Lâm Quang Thơ (8 February 1931–1985) was a major general in the

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

ese

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).

Early life and family

Thơ was born in Bac Lieu on February 8, 1931, to a family of wealthy landowning farmers.

Military career

He joined the

Vietnamese National Army The Vietnamese National Army (VNA; , ; ) was a State of Vietnam's military force officially created on 8 December 1950, after the Élysée Accords took effect on 14 June 1949 when Vietnam was recognized by France as an "independent" country rule ...

in 1950 and graduated from the Vietnamese National Military Academy in

Da Lat Da Lat, or Dalat (; ), is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province and the largest city of the Central Highlands (Vietnam), Central Highlands region in Vietnam. The city is located above sea level on the Langbiang Plateau. Da Lat is one of the mos ...

. In September 1966,

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 ...

directed General John F. Freund to examine the ARVN officer training programme of the National Military Academy, believing it should reflect a leadership philosophy stressing "the obligation and responsibility of the graduates to the country as opposed to self-interest." According to the American advisers at the academy, the commandant, Thơ, was one of the least effective ARVN general officers. In August 1969, he was appointed commander of the 18th Division, replacing the inept Đỗ Kế Giai; however Thơ turned out equally bad in the eyes of his US advisers. One MACV evaluation later described Tho as a "highly respected and admired general", while another judged him to be a "coward and military incompetent". In April 1972, he was replaced as commander of the 18th Division by Colonel

Lê Minh Đảo Lê Minh Đảo (5 March 1933 – 19 March 2020) was a Major general in the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). He commanded the 18th Division nicknamed "The Super Men", at Xuân Lộc, the last major battle of the Vie ...

, and he returned to command the National Military Academy. In late March 1975, as the People's Army of Vietnam's

1975 spring offensive The 1975 spring offensive (), officially known as the general offensive and uprising of spring 1975 (), was the final North Vietnamese campaign in the Vietnam War that led to the capitulation of the Republic of Vietnam. After the initial succ ...

overran large swathes of South Vietnam, Thơ was ordered to defend Dalat. However, seeing that the area was almost surrounded and knowing that the cadets would be needed to rebuild the shattered ARVN, Thơ instead secured Route 11 to

Phan Rang Phan may refer to: * Phan (surname), a Vietnamese family name * Phan District, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand * Phan River The Phan River () is a river of Bình Thuận Province, Vietnam.Vietnam Administrative Atlas, NXB Bản Đồ, 2004 It flo ...

, and on the night of 31 March all cadets and instructors were loaded onto trucks and driven to Phan Rang, arriving the next morning. With only disorganised Regional Forces left to defend the city, it was captured with minimal resistance by the PAVN 812th Regiment on 3 April.

Honours

VPD National Order of Vietnam - Commander BAR

Commander of the National Order of Vietnam

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lam, Quang Thi 1931 births 1985 deaths Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals People from Bạc Liêu province