Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Huỳnh Văn Cao (26 September 1927 – 26 February 2013) was a major general in the

Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...

Life

In 1950, he graduated from Military school in

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...

. He then attended College of Tactics and graduated in

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

in 1952. He went to the United States and attended

Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

and he graduated in 1958. He was the commander of the

(ARVN) 7th Division. He worked with Lieutenant Colonel

John Paul Vann John Paul Vann (born John Paul Tripp; July 2, 1924 – June 9, 1972) was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, later retired, who became well known for his role in the Vietnam War. Although separated from the military before the Vietnam ...

, most notably during the

Battle of Ap Bac The Battle of Ấp Bắc was a major battle fought on 2 January 1963 during the Vietnam War, in Định Tường Province (now part of Tiền Giang Province), South Vietnam. On 28 December 1962, US intelligence detected the presence of a radio ...

. He served as Senate First Vice President in the government of

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

. After the

Fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of ...

, he was left behind in

and imprisoned until 1987. He came to the United States in 1990. He was a contributing writer for the ''

Vietnam Magazine {{Infobox magazine , title = Vietnam , logo = , logo_size = , image_file = , image_size = , image_alt = , image_caption = May 2011 issue of Vietnam Magazine , editor = Chuck Springs ...

'' and the author of ''Vietnam: Today & Tomorrow''.

Personal life

He was married and had ten children and more than 19 grandchildren. He is remembered for the quote "President Nixon can support President Thieu, but President Nixon cannot force the Vietnamese people to support President Thieu."

Key dates

Military positions

* Platoon Leader, 1950–51 * Company commander, 1951–52 * Battalion commander, 1953–54 * Chief of the Special Staff, Presidency 1955-57 * Commander, 13th Infantry Division, 1957–58 * Commander, 7th Infantry Division and Tien Giang Tactical Zone, 1959–62 * Chief negotiator, Vietnamese Delegation to Meeting with Cambodian Delegation on Vietnam-Cambodia Borders, March 1964 * General commissioner, Popular Complaints and Suggestions Office, 4 May 1964 * Chief, General Political Warfare Department, 1965–66 * Commanding General, First Corps, 16–30 May 1966

Political career

*Chairman, Social Democrat Bloc, Senate, 1967–1968 *Chairman, foreign Affairs and Information Committee, Senate, 1968 *First Deputy Chairman, Senate, 1970–1971 *Senator, 1971–1975

Decorations and awards

* Commander of the

National Order of Vietnam The National Order of Vietnam ( vi, Bảo Quốc Huân Chương) was a combined military-civilian decoration of South Vietnam and was considered the highest honor that could be bestowed upon an individual by the Republic of Vietnam government. ...

* Officer of the National Order of Vietnam with Gallantry Cross with Palm * Knight of the National Order of Vietnam with Gallantry Cross with Palm

References

External links

Vietnam:Today & TomorrowDocument 11. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State concerning Major General Huynh Van Cao
* ttp://www.mosquitonet.com/~prewett/budcri262272.html VIETNAM - History, Documents, and Opinion {{DEFAULTSORT:Huynh, Van Cao 1927 births 2013 deaths Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Vietnamese Roman Catholics People from Huế Vietnamese exiles People from Virginia Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College Vietnamese politicians Personalist Labor Revolutionary Party politicians 3 Huynh, Van Cao