Nguyễn Hợp Đoàn (28 August 1928 – 15 April 2002) was to be the last Mayor of

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, the capital 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 ...

and Governor of

Gia Dinh ''Gia'' is a 1998 American biographical drama television film about the life and times of one of the first supermodels, Gia Carangi. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Gia and Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper, with Mercedes Ruehl and Elizabeth Mi ...

Province, before the fall of Saigon that led to the reunification of Vietnam under the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

party in 1975.

Family

Born in

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in 1928 to

Nguyễn Thúc Vinh Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this ...

, a former Governor of Bắc Kạn Province in North Vietnam. The family fled South at the partitioning of the country following the

Geneva Accords of 1954 The Geneva Conference, intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War, was a conference involving several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 April to 20 July 1954. The part ...

Military career

Nguyen attended the 4th class of the elite

Vietnamese National Military Academy The Vietnamese National Army or Vietnam National Army ( vi, Quân đội Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Army of the State of Vietnam, french: Armée Nationale Vietnamienne, lit=Vietnamese National Army) was the State of Vietnam's military force create ...

in Dalat, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (USACGSC) in 1964 and the U.S. Army War College (USAWC). He was the youngest Major in the South Vietnamese Army at age 24. Nguyen Hop Doan

He served as Commanding Officer of 705th Battalion, Commanding Officer of 42nd Regiment (Thai Binh), Commanding Officer of 14th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division, Deputy Director National School of Psychological Warfare, Deputy Chief of Staff for 4th Corp Psychological Warfare and Chief of Staff of 9th Division. He also served as High Command’s Chief of Staff of Vietnam's Airborne Rangers (81st Airborne Commando Battalion) in 1961 and High Command’s Chief of Staff of Vietnam's

Special Forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

in 1965.

Nguyen was Province Chief of Kon Tum Province from 1965–70, where the communist Tet Offensive of 1968 was soundly defeated. He excelled as a Military Officer and as a Public Servant, in his dual role as the Governor of the Military District of Tuyen Duc, and as Mayor of the provincial capital city of Dalat from 1970–75. During his tenure, Dalat was a safe haven. He built on its charm and beauty, and kept it a favorite honeymoon destination. Dalat was also a center of learning, with many boarding schools, universities, military academies and seminaries. South Vietnam's sole nuclear reactor and associated scientists and personnel were based in Da Lat. In 1975, in the hope that he would bring tranquility to the capital city, President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu appointed Nguyễn its next mayor. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and made plans to assume the mayorship.

Decorations and medals

Nguyen received numerous Medals, Honors and Citations including National Order of Vietnam, 4th Class (Bao Quoc Huan Chuong), ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) Joint Forces Order (Luc Quan Huan Chuong), Service Medal (Tham Muu Boi Tinh), Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal (Chien Dich Boi Tinh), 12 Gallantry Cross Medals (Anh Dung Boi Tinh), Korea Medal of Honor and the United States

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

and Bronze Star with "V" Device Medals.

References

External links

Vietnam Multimedia ArchiveTexas Tech University Vietnam Project
- Large Vietnam Era Archive
Vietnam War in PicturesBattlefield: Vietnam
- Acclaimed PBS miniseries
U.S. Army Command and General Staff CollegeU.S. Army War College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Hop Doan 1928 births 2002 deaths Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War American people of Vietnamese descent Vietnamese politicians Vietnamese anti-communists