Lý Tòng Bá
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Lý Tòng Bá (14 November 1931, in Long Xuyên – 22 February 2015, in
Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
) was a major general of 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 ...
.


Military career

He entered the Vietnamese National Army in the 1950s during the First Indochina War. He was trained in armor and rose in rank, reaching captain by the early 1960s. In 1962 Bá commanded a mechanized company of M113 armored personnel carriers attached to the 7th Division based at Mỹ Tho. On 25 September 1962 Bá's unit of nine M113s took part in a multi-regiment operation against the
Vietcong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the Communism, communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vi ...
(VC) in the Plain of Reeds. Despite the advice of the US armored adviser that the terrain was unsuited for armor, Bá's unit was ordered to ordered to cross a canal and attack a group of 60 VC. After the lead unit had crossed they saw a group of 14 VC and Bá, decided to attack. While the armored adviser proposed a flank attack Bá's M113s charged straight ahead through the flooded paddies towards where the VC had last been seen. Suddenly VC appeared all around the M113s some firing automatic weapons and rifles and others running wildly in an attempt to evade the armored vehicles. As the M113s scattered the VC the ARVN soldiers on board fired from open roof hatches and with the mounted
M2 Browning The M2 machine gun or Browning .50-caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed near the end of World War I by John Browning. While similar to Browning's M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered ...
machine guns. The US advisor then convinced Bá to dismount the troops which was a mistake as they lost the advantage of manoevure and the troops were bogged down in knee-deep water. After an hour the troops remounted and the M113s advanced on the VC positions eventually forcing them to withdraw by mid-afternoon. ARVN units found more than 150 VC dead, captured 38 VC and seized 27 weapons, including an American .50-caliber machine gun and two Browning automatic rifles. Bá's mechanized company was redesignated as the 4th Mechanized Rifle Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. During the Battle of Ap Bac Bá was ordered to rescue ARVN forces who had been cut off, but he refused to take orders directly from US advisers and was reluctant to move his M113s across the terrain and a canal. Senior US adviser John Paul Vann who was flying overhead became so frustrated with Bá that he threatened to have him shot. Bá's unit eventually approached the besieged forces in single file rather than spread out and suffered losses as the VC were able to engage each M113 individually with his unit eventually losing 14 killed. In the early 1960s the ARVN cavalry forces were regarded as an important factor in upholding or overthrowing any South Vietnamese government, having been used to suppress at least three coup attempts. President Ngo Dinh Diem acted to ensure the loyalty of his armor leaders. Only the most trustworthy armor officers were assigned to the greater
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 ...
area. Diem also limited fuel allocations so that armored units could not reach
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 ...
and Bá had to telephone the Independence Palace frequently to report his location. Despite these precautions armored units joined the November 1963 South Vietnamese coup d'état and Diem and his brother Ngô Đình Nhu would be executed in a 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry M113. In the September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt he supported General Dương Văn Đức's unsuccessful coup attempt. In 1966 he served as chief of Bình Dương province. In 1968 he served as chief of Bình Định province. On 15 January 1972 he was appointed as commander of the 23rd Division replacing Brigadier general Vo Van Canh. During the
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 ...
of 1972, he commanded the 23rd Division and together with Vann successfully defended Kontum against 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) attack. In 1975 he commanded the 25th Division responsible for defending the northwestern approaches 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 ...
. As the PAVN forces closed in on Saigon in late April 1975, the 25th Division's Củ Chi Base Camp came under artillery fire on 28 April and then siege from the PAVN. Bá ordered his force to fight in place, but on the morning of 29 April after PAVN tanks broke through the defensive lines, order collapsed and Bá and his remaining forces attempted to flee the base. After initially evading capture he was eventually caught by the PAVN and sent to a reeducation camp for 12 years. He emigrated to the United States in 1990.


References

1931 births 2015 deaths Vietnam War prisoners of war Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals Vietnamese emigrants to the United States People from An Giang province {{Vietnam-mil-bio-stub