Đỗ Cao Trí

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this Vietnamese name, the surname is Đỗ, but is often simplified to Do in English-language text. In accordance with Vietnamese custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Trí.
Đỗ Cao Trí
Airborne Brigade (1954–1955)
I Corps (1963)
II Corps (1963–1964)
III Corps
(1968–1971)
Battles/warsAmbassador to South Korea (1967–68)

Lieutenant General Đỗ Cao Trí (20 November 1929 – 23 February 1971) was a general in the

assassination of Diệm
on 2 November 1963.

Years later, Trí was exiled by

Cambodian Campaign, earning the laudatory sobriquet as "the Patton of the Parrot's Beak".[1] In 1971, Trí was ordered north to take command of I Corps in Operation Lam Son 719, an incursion into Laos
, which had gone astray. He was killed, aged 41, in a helicopter accident before being able to take control.

Early years

Trí was born in Bình Tuoc,

Saigon.[2] His father was a wealthy landowner and his grandfather served as a Nguyễn dynasty mandarin during the French colonial era.[1]

He earned his baccalaureate (Part II) from

Petrus Ký High School, Saigon. After entering the French colonial forces in 1947, he graduated from Do Huu Vi Officer Class and the following year was sent to Auvour, France to attend infantry school.[2] In 1953, while an officer in the Vietnamese National Army, he graduated from General Staff and Command Class in Hanoi.[2] His first command was as a young airborne officer, and until his death he survived three attempts on his life, leading him to his belief that he had an "immunity from death on the battlefield".[1]

As a young lieutenant colonel, he was made the commander of the

Diệm asserted his rule over the State of Vietnam by defeating the Bình Xuyên organised crime syndicate, some of Diệm's supporters tried to move against some generals whom they accused of questionable loyalty. When he heard that three top generals, including Nguyễn Văn Vy, were being detained in the palace by one of the factions backing Prime Minister Diệm, Trí telephoned and threatened them: "Free the generals in one half-hour or I will destroy the palace and everything inside it."[1]

In 1958, he attended the United States

Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. That same year he graduated from Air-Ground Operations School at Fort Kisler, Washington.[2]

Buddhist crisis

See also: Buddhist crisis, Huế chemical attacks, and Xá Lợi Pagoda raids

During the Buddhist crisis of 1963, Trí garnered considerable notoriety for his crackdown on Buddhist protests against the Diệm regime in the central region of Vietnam.

blister gas into the crowd.[4] The incident raised concerns among the Americans that poison gas was used, and the U.S. threatened to publicly condemn and distance itself from Saigon.[7] An investigation, however, cleared the troops of using blister or poison gas.[4]

The main raids in Saigon were accompanied by attacks across the country.

Gautama Buddha and looted and vandalized the pagoda[9][11] before detonating explosives and leveling much of the pagoda. A number of Buddhists were shot or clubbed to death.[8]

The most determined resistance occurred outside the

Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục, were also arrested.[9] Despite his vigorous application of Diệm's military policies against Buddhists in central Vietnam, where in the words of Ellen Hammer, Trí "ruled...with an iron hand", he was still involved in plotting against the regime even before the attacks on the pagodas.[13]

Coup against Diệm

Main articles:
1963 South Vietnamese coup and Arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm

When Trí was informed that coup was imminent, he left Huế on 29 October 1963 for

Cần and his elderly mother lived. It was agreed they would be given safe passage out of the country by the junta. Trí told Cần he would be safe and would be taken out to Saigon, where it would be safer. Trí could only promise safe passage on an American plane to the capital, where embassy officials would meet Cần[15] who wanted asylum in Japan.[16] The Americans handed Cần over to the junta, and he was executed in 1964.[16][17]

Following the

arrest and assassination of Diệm in early November 1963, there was pressure on the new regime to remove Diệm supporters from power. Prime Minister Thơ's approach to removing Diệm supporters from positions of influence drew criticism. Some felt that he was not vigorous enough in removing pro-Diệm elements from authority, but pro-Diệm elements opposed the turnover, some claiming it was excessive and vengeful.[18] One contentious non-removal was Trí, who had gained notoriety for his anti-Buddhist crackdowns in the central region around Huế. He was transferred to the II Corps in the Central Highlands directly south of the I Corps region.[18]

