Lê Văn Hưng (March 27, 1933 – April 30, 1975) was an infantry general of the Army of the
Republic of 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 ...
.
Early life
Hưng was born in
Hóc Môn, in the
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...
of
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 it ...
, and was raised by his widowed mother, Trương Thị Đức, and his stepfather, Trần Văn Kiển. He attended Huỳnh Khương Ninh High School and graduated in 1952 and later worked for a French company in Saigon.
Military career
Hưng enlisted for the army in 1954 and later graduated from
Thủ Đức Military Academy on February 1, 1955 – with the rank of Second Lieutenant. He held many commands 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 South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. It is estimated to have suffe ...
(ARVN) from company to battalion level.
In early 1957, he was promoted to full lieutenant and assigned as Captain of the 13th Battalion. In mid-1959, he was transferred to the 31st Regiment of the 21st Infantry Division to hold the 2nd position of the Regiment 2. In early 1961, he was seconded to the field of Administration to be the Chief of Vinh Binh Police Company. In mid-1962, he was appointed to the position of Mayor of Tra On District in Vinh Binh Province. In February 1964, he was promoted to captain, and in December of the same year, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion Commander. At the end of 1966, he was assigned to the position of Regiment Commander of the Regiment 31.
In the middle of July 1970, he was once again seconded to Military Administration. He was appointed as Governor and Chief of Phong Dinh sub-region (now
Can Tho City) to replace the deceased Colonel Nguyễn Văn Khương, who had fallen in battle. He was promoted Brigadier General. In the middle of June 1971, he was ordered to hand over the position of the Governor-General of Phong Dinh Sub-division to Colonel Chương Dzềnh Quay (former Commander of the 21st Infantry Division). He was then assigned to the position of 5th Infantry Division Commander, replacing Major General Nguyễn Văn Hiếu and transferred to III Corps Command as Deputy Corps Commander.
Hưng was perhaps best known as the "Hero of An Lộc" in 1972 when he commanded the
5th Division In military terms, 5th Division may refer to:
Infantry divisions
*5th Division (Australia)
* 5th Division (People's Republic of China)
* 5th Division (Colombia)
* Finnish 5th Division (Continuation War)
*5th Light Cavalry Division (France)
* 5th M ...
in defense of the city of
An Lộc from the coordinated attacks of the
North Vietnamese
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed ...
People's Army of Vietnam
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...
(PAVN) forces in the
Battle of An Lộc
The Battle of An Lộc was a major battle of the Vietnam War that lasted for 66 days and culminated in a tactical victory for South Vietnam. The struggle for An Lộc in 1972 was an important battle of the war, as South Vietnamese forces halted ...
.
In April 1971 Hưng was appointed to take over the battered 5th Division from General
Nguyễn Văn Hiếu. General Hiếu's forces had been badly handled during the
Battle of Snuol
The Battle of Snuol, fought over the border inside Snuol a Cambodian district, was a major battle of the Vietnam War, conducted by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) as part of ''Operation Toàn Thắng TT02''. The battle lasted from 5 ...
, and his troops, according to
II Field Force, Vietnam
II Field Force, Vietnam was a United States Army Corps-level command during the Vietnam War.
Activated on 15 March 1966, it became the largest corps command in Vietnam and one of the largest in Army history. II Field Force was assigned the lineag ...
commander
Michael S. Davison, were close to mutiny. Unfortunately, Hưng was the one ARVN officer whose candidacy American advisers had specifically recommended against.
Living in a tiny underground bunker for almost three months, Hưng commanded soldiers of the 5th Division, the 81st Airborne Ranger Battalion, the 11th Airborne Brigade, the
21st Division and the Provincial Forces of
Bình Long Province. His forces repelled countless waves of attack by the PAVN infantry, supported by
T-54
The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks ...
tanks. Hưng vowed, "If I'm still alive, An Lộc still stands." His strong determination to hold An Lộc at any cost, and the fighting spirit of the ARVN soldiers, kept An Lộc from falling into PAVN hands.
He had spent so much time in the bunker that when the South Vietnamese President
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who was the president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was a general in the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF), beca ...
, accompanied by
Lieutenant General Nguyễn Văn Minh, the
III Corps commander visited An Loc after the siege, Thiệu noticed that Lê Văn Hưng was blinking incessantly under the shining sun. A while later Thiệu jokingly asked one of his aides,"Hung looked
deceitful to me. Why do you think he kept constantly squinting and blinking his eyes?" The aide replied seriously stating: "Why, Mr. President,General Hung had not seen sunlight for a long, long time"
However, US advisers reported that Hưng "choked" and "didn't do a damn thing"; and threatened (privately) to shoot his deputy division commander at An Lộc.
