Lê Văn Hưng
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Lê Văn Hưng | |
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Brigadier General (Chuẩn Tướng) | |
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Children | 3 |
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Lê Văn Hưng (March 27, 1933 – April 30, 1975) was an infantry general of the Army of the
Early life
Hưng was born in Hóc Môn, in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, and was raised by his widowed mother, Trương Thị Đức, and his stepfather, Trần Văn Kiển. He attended Huỳnh Khương Ninh High School and graduated in 1952 and later worked for a French company in Saigon.
Military career
Hưng enlisted for the army in 1954 and later graduated from Thủ Đức Military Academy on February 1, 1955 – with the rank of Second Lieutenant. He held many commands in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) from company to battalion level.
In early 1957, he was promoted to full lieutenant and assigned as Captain of the 13th Battalion. In mid-1959, he was transferred to the 31st Regiment of the 21st Infantry Division to hold the 2nd position of the Regiment 2. In early 1961, he was seconded to the field of Administration to be the Chief of Vinh Binh Police Company. In mid-1962, he was appointed to the position of Mayor of Tra On District in Vinh Binh Province. In February 1964, he was promoted to captain, and in December of the same year, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion Commander. At the end of 1966, he was assigned to the position of Regiment Commander of the Regiment 31.
In the middle of July 1970, he was once again seconded to Military Administration. He was appointed as Governor and Chief of Phong Dinh sub-region (now
Hưng was perhaps best known as the "Hero of An Lộc" in 1972 when he commanded the
In April 1971 Hưng was appointed to take over the battered 5th Division from General Nguyễn Văn Hiếu. General Hiếu's forces had been badly handled during the Battle of Snuol, and his troops, according to II Field Force, Vietnam commander Michael S. Davison, were close to mutiny. Unfortunately, Hưng was the one ARVN officer whose candidacy American advisers had specifically recommended against.[1]: 478
Living in a tiny underground bunker for almost three months, Hưng commanded soldiers of the 5th Division, the 81st Airborne Ranger Battalion, the 11th Airborne Brigade, the
However, US advisers reported that Hưng "choked" and "didn't do a damn thing"; and threatened (privately) to shoot his deputy division commander at An Lộc.[1]: 485 According to Brig. General John R. McGiffert II, An Lộc would never have held out without the handful of American advisers directing the air strikes and shoring up the local leadership. Two of the few South Vietnamese leaders to stand out were Colonel Le Quang Luong, an airborne brigade commander, and Colonel Tran Van Nhut, the local province chief. Following the heavy fighting, Thieu replaced almost all of the division commanders in the zone with Hưng being replaced by an Airborne officer, but promoted to be deputy III Corps commander.[1]: 486
Hưng was promoted to General in the field and later commanded the 21st Division before becoming Deputy Commander of the 4th Military Region (MR4).
When the PAVN made their "
Death
On April 30, he received word that Dương Văn Minh had ordered South Vietnam's army to surrender. At 8 P.M, General Hưng gathered his staff, ARVN soldiers, and family to say goodbye. He was unable to fight to the death because the townspeople of Cần Thơ had begged him not to resist, believing that it would cause futile bloodshed, and Hưng was one of the five ARVN generals who committed suicide that day. Hưng shot himself in the chest with his pistol at his residence.
Before ending his life, he said "I was willing to choose death; if the general could not protect the country or the city, he would have to die with it." The IV Corps was shortly handed over to Viet Cong after the death of Le Van Hung. His commander, Major General Nguyễn Khoa Nam, committed suicide in the early morning of May 1, 1975. Both were buried in Can Tho military cemetery.
Personal life
Lê Văn Hưng was married to Nguyễn Xuân Mai, who gave birth to a daughter, Lê Ánh Tuyết. They later divorced. His second wife, Phạm Thị Kim Hoàng, gave birth to his second daughter, Lê Thiên Hà, and his son, Lê Quốc Hải.[4]
After General Hung's suicide, Hung's wife, Phạm Thị Kim Hoàng, and her children moved from Can Tho to Saigon. They later fled by boat to the Philippines and then migrated to the United States.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-5186-1261-9. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Indochina Monographs – The Easter Offensive of 1972 (PDF).
- ^ "Holdouts". War Never Dies. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
- ^ / "The Final Day of My Husband's Life" Archived July 7, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Phạm Thị Kim Hoàng (General Le van Hung's wife)
- Other sources
- Tran Ngoc Thong, Ho Dac Huan and Le Dinh Thuy (2011). A History of the Republic of Vietnam Army.
External links
- https://web.archive.org/web/20090327061057/http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/thiet/thie_c3_pt1.pdf
- https://web.archive.org/web/20130226192521/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1975/jan-feb/howard.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20061205040844/http://vietquoc.com/APR3098.HTM
- http://www.vietnamesecommunity.com/Community/TuongHung.htm