Conflict with Kỳ

See also: Tet Offensive

Trí lived lavishly and flamboyantly, leading to suspicions of corruption. In 1965, he tried to kill himself during a government investigation. [dubious – discuss] One of the main forces behind the inquiry was then-Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, then head of the air force and the leading figure in the ruling military junta.[19] The pair became bitter rivals, and Kỳ sent Trí into exile.[19] In 1967, General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu became president and Kỳ became his deputy. Thiệu sent Trí to South Korea as Vietnam's ambassador.[2]

The power struggle between Thiệu and Kỳ played to Trí's advantage. At the time of the communists'

Việt Cộng, who were temporarily repelled.[20] Kỳ's strained relations with Thiệu led the Americans to pressure Thiệu to give Kỳ more responsibility, but Thiệu refused.[20]

Thiệu's regime became more pro-active,[21] declaring martial law,[22] widening conscription,[22] and organising token anti-corruption campaigns were carried out.[23] Thiệu used the threat of the Việt Cộng to increase his political power,[24] arresting, exiling or relieving senior officers who supported Kỳ.[25][26]

Return to command

Thiệu recalled Trí from South Korea and made him Commander of III Corps, which surrounded the capital Saigon and was crucial in blocking or orchestrating coups. Trí replaced Lieutenant General Lê Nguyên Khang, a prominent Kỳ supporter. Thiệu gave orders directly to his supporters in senior positions, bypassing Trí's own superior, Cao Văn Viên. According to Creighton Abrams, the head of U.S. forces in Vietnam at the time, "Tri has dinner with the President once or twice a week. He gets operational approval, that sort of thing, and Viên's not in on that".[27] Although Trí and Kỳ often crossed paths at official functions thereafter, they never shook hands.[19]

Trí was accused of involvement in a money-smuggling ring at the same time of his successful campaign in

Cambodian Campaign, earning a laudatory sobriquet from the United States news media as "the Patton of the Parrot's Beak".[1]

In late February 1971 Trí was ordered north to take command of beleaguered I Corps forces after Operation Lam Son 719, a 1971 incursion into Laos, had gone astray due to the incompetent leadership of Lieutenant General Hoàng Xuân Lãm. On 23 February 1971 Trí's command helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff from Bien Hoa Air Base, killing all onboard (other than photojournalist François Sully who died of his wounds several days later) and he was interred at Biên Hoa Military Cemetery.[19][28]

Awards and decorations

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "The Patton of the Parrot's Beak". Time. 8 June 1970. Archived from the original on 30 October 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Do Cao Tri". Who's Who In Vietnam. Saigon: Vietnam Press. 1972.
  3. ^ Hammer, p. 135.
  4. ^ a b c d e Jones, pp. 263-64.
  5. ^ a b c Hammer, p. 136.
  6. ^ Jacobs, p. 145.
  7. ^ a b c Jones, pp. 261-62.
  8. ^ a b c Jacobs, pp. 152-53.
  9. ^ a b c d "The Crackdown". Time. 31 August 1963. Archived from the original on July 13, 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
  10. ^ Dommen, pp. 508-11.
  11. ^ Halberstam, p. 143.
  12. ^ Hammer, p. 168.
  13. ^ Hammer, p. 166.
  14. ^ Hammer, pp. 285-86.
  15. ^ Jones, p. 433.
  16. ^ a b Hammer, pp. 305-06.
  17. ^ Jones, p. 434.
  18. ^ a b Shaplen, p. 221.
  19. ^ a b c d "The Death of a Fighting General". Time. 8 March 1971. Archived from the original on 29 April 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  20. ^ a b Stowe, Judy (2 October 2001). "Nguyen Van Thieu". The Independent. Archived from the original on November 5, 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
  21. ^ Dougan and Weiss, pp. 118-19.
  22. ^ a b Dougan and Weiss, p. 119.
  23. ^ Dougan and Weiss, p. 120.
  24. ^ Dougan and Weiss, pp. 124-25
  25. ^ Hoang, p. 142.
  26. ^ Dougan and Weiss, p. 126.
  27. ^ Sorley, pp. 180-81.
  28. ISBN 0939526107
    .

Sources

External links
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