Đỗ Kiếm, writing as Kiem Do (

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 ...

, 1933) is a former officer of the

Republic of Vietnam Navy The Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVNN; ; ''HQVNCH'') was the naval branch of the South Vietnamese military, the official armed forces of the former Republic of Vietnam (or South Vietnam) from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats fro ...

, who was serving as Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) when Saigon fell in 1975. He secretly organised the evacuation of over 30,000 refugees aboard 32 naval ships. Kiem's efforts were ultimately successful, preventing those 32 vessels and everyone aboard from falling into the hands of North Vietnamese forces. After overseeing the disbanding of the crews of the escaped VNN ships, Kiem moved to the United States where he has resided since, having been granted citizenship after requesting political asylum.

Early life

Kiem was born in

, and by the age of 13 was a scout for the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

, fighting for Vietnam's independence from French colonial rule. Following the end of the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

, Kiem was sent to France to be trained at the ''

École Navale École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

'' in Brest.

Career

Kiem was the commander of the

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

''Van Don'' (HQ-06) during the 1963 coup. He later served as the Commandant of the Vietnamese Midshipman’s School, Chief of Staff of the

Mobile Riverine Force In the Vietnam War, the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) (after May 1967), initially designated Mekong Delta Mobile Afloat Force, and later the Riverines, were a joint US Army and US Navy force that comprised a substantial part of the brown-water n ...

, District Commander of the IV Naval Zone, and Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations). With the help of

Richard L. Armitage Richard Lee Armitage (born April 26, 1945) is an American former diplomat and government official. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Armitage served as a U.S. Navy officer in three combat tours of duty in the Vietnam War as a river ...

, Kiem secretly organised the evacuation of the Republic of Vietnam Navy fleet of 32 ships accompanied by several cargo ships and fishing boats with over 30,000 naval personnel and their families aboard. This fleet left Saigon on 30 April 1975, and the next day rendezvoused with off

Côn Sơn Island Côn Sơn ( ), also known as Côn Lôn is the largest island of the Côn Đảo archipelago, off the coast of southern Vietnam.Kelley, p 116 Other names Its French variant Grande-Condore was well-known during the times of French Indochina. Mar ...

to be escorted to the Philippines. After settling in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

after receiving

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

, Kiem taught high school math and science, studied in the MBA program at the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

, and worked as a

cost engineer Cost engineering is "the engineering practice devoted to the management of project cost, involving such activities as estimating, cost control, cost forecasting, investment appraisal and risk analysis". "Cost Engineers budget, plan and monitor inve ...

for the

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

utility company

Entergy Entergy Corporation is a Fortune 500 integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations in the Deep South of the United States. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and ge ...

for more than twenty years.

Retirement

Since retirement in 1997, he has been active as a leader in the

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

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 ...

ese community and has lectured frequently on the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

at local universities and before veterans groups. Kiem's wartime memoirs, co-authored with

Julie Kane :''Disambiguation: for the character voiced by Kate Micucci see Motorcity#Protagonists.'' Julie Kane (born July 20, 1952 in Boston) is a contemporary American poet, scholar, and editor and was the Louisiana Poet Laureate for the 2011–2013 ter ...

, was published in May 1998 and entitled ''Counterpart: A South Vietnamese Naval Officer's War''.

Family

He and his wife of thirty-nine years Thom Le Do, have five children, and six American-born grandchildren.

References

External links

The Paracel Islands (Hoang-Sa) Sea Battle
by

Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (; chữ Hán: ; ), abbreviated VNQDĐ or Việt Quốc, was a nationalist and democratic socialist political party that sought independence from French colonial rule in Vietnam during the early 20th century. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Do, Kiem South Vietnamese military personnel of the Vietnam War Vietnamese anti-communists American people of Vietnamese descent Vietnamese politicians 1933 births Living people Vietnamese democracy activists