Linh Quang Viên (November 11, 1918 - January 17, 2013) was a Vietnamese soldier who rose to the rank of Lieutenant 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 ...

. Vien was born in Cao Bang, northern

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. He attended Albert Sarraut High School 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 ...

, and graduated in 1939. In 1958, he graduated from the Command and General Staff College, ort Leavenworth Kansas. He served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and rose to the rank of Lieutenant General, Chief of Staff Inter-armed Forces (Tham Muu truong Lien Quan). He participated in many military cabinets between 1965 and 1974 during the various military junta's leadership after the deposal of President

Ngo Dinh Diem Ngô Đình Diệm ( or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955), and then served as the first president of South Vietnam (Republic o ...

. Was Political Commissar in the Armed Forces Council (Uy Vien Chinh Tri Hoi Dong Quan Luc), Head of the Central Intelligence Directorate (Phu Dac Uy Trung Uong Tinh Bao), Minister of Information (Tong Truong Thong Tin), Minister of National Security (Tong Truong An Ninh Quoc Gia), and also Interior Minister (Tong Truong Noi Vu) for a short time.Spy Chief Under Fire
/ref> In 1974, he retired from the South Vietnamese Armed Forces, but was soon appointed Ambassador to the Central Africa Republic and Chad. He remained at these posts until 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 ...

in 1975. He was then offered asylum by France, went to Paris and stayed there until 1978 when he immigrated to the US, where he settled in Virginia. For many years, he was actively involved in several political and community activities within the Vietnamese community in Virginia, including association with the Vietnamese National Congress (Nghi Hoi), the Movement for the Support of the Liberation of Vietnam (Phong Trao Yem Tro Khang Chien), and the

Government of Free Vietnam The Government of Free Vietnam (GFCL; vi, Chính Phủ Lâm Thời Việt Nam Tự Do) was an anti-communist political organization that was established 30 April 1995 by Nguyen Hoang Dan. It was dissolved in 2013. It claimed an unrecognized gover ...

(Chinh Phu Viet Nam Tu Do).

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General Linh Quang Vien
1918 births 2013 deaths Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War Vietnamese anti-communists Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College Vietnamese emigrants to the United States People from Cao Bằng Province {{Vietnam-activist-stub