Đỗ Cao Trí
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Lieutenant General Đỗ Cao Trí (20 November 1929 – 23 February 1971) was a general in the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; ) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. Its predecessor was the ground forc ...
(ARVN) known for his fighting prowess and flamboyant style. Trí started out in the
French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...
before transferring to the Vietnamese National Army and the ARVN. Under President
Ngô Đình Diệm Ngô Đình Diệm ( , or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam ( Republic of ...
, Trí was the commander of I Corps where he was noted for harsh crackdowns on Buddhist civil rights demonstrations against the Diệm government. Trí later participated in the November 1963 coup which resulted in the assassination of Diệm on 2 November 1963. Years later, Trí was exiled by Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, the most powerful member of the junta, but when
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001) was a South Vietnam, South Vietnamese military officer and politician who was the Leaders of South Vietnam, president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was a general in the Repub ...
came to power, he was called back to command III Corps. He led III Corps during the 1970 Cambodian Campaign, earning the laudatory sobriquet as "the Patton of the Parrot's Beak". In 1971, Trí was ordered north to take command of I Corps in
Operation Lam Son 719 Operation Lam Son 719 or 9th Route – Southern Laos Campaign () was a limited-objective Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign conducted in the southeastern portion of the Kingdom of Laos. The campaign was carried out by the ...
, an incursion into
Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
, which had gone astray. He was killed, aged 41, in a helicopter accident before being able to take control.


Early years

Trí was born in Bình Tuoc, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province,
French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
, just northeast of
Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
. His father was a wealthy landowner and his grandfather served as a
Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...
mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
during the French colonial era. He earned his baccalaureate (Part II) from Petrus Ký High School, Saigon. After entering the French colonial forces in 1947, he graduated from Do Huu Vi Officer Class and the following year was sent to Auvour, France to attend infantry school. In 1953, while an officer in the Vietnamese National Army, he graduated from General Staff and Command Class in
Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
. His first command was as a young airborne officer, and until his death he survived three attempts on his life, leading him to his belief that he had an "immunity from death on the battlefield". As a young lieutenant colonel, he was made the commander of the Airborne Brigade in 1954 and was based in Saigon. Towards the end of the May 1955 Battle for Saigon, in which Prime Minister Diệm asserted his rule over the State of Vietnam by defeating the Bình Xuyên organised crime syndicate, some of Diệm's supporters tried to move against some generals whom they accused of questionable loyalty. When he heard that three top generals, including Nguyễn Văn Vy, were being detained in the palace by one of the factions backing Prime Minister Diệm, Trí telephoned and threatened them: "Free the generals in one half-hour or I will destroy the palace and everything inside it." In 1958, he attended the United States
Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...
at
Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...
,
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. That same year he graduated from Air-Ground Operations School at Fort Kisler, Washington.


Buddhist crisis

During the Buddhist crisis of 1963, Trí garnered considerable notoriety for his crackdown on Buddhist protests against the Diệm regime in the central region of Vietnam. In Huế, demonstrations were banned and Trí's forces were ordered to arrest those who engaged in civil disobedience.Hammer, p. 136. At 13:00 on 3 June, some 1,500 protestors attempted to march towards the Từ Đàm Pagoda in Huế for a rally, having gathered at Bến Ngự bridge near the Perfume River. A confrontation ensued when the protestors attempted to cross the bridge. Six waves of ARVN tear gas and attack dogs failed to disperse the crowd. At 18:30, military personnel at the scene dispersed the crowd by emptying vials of brownish-red liquid on the heads of praying protestors, resulting in 67 Buddhists being hospitalised for chemical injuries.Jacobs, p. 145.Jones, pp. 261-62. The symptoms consisted of severe blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments. By midnight, tensions were high as curfews and martial law were enacted. Rumours circulated that three people had been killed. ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' reported the police had lobbed blister gas into the crowd.Jones, pp. 263-64. The incident raised concerns among the Americans that poison gas was used, and the U.S. threatened to publicly condemn and distance itself from Saigon. An investigation, however, cleared the troops of using blister or poison gas. The main raids in Saigon were accompanied by attacks across the country. Under Trí, the violence was worse in Huế than in the capital. The approach of Trí's forces was met by the beating of Buddhist drums and cymbals to alert the populace. The townsfolk left their homes in the middle of the night in an attempt to defend the city's pagodas. At the Từ Đàm Pagoda, which was the base of leading Buddhist activist leader, Thích Trí Quang, Monks tried to cremate as per their custom the coffin of their colleague who had self-immolated. ARVN soldiers, firing M1 rifles, overran the pagoda and confiscated the coffin. They demolished a statue of
Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...
and looted and vandalized the pagodaHalberstam, p. 143. before detonating explosives and leveling much of the pagoda. A number of Buddhists were shot or clubbed to death.Jacobs, pp. 152-53. The most determined resistance occurred outside the Diệu Đế Pagoda in Huế. As troops attempted to erect a barricade across the bridge leading to the pagoda, the crowd fought the heavily armed military personnel with rocks, sticks and their bare fists, throwing back the tear gas grenades that were aimed at them. After a five-hour battle, the military finally took the bridge at dawn by driving armored cars through the angry crowd. The defense of the bridge and Diệu Đế left an estimated 30 dead and 200 wounded. Ten truckloads of bridge defenders were taken to jail and an estimated 500 people were arrested in the city. Seventeen of the 47 professors at Huế University, who had resigned earlier in the week in protest after the firing of the school's rector, Father Cao Văn Luân,Hammer, p. 168. a Catholic priest and opponent of Diệm's brother Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục, were also arrested. Despite his vigorous application of Diệm's military policies against Buddhists in central Vietnam, where in the words of Ellen Hammer, Trí "ruled...with an iron hand", he was still involved in plotting against the regime even before the attacks on the pagodas.Hammer, p. 166.


Coup against Diệm

When Trí was informed that coup was imminent, he left Huế on 29 October 1963 for
Đà Nẵng Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the list of cities in Vietnam, fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River (Vietnam), Hàn R ...
, so he would be away from
Ngô Đình Cẩn Ngô Đình Cẩn (; 1911 – 9 May 1964) was the younger brother and confidant of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Đình Diệm, and an important member of the Diệm government. Diệm put Cẩn in charge of central Vietnam, stretching f ...
, Diệm's younger brother, who ruled central Vietnam from for the Ngô family. The coup took place on 1 November with Trí helping by causing diversions. He scheduled a meeting with the province chief and other pro-Diệm officials during the time that the coup was to take place. As a result, the Diệm loyalists were stuck in a meeting room and were unable to mobilize the Republican Youth and other Ngô family paramilitary and activist groups. After the coup, angry crowds surrounded the Ngô family home where Cẩn and his elderly mother lived. It was agreed they would be given safe passage out of the country by the junta. Trí told Cẩn he would be safe and would be taken out to Saigon, where it would be safer. Trí could only promise safe passage on an American plane to the capital, where embassy officials would meet CẩnJones, p. 433. who wanted asylum in Japan.Hammer, pp. 305-06. The Americans handed Cẩn over to the junta, and he was executed in 1964.Jones, p. 434. Following the arrest and assassination of Diệm in early November 1963, there was pressure on the new regime to remove Diệm supporters from power. Prime Minister Thơ's approach to removing Diệm supporters from positions of influence drew criticism. Some felt that he was not vigorous enough in removing pro-Diệm elements from authority, but pro-Diệm elements opposed the turnover, some claiming it was excessive and vengeful.Shaplen, p. 221. One contentious non-removal was Trí, who had gained notoriety for his anti-Buddhist crackdowns in the central region around Huế. He was transferred to the II Corps in the Central Highlands directly south of the I Corps region.


