Hoàng Xuân Lãm (10 October 1928,

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

–2 May 2017,

Davis, California Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of ...

) was a South Vietnamese lieutenant 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).

Military career

In 1964 he commanded the 23rd Division, where his US advisor regarded him as satisfactory. In late 1965, while Lãm was serving as commander of the 2nd Division,

COMUSMACV The U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was a joint-service command of the United States Department of Defense, composed of forces from the United States Army, United States Navy, and United States Air Force, as well as their respecti ...

General

William Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland (26 March 1914 – 18 July 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably the commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army f ...

and his chief of staff of operations, General William E. DePuy, blamed the division's temerity on its "less aggressive" commander, who had been either unwilling or unable to get the division moving during the year. During the Buddhist Uprising he was given command of I Corps on 30 May 1966, becoming the sixth corps commander in less than three months. During the

Battle of Khe Sanh The Battle of Khe Sanh (21 January – 9 July 1968) was conducted in the Khe Sanh area of northwestern Quảng Trị Province, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), during the Vietnam War. The main US forces defending Khe Sanh Combat Base ( ...

the 1,500 civilians, 400 of which were ethnic Bru, of the area were looking for refuge. Lãm authorized the evacuation of the 1,100 Vietnamese, but the Bru were told to stay, Hoang Xuan Lam insisting that, 'there was no place for minority refugees. On 14 February 1968, in the midst of the

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 ...

fighting,

General

urged

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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 ...

and Chairman of the Joint General Staff General Cao Văn Viên to make several controversial command changes under the cloak of military necessity. They tentatively agreed to replace all four corps commanders with the II and IV Corps commanders to be replaced immediately. Lãm commanded

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 ...

which aimed at striking the

Ho Chi Minh Trail The Ho Chi Minh Trail (), also called Annamite Range Trail () was a Military logistics, logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Kingdom of Laos, Laos and Cambodia (1953–1970), ...

in southeastern

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 ...

during February-March 1971. Due to his political connections with Thiệu, he was still serving as I Corps commander when the North Vietnamese launched the 1972

Easter Offensive The Easter Offensive, also known as the 1972 spring–summer offensive (') by North Vietnam, or the Red Fiery Summer (') as romanticized in South Vietnamese literature, was a military campaign conducted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN, t ...

. During the

First Battle of Quảng Trị First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, Lãm had provided little support to General Vũ Văn Giai, commander of the 3rd Division and rarely visited the front line, choosing to monitor the progress of the battle through periodic reports back in

Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the 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, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...

. Lãm was recalled to

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 ...

on 2 May 1972 by Thiệu, who relieved him of his command. Lãm was named as a "special assistant" at the Ministry of Defense. Lãm's replacement as I Corps commander, Lieutenant General

Ngô Quang Trưởng Ngô Quang Trưởng (13 December 1929 — 22 January 2007) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Trưởng gained his commission in the Vietnamese National Army in 1954 and moved up the ranks over the next decade, most ...

, said "I had served in I Corps under General Lãm and the disaster that occurred there was no surprise to me. Neither General Lãm nor his staff were competent to maneuver and support large forces in heavy combat."

Other awards

National Honours

VPD National Order of Vietnam - Commander BAR

Commander of the National Order of Vietnam * Gallantry Cross with palm

Foreign honours

* : **

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoang, Xuan Lam 1928 births 2017 deaths People from Huế Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals