng, and a defense of the city becoming impossible, Trưởng requested permission to evacuate by sea, but Thiệu, baffled, refused to make a decision. When his communications with Saigon were sundered by communist shelling, Trưởng ordered a naval withdrawal, as Thiệu was not making a decision either way.
With no support or leadership from Thiệu, the evacuation turned into a costly debacle, as the communists pounded the city with artillery, killing tens of thousands of people. Many drowned while jostling for room on the boats; with no logistical support from Saigon, those vessels sent were far too few for the millions of would-be evacuees. Only around 16,000 soldiers were pulled out, and of the almost two million civilians that packed Đà Nẵng, a little more than 50,000 were evacuated. As a result, 70,000 troops were taken prisoner, along with around 100 fighter jets. Trưởng and his officers swam to a boat in the sea and evacuated to Saigon. In quick succession the remaining cities along the coastline collapsed and half the country had fallen in two weeks.
Known for his empathy and solidarity with his men, Trưởng was devastated by the collapse of troops, particularly the 1st Division that he had built up over the preceding decade. Upon arriving in Saigon, he was reportedly hospitalized for a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
as a result of the collapse in I Corps. An American officer who had worked closely with him heard of Trưởng's plight, and arranged for him and his family to leave on an American ship amid the chaos of the fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
and the communist takeover of South Vietnam.
Life in the United States
Trưởng's family was initially broken up amid the confusion. His wife and eldest son ended up in Fort ChaffeeFort Chaffee
Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center is in the northwest Arkansas region adjacent to the city of Fort Smith, located one mile southeast of Fort Smith Regional Airport. The Arkansas River flows eastward along the northern border of the post. Interstate 40 is five miles to the north on the...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, while his two daughters and second son fled Saigon with a US State Department employee to Seattle. Trưởng's youngest son, aged four, ended up at Camp Pendleton, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
; the toddler did not speak English and was not identified for a few weeks.
After all of his family was accounted for, Trưởng relocated them to Falls Church, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, a suburb of the Washington DC metropolitan area not far from the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
. In 1983, Trưởng became an American citizen and moved to Springfield, Virginia
Springfield, Virginia
Springfield is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States and a suburb of Washington, D.C. The Springfield CDP is recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 30,484 as of the 2010 census. Homes and businesses in bordering CDPs including North Springfield,...
. He studied computer program
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
ming at Northern Virginia Community College
Northern Virginia Community College
Northern Virginia Community College, often abbreviated NVCC and colloquially as NOVA, comprises several locations in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., and is both the second largest multi-campus community college in the United States and the largest educational institution in the...
and worked as a computer analyst for the Association of American Railroads for 10 years until he retired in 1994.
Trưởng wrote several military history works commissioned by the United States Army Center of Military History, as part of its Indochina Monographs series. These were The Easter Offensive of 1972 (1979), RVNAF and US Operational Cooperation and Coordination (1980) and Territorial Forces (1981).
Trưởng died of cancer on 22 January 2007, at the Inova Fairfax Hospital
Inova Fairfax Hospital
Inova Fairfax Hospital is the largest hospital in the Washington D.C. area. Located in Fairfax County, Virginia, Inova Fairfax Hospital is the flagship hospital of Inova Health System, one of the largest employers in Fairfax County...
in Falls Church, Virginia. At the time of his death, Trưởng was survived by his wife, three sons, two daughters, twelve grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. After his death, the Virginia House of Representatives and Senate passed a joint resolution "Celebrating the Life of Ngo Quang Truong".
Style
Trưởng was widely regarded as South Vietnam's finest officer, and the US officers that worked with him generally rated him to be superior to most American commanders. He was also renowned for his principled and unstinting integrity, complete uninvolvement in corruption, favouritism or political cronyism, and his empathy and solidarity with his soldiers. William WestmorelandWilliam Westmoreland
William Childs Westmoreland was a United States Army General, who commanded US military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak , during the Tet Offensive. He adopted a strategy of attrition against the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the North Vietnamese Army. He later served as...
, the US commander in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, said that Trưởng "would rate high on any list of capable South Vietnamese leaders … [other U.S. commanders] so admired Truong that they would trust him to command an American division." His successor Creighton Abrams
Creighton Abrams
Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. was a general in the United States Army who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968–72 which saw U.S. troop strength in Vietnam fall from a peak of 543,000 to 49,000. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1972 until shortly...
, who oversaw the American war effort until 1972 said "General Truong was capable of commanding an American division".
Lieutenant General Robert E. Cushman, and his main subordinate, Lieutenant General Richard G. Stilwell
Richard G. Stilwell
General Richard Giles Stilwell served as Commander, United States Forces Korea from 1973 to 1976, and Acting Commander of the U.S. Army, Pacific from September to December 1974...
, who operated alongside Trưởng in I Corps in the 1960s said that because of Trưởng's efforts, the ARVN 1st Division was "equal to any American unit." General Bruce Palmer Jr. said that Trưởng was "probably the best field commander in South Vietnam." In 1966, Trưởng's American adviser wrote to General Harold K. Johnson, describing the Vietnamese officer as "dedicated, humble, imaginative and tactically sound."
General Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded US forces during the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
against Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 1991, served as Trưởng's adviser in the 1960s when he was deployed to South Vietnam as a major during a campaign at Ia Đrăng. He wrote in his autobiography It Doesn't Take A Hero, that Trưởng "did not look like my idea of a military genius: only five feet seven … very skinny, with hunched shoulders and a head that seemed too big for his body … His face was pinched and intense … and there was always a cigarette hanging from his lips. Yet he was revered by his officers and troops—and feared by those North Vietnamese commanders who knew of his ability." Schwarzkopf said that Trưởng was "the most brilliant tactical commander I'd ever known" and that "Simply by visualizing the terrain and drawing on his experience fighting the enemy for fifteen years, Truong showed an uncanny ability to predict what they were going to do".
Lieutenant Colonel James H. Willbanks, who served in Vietnam and is now a military history professor, said
Unlike some South Vietnamese generals who had grown rich as they ascended the ranks, Trưởng was regarded as being completely incorruptible and lived a "spartan and ascetic" life. According to Cushman, Trưởng did not own a suit, and by the time he was appointed to command IV Corps, his wife tended to pigs, which were kept behind his basic living quarters in the headquarters at Cần Thơ. Cushman said that Trưởng was always looking for means to raise his soldiers' material and family lives. Trưởng did not tolerate favouritism. He once received a request to transfer his nephew from the frontline to a desk job; he refused and the nephew was later killed in action. General Bruce Palmer, Jr.
Bruce Palmer, Jr.
Bruce Palmer, Jr., was a noted United States Army General and acting Chief of Staff of the United States Army from July to October 1972.-Career Summary:Palmer was born in Austin, Texas...
, said Trưởng “deserved a better fate” than the mauling of his soldiers amid Thiệu’s confused orders and the collapse of South Vietnam.
External links
- The Ia Drang Valley campaign was a landmark for me, because it introduced me to the most brilliant tactical commander I'd ever known. by General Norman Schwarzkopf
- Ngo Quang Truong Biography French
- Vietnam War Bibliography: The ARVN and the RVN
- History of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
- The Battle for Hue, 1968 by James H. Willbanks