Conflict with Kỳ

Trí lived lavishly and flamboyantly, leading to suspicions of corruption. In 1965, he tried to kill himself during a government investigation. One of the main forces behind the inquiry was then-Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, then head of the air force and the leading figure in the ruling military junta. The pair became bitter rivals, and Kỳ sent Trí into exile. In 1967, General
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001) was a South Vietnam, South Vietnamese military officer and politician who was the Leaders of South Vietnam, president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was a general in the Repub ...
became president and Kỳ became his deputy. Thiệu sent Trí to
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
as Vietnam's ambassador. The power struggle between Thiệu and Kỳ played to Trí's advantage. At the time of the communists'
Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched a surprise attack on 30 January 1968 against the forces of ...
, Thieu was out of the capital, celebrating the lunar new year in the
Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( or simply ), also known as the Western Region () or South-western region (), is the list of regions of Vietnam, region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong, Mekong River River delta, approaches and empties into the sea th ...
. Kỳ, who was still in Saigon, stepped into the spotlight, organizing military forces against the Việt Cộng, who were temporarily repelled. Kỳ's strained relations with Thiệu led the Americans to pressure Thiệu to give Kỳ more responsibility, but Thiệu refused. Thiệu's regime became more pro-active, declaring martial law,Dougan and Weiss, p. 119. widening conscription, and organising token anti-corruption campaigns were carried out.Dougan and Weiss, p. 120. Thiệu used the threat of the Việt Cộng to increase his political power, arresting, exiling or relieving senior officers who supported Kỳ.Dougan and Weiss, p. 126.


Return to command

Thiệu recalled Trí from South Korea and made him Commander of III Corps, which surrounded the capital Saigon and was crucial in blocking or orchestrating coups. Trí replaced Lieutenant General Lê Nguyên Khang, a prominent Kỳ supporter. Thiệu gave orders directly to his supporters in senior positions, bypassing Trí's own superior, Cao Văn Viên. According to
Creighton Abrams Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. (15 September 1914 – 4 September 1974) was a United States Army General (United States), general who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972. He was then Chief of Staff of the United Sta ...
, the head of U.S. forces in Vietnam at the time, "Tri has dinner with the President once or twice a week. He gets operational approval, that sort of thing, and Viên's not in on that". Although Trí and Kỳ often crossed paths at official functions thereafter, they never shook hands. Trí was accused of involvement in a money-smuggling ring at the same time of his successful campaign in
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
in 1970. At the time, he lived in a spacious villa equipped with a swimming pool in Biên Hòa. He was known for his flamboyant style, wearing a camouflage jungle suit, a black three-starred cap to indicate his rank, carrying a snub-nosed Smith & Wesson .38 handgun, and was always seen with a swagger stick, quipping ''"I use it to spank the Viet Cong"''. As a lieutenant general, he performed brilliantly as commander of III Corps during the 1970 Cambodian Campaign, earning a laudatory sobriquet from the United States news media as ''"the Patton of the Parrot's Beak"''. In late February 1971 Trí was ordered north to take command of beleaguered I Corps forces after
Operation Lam Son 719 Operation Lam Son 719 or 9th Route – Southern Laos Campaign () was a limited-objective Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign conducted in the southeastern portion of the Kingdom of Laos. The campaign was carried out by the ...
, a 1971 incursion into
Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
, had gone astray due to the incompetent leadership of Lieutenant General Hoàng Xuân Lãm. On 23 February 1971 Trí's command helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff from
Bien Hoa Air Base Bien Hoa Air Base (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''Sân bay Biên Hòa'') is a Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) military airfield located in South-Central southern Vietnam about from Ho Chi Minh City, across the Dong Nai river in the norther ...
, killing all onboard (other than photojournalist François Sully who died of his wounds several days later) and he was interred at Biên Hoa Military Cemetery.


Awards and decorations

* : ** Knight Grand Cross of the National Order of Vietnam ** Army Distinguished Service Order, First Class ** Gallantry Cross ** Training Service Medal, First Class ** Civil Actions Medal, First Class ** Staff Service Medal, First Class ** Administrative Service Medal, First Class ** Psychological Warfare Medal * : ** Order of the Yun Hui, First Class * : ** Knight Commander of the
Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (; ) is an order (decoration), order of Thailand. It was established in 1861 by King Mongkut, Rama IV of the Thailand, Kingdom of Siam. Along with the Order of the Crown of Thailand, it is r ...
* ** Silver Star Medal * : **
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...


References


Sources

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External links


"Two Fighting Generals Generals Đỗ Cao Trí and Nguyễn Việt Thành"




''Time'' *
Declassified CIA Documents on Vietnam War
{{DEFAULTSORT:Do, Cao Tri 1929 births 1971 deaths People from Đồng Nai province People educated at Le Hong Phong High School Ambassadors of South Vietnam to South Korea Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam) 1 Do, Cao Tri Recipients of the Distinguished Service Order (Vietnam) People of the First Indochina War Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents South Vietnamese military personnel killed in action Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1971 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Vietnam