According to Brig. General John R. McGiffert II, An Lộc would never have held out without the handful of American advisers directing the air strikes and shoring up the local leadership. Two of the few South Vietnamese leaders to stand out were Colonel Le Quang Luong, an airborne brigade commander, and Colonel Tran Van Nhut, the local province chief. Following the heavy fighting, Thieu replaced almost all of the division commanders in the zone with Hưng being replaced by an Airborne officer, but promoted to be deputy III Corps commander.
Hưng was promoted to General in the field and later commanded the
21st Division before becoming Deputy Commander of the 4th Military Region (MR4).
When the PAVN made their "
Hồ Chí Minh Campaign" final assault on South Vietnam in April 1975, before listening to the capitulation order of President
Dương Văn Minh
Dương Văn Minh (; 16 February 19166 August 2001), popularly known as Big Minh, was a South Vietnamese politician and a senior general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and a politician during the presidency of Ngô Đình Diệm. ...
, General Hung planned a secret operation to send remaining ARVN soldiers and officers at jungles and military bases that would continue counterattack against VC units 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 Sout ...
. There he and his soldiers follow orders by the colonel to execute the location of secret delta places on long-term strategic resistance against VC for a few months until PAVN/VC declare a ceasefire hoping a new South Vietnam country at Mekong Delta. Unfortunately, the colonel and the captain who planned to execute the order of secret operation escaped to sea shortly after President Minh surrender. Both ARVN generals in Can Tho were seriously concerned the future of Can Tho after RVN government dissolved. ARVN soldiers in Can Tho start to disband when no order was made to secret places in Mekong Region. VC captured several districts across Mekong Delta and both ARVN generals decided not to counterattack in Can Tho until they realized the VC will be shelled bombarded heavily in Can Tho.
Death
On April 30, he received word that
Dương Văn Minh
Dương Văn Minh (; 16 February 19166 August 2001), popularly known as Big Minh, was a South Vietnamese politician and a senior general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and a politician during the presidency of Ngô Đình Diệm. ...
had ordered South Vietnam's army to surrender. At 8 P.M, General Hưng gathered his staff, ARVN soldiers, and family to say goodbye. He was unable to fight to the death because the townspeople of
Cần Thơ
Cần Thơ, also written as Can Tho or Cantho (: , : ), is the fourth-largest city in Vietnam, and the largest city along the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam.
It is noted for its floating markets, rice paper-making village, and picturesque rur ...
had begged him not to resist, believing that it would cause futile bloodshed, and Hưng was one of the five ARVN generals who committed suicide that day. Hưng shot himself in the chest with his pistol at his residence.
Before ending his life, he said "I was willing to choose death; if the general could not protect the country or the city, he would have to die with it." The IV Corps was shortly handed over to
Viet Cong
,
, war = the Vietnam War
, image = FNL Flag.svg
, caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green.
, active ...
after the death of Le Van Hung. His commander, Major General
Nguyễn Khoa Nam, committed suicide in the early morning of May 1, 1975. Both were buried in Can Tho military cemetery.
Personal life
Lê Văn Hưng was married to Nguyễn Xuân Mai, who gave birth to a daughter, Lê Ánh Tuyết. They later divorced. His second wife, Phạm Thị Kim Hoàng, gave birth to his second daughter, Lê Thiên Hà, and his son, Lê Quốc Hải.
/ "The Final Day of My Husband's Life"
Phạm Thị Kim Hoàng (General Le van Hung's wife)
After General Hung's suicide, Hung's wife, Phạm Thị Kim Hoàng, and her children moved from Can Tho to Saigon. They later fled by boat to the Philippines and then migrated to the United States.
References
;Other sources
* Tran Ngoc Thong, Ho Dac Huan and Le Dinh Thuy (2011). ''A History of the Republic of Vietnam Army''.
External links
*https://web.archive.org/web/20090327061057/http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/thiet/thie_c3_pt1.pdf
*https://web.archive.org/web/20130226192521/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1975/jan-feb/howard.html
*https://web.archive.org/web/20061205040844/http://vietquoc.com/APR3098.HTM
*http://www.vietnamesecommunity.com/Community/TuongHung.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Van Hung
1933 births
1975 deaths
People from Ho Chi Minh City
Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals
Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War
Deaths by firearm in Vietnam
Vietnamese anti-communists