Phan Xuân Nhuận (1 February 1916, in Quảng Sơn, Quảng Bình – 2016,) was a brigadier 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

In 1950, after the Vietnam National Army was officially established and separated from the French Union Army, he was promoted to Lieutenant to hold the position of Company Commander in the Vietnamese Infantry Battalion. In 1952, he was promoted to Captain to Deputy Battalion. In 1954, after the signing of the Geneva Accords (20 July), he was promoted to Major and appointed as a Battalion Commander. In mid-September 1964, following an attempted coup by General

Dương Văn Đức Lieutenant General Dương Văn Đức (; 1927–2000) was a Vietnamese army officer. He is best known for leading a coup attempt against General Nguyễn Khánh on 14 September 1964. He was a supporter of the Đại Việt Quốc Dân Đảng ...

against the

Nguyễn Khánh Nguyễn Khánh (}; 8 November 192711 January 2013) was a South Vietnamese military dictator and Army of the Republic of Vietnam general who served in various capacities as head of state and prime minister of South Vietnam while at the head o ...

junta, Nhuận, then head of Ranger Command in

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 ...

was a signatory to a communique calling on Khánh to purge the military and government of Diem supporters. On 12 March 1966, following the dismissal of General

Nguyễn Chánh Thi Nguyễn Chánh Thi (; 23 February 1923 – 23 June 2007) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). He is best known for being involved in frequent coups in the 1960s and wielding substantial influence as a key member o ...

as I Corps commander, General

Nguyễn Văn Chuân Nguyễn Văn Chuân was a Major general in the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Military career In late 1965 Major general (United States), Major general Lewis W. Walt, the commander of the U.S. III Marine Amphibious Force and ...

commander of the 1st Division replaced Thi and Nhuận was given command of the 1st Division. Following the dismissal of Thi, the northern zone erupted into a seething inferno of political dissent in the

Buddhist Uprising The Buddhist Uprising of 1966 (), or more widely known in Vietnam as the Crisis in Central Vietnam (), was a period of civil and military unrest in South Vietnam, largely focused in the I Corps area in the north of the country in central Vietna ...

. The number and intensity of strikes, marches, and rallies steadily increased, fueled by soldiers, police, and local officials loyal to Thi. By the beginning of April Struggle Movement forces appeared to control most of

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 ...

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 ...

and Hoi An and had the support of the I Corps headquarters and the 1st Division. At the same time, South Vietnamese combat operations in the northern zone began to peter out, and the danger that the crisis presented to the war effort became evident. Nhuận placed infantry and armored forces in blocking positions along

Route 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

, between Huế and Da Nang, and stood ready to reinforce Struggle units in Da Nang. On 10 June 1966, the South Vietnamese junta began a steady buildup of special riot police under

Republic of Vietnam National Police The Republic of Vietnam National Police – RVNP (), Police Nationale de la République du Vietnam or Police Nationale for short ( – CSQG) in French, was the official South Vietnamese national police force from 1962 to 1975, operating closely ...

commander Colonel

Nguyễn Ngọc Loan Nguyễn Ngọc Loan (; 11 December 193014 July 1998) was a South Vietnamese general and chief of the South Vietnamese National Police. Loan gained international attention when he summarily executed a handcuffed prisoner of war named Nguyễn ...

on the outskirts of Huế and, on 15 June, sent a task force of two Airborne and two Marine battalions under Colonel

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 ...

into the city for a final showdown. Intermittent fighting lasted in Huế for four days. Opposition was disorganized and consisted of about 1,000 1st Division troops, mostly soldiers from support units. Protected by Trưởng's forces, Loan's police removed the Buddhist altars and arrested most of the remaining leaders of the Struggle Movement, including

Thích Trí Quang Thích Trí Quang ( vi-hantu, 釋智光) (21 December 1923 – 8 November 2019) was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk best known for his role in leading South Vietnam's Buddhist population during the Buddhist crisis in 1963, and in later Bu ...

. The junta gave Trưởng command of the 1st Division replacing Nhuận, and by the end of June both the 1st Division and Huế were under firm government control. On 9 July 1966 a special military tribunal dismissed Nhuận, Chuân, Thi and other supporters of the uprising from the ARVN.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phan, Xuân Nhuận 1916 births 2016 deaths Vietnam War prisoners of war Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals Vietnamese emigrants to the United States People from Quảng Bình province