Hoàng Cầm (born Đỗ Văn Cầm) (1920–2013) was a colonel general in the

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...

(PAVN).

Early years

Hoàng Cầm was born Đỗ Văn Cầm in Cao Sơn, Ứng Hòa district, Hà Tây province of the Tonkin Protectorate. Cầm had a poor childhood, was orphaned at age of 12. He joined

Tirailleurs indochinois The ''Tirailleurs indochinois'' (; Chữ Nôm: 𠔦習) were soldiers of several regiments of local ethnic Indochinese infantry organized as Tirailleurs by the French colonial authorities, initially in Vietnam from 15 March 1880. The most notabl ...

stationed at

Lai Châu Lai Châu () is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital city of Lai Châu Province. The city borders Phong Thổ District, Sìn Hồ District và Tam Đường District. History Lai Châu, or Muang Lay (Vietnamese: M� ...

for a living at age of 21. Two years later he was transferred to

Hà Nội 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 ...

, but deserted thus escaping from

Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina The Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina, known as , was a Empire of Japan, Japanese operation that took place on 9 March 1945, towards the end of World War II. With Japanese forces losing the war and the threat of an Allies of World War I ...

in March 1945. Cầm joined the Youth Union of Hà Nội in July 1945, then joined of Hà Nội after August Uprising and changed his name to Hoàng Cầm.

Military career

In 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, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

, Hoàng Cầm led the 130th battalion of the 209th regiment in the

Battle of Đông Khê The Battle of Route Coloniale 4, also called the Autumn-Winter Border Campaign (''Chiến Dịch Biên Giới Thu Đông'') by the Viet Minh, was a battle of the First Indochina War. It took place along Route Coloniale 4 (RC4, also known as Hi ...

, then the 209th regiment of the 312th Brigade in the

Battle of Điện Biên Phủ The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ was a climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War that took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954. It was fought between the forces of the French Union and Viet Minh. The French began an operation to in ...

. In 1966, Senior Colonel Cầm led the PAVN 9th Infantry Division fighting against the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division in a series of operations, including Operation Birmingham, Operation El Paso, and

Operation Attleboro Operation Attleboro was a Vietnam War search and destroy operation initiated by the 196th Light Infantry Brigade with the objective to discover the location(s) of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) base areas and force them to f ...

. He led the PAVN 4th Corps in the

Battle of Phước Long The Battle of Phước Long was a decisive battle of the Vietnam War which began on 12 December 1974, and concluded on 6 January 1975. The battle involved the deployment of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 4th Army Corps for the first time, ...

and Battle of Xuân Lộc.The Tragedy of the Vietnam War: A South Vietnamese Officer's Analysis - Page 203 Van Nguyen Duong - 2008 "The NVA IV Corps of Major General Hoang Cam, comprised the 341st, 2nd and 7th Divisions plus an artillery regiment and an armored regiment assailed the ARVN 18th Division along inter-provincial Route 20 and at Xuan-Loc, the capital city "

Awards and legacy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoang, Cam 1920 births 2013 deaths Military personnel from Hanoi Viet Minh members Generals of the People's Army of Vietnam Members of the 4th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 5th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam