Trần Văn Quang (1917 – 3 November 2013) was a Vietnamese military officer who was a colonel general (three-star general) of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAV). He was a deputy chief of staff of PAV and a vice minister of Vietnam's Ministry of Defence. During the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, Quang was the head of Department of Operations.

Biography

Born in 1917 in Nghi Lộc, Nghệ An Province,

North Central Coast Bắc Trung Bộ (literally North Central Region, and often translated as North Central Coast) is one of the regions of Vietnam. It consists of six provinces: Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên–Hu ...

region 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 i ...

, Quang was a son of Trần Văn Năng – a

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who was jailed by French colonial government for six months. His elder brother is Trần Văn Tăng – a teacher and revolutionist and member of

New Revolutionary Party of Vietnam New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz Albums and EPs * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartn ...

who was also jailed by the French and died in prison. His second elder brother is Trần Văn Cung, who was a Vietnamese revolutionary and was the secretary of the first communist cell in Vietnam. His young brother is Trần Văn Bành, who was an Colonel of PAV. Quang joined the

Communist Party of Indochina The Communist Party of Indochina (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''Đông Dương Cộng sản Đảng'' 1929–1930) is one of three predecessors of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Other two predecessors are the Communist Party of Annam (An Nam ...

in 1936. Between 1938 and 1939, he was one of communist leaders in

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–

Cho Lon Cho or CHO may refer to: People * Chief Happiness Officer Surnames * Cho (Korean surname), one romanization of the common Korean surname * Zhuo (), romanized Cho in Wade–Giles, Chinese surname * Cho, a Minnan romanization of the Chinese s ...

. He was jailed by French in 1939, but he escaped in October 1940 and went to Nghe An. In April 1941, he was caught again and was life sentenced. In June 1945, he was freed.Thượng tướng Trần Văn Quang từ trần
/ref> During November 1946 and July 1947, Quang was the Commissar of Interregion IV (including 11 provinces of North Central Coast). During 1948 and 1949, Quang was the military commander and the commissar of Bình– Trị– Thiên region.Phan Hoàng (11/2013), "Hành trình đặc biệt và chiến công lẫy lừng của Thượng tướng Trần Văn Quang," Pháp luật và Cuộc sống, các số 40, 41, 42. In May 1950 when the 304 Division was established, Quang became the political commissar of this Division. In 1958, he became a major general and the deputy chief of staff. In 1961, he went to Southern of Vietnam and became a member of Central Executive Committee of the People's Revolutionary Party who was in charge of military affairs. In 1965, he became the Commander of 4th Military Region. During 1965 and 1973, Quang was the Commander and the Commissar of Tri-Thien Military Region. In 1974, he was promoted to lieutenant general. He became a deputy chief of staff for the second time. During 1978 and 1981, Quang was the commander of 678

Corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

and the commissar of Vietnamese Voluntary Force in Laos. He became a Vice Minister of Defense during 1981 and 1982 and a colonel general in 1984. Quang died on 3 November 2013 in Hanoi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tran, Van Quang 1917 births 2013 deaths Generals of the People's Army of Vietnam People from Nghệ An province People's Army of Vietnam Alternates of the 3rd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Vietnam Members of the 3rd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Vietnam