Lieutenant General Sylvain Trần Văn Minh (19 August 1923, 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 ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

– 31 May 2009, in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million 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 ...

. In 1942, he passed the entry exam for the St Cyr/St Maixent Military Academy organized in Tong, Indochina. From 1943 to 1945, Lieutenant Minh served with the 9th R.I.C. During this period, he participated in operations in Central and North Vietnam, most notably in Cha Pa. After the Japanese coup of 9 March 1945, he accompanied General Alessandri's troops in the retreat to China. In 1946, he was part of the French troops that retook Dien Bien Phu. From there, he eventually made his way to Saigon, travelling on the Mekong River through Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Deployed to the 22nd R.I.C. (1946–47), he was in charge of protecting military convoys between Saigon and Dalat. Minh was named Directeur des Etudes (Chánh Sở Nghiên Cứu – Director of Intelligence) for the Governor of North Vietnam, Nghiêm Xuân Thiện. 1950 found him in Paris studying at the War Academy (École de Guerre à Paris). Upon his return to Vietnam, he worked at the newly formed State of Vietnam's Ministry of Defense. Two years later, he served on the Chief of Staff. During this time, he worked with General de Lattre de Tassigny in the "Vietnamization" of the Corps Expéditionnaire Français. After participating in Operation Atlante, he was promoted to Commander of the South Sector. In 1955, Colonel Minh was one of the French delegates at the Geneva Convention. After the accords were signed, he returned home to take command of the first military region in South Vietnam. Late 1955, he was promoted to Général de brigade (Brigadier). A year later, the 33-year-old Minh was promoted to Général de division (Major General). From 1957 to 1959, he served as

Commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

of the Dalat military academy. In 1960, President

Ngô Đình Diệm Ngô Đình Diệm ( , or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam ( Republic of ...

named him Inspector General the National Defense, a post he held until 1963. In 1964–65, he was the Chief of

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1964–1968, VOLUME II: VIETNAM, JANUARY-JUNE 1965
/ref> and in 1965, Minister of Defense. The last position he held was

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

of the

Republic of 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 international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

from 1971 until 30 April 1975, when Saigon fell.

References

External links

Major General Trần Văn Minh's Military Service
* *
Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces Reunion 2003
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20041021083834/http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/Block/chp5_Block%20by%20Block.pdf The Battle for Hue, 1968by James H. Willbanks
Declassified CIA document on General Minh's remarks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tran, Van Minh 1923 births 2009 deaths Ambassadors of Vietnam to Tunisia Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals Military personnel from Ho Chi Minh City People of the First Indochina War South Vietnamese military personnel of the Vietnam War 20th-century Vietnamese diplomats Vietnamese expatriates in France