General Hieu, ARVN: a Military Genius by Tin Nguyen

Author:Tin Nguyen [Nguyen, Tin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-61254-002-3
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2009-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

2.6.10

General Hieu’s Frustration

John Prados wrote in The Hidden History of the Vietnam War (1995): “In 1975 Hieu was deputy commander of the ARVN military region which included Saigon; he committed suicide when the collapse of South Vietnam became apparent.” Prados was right when he stated that “the collapse of South Vietnam became apparent”; but he erred when he thought that had been the reason General Hieu “committed suicide”. In this article, I attempt to visualize General Hieu’s state of mind in his capacity of III Corps Deputy Commander/Operations toward the end of March and beginning of April 1975, partly based on my last encounters with my brother during that time, partly based on the outcomes of my recent research pertaining to this issue through documents and interviews of witnesses of that time.

At the time Ban Me Thuot and Danang were falling, I was living in Nhatrang. My brother telephoned General Le Van Than, who was II Corps Deputy Commander/Territory, and asked him to relay the message which stipulated I had to leave Nhatrang and go to Saigon immediately because President Thieu had decided to abandon I and II Corps. General Than had his son deliver the message to me. He told me that in a few days he and his family would board a navy ship to go to Saigon, and offered me to join them. I declined the offer, and asked him instead to help me gain access into the airport, where a nephew of mine who worked for Air Vietnam would put me on an airplane. At that time, in order to prevent a similar chaos that had occurred at Danang airport, General Phu imposed a very strict security measure at the airport gate. General Than had to use his personal one-star-blazoned jeep to get me into the airport. This assistance allowed me to board the last Nhatrang-Saigon flight.

A few days after, I reported to the III Corps headquarters at Bien Hoa to see my brother and to thank him. In this encounter, my brother appeared very pensive. His attaché told me that my brother just returned from a trip to Phan Thiet (later, I learned from the press that on April 2, 1975 my brother flew to Phan Thiet to have General Phu relinquished the remnant units of II Corps at Lau Ong Hoang). I asked him if we would be able to contain the enemy push. He answered: “Our troops are capable; we only lack ammunition; our troops can hold two months max then would run out of ammunition.” I asked another question: “Why General Toan was selected as III Corps Commander?” His answered was: “The President said that the current military situation dictates the need of a general originated from the armor branch who knows how to charge like a bull.” While uttering these words he glanced up to the TV screen where President Thieu was lamenting to the whole nation, and commented: “The head of a nation should not wail like that, he better off let his ministers talk to the population.

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