Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh
Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh | |
---|---|
Born | Phú Phong, Châu Thành, Mỹ Tho, French Indochina (now Vietnam) | July 26, 1926
Died | September 29, 2019 Ho Chi Minh City | (aged 93)
Allegiance | Vietnamese National Army (1946-1954) Army of the Republic of Vietnam (1954-1975) Viet Cong (as an intelligence agent, 1963-1975) |
Years of service | 1946–1975 |
Rank | Brigadier general |
Battles/wars | Fall of Saigon |
Awards | By the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Great National Unity Order Military Exploit Order, 1st rank |
Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh (July 26, 1926 – September 29, 2019) was a Vietnamese military officer of
He was also a
Hạnh is the main character of the historical novel The Brigadier General by Nguyễn Trần Thiết.[1]
Childhood
Hạnh was born on 26 July 1926 at Phú Phong,
Service in the French Union Army and the South Vietnamese Army
An unemployed Hạnh was proposed by a friend to join the
Being a close friend of Minh, he took part in the
In 1968 upon the recommendation of the U.S.
Hạnh's military career suffered under the presidency of Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, who considered Minh and his associates as rivals. He was promoted to Brigadier general in 1969 and was appointed as vice-commander of IV Corps and II Corps.[2][3]
In 1972 he lost his position as corps vice-commander and was transferred to
Viet Cong sympathizer and intelligence agent
Hạnh had a good relationship with his parternal uncle Nguyễn Văn Thành (also named as Tám) despite knowing Tám as a communist. When Tám was arrested during the purge against communism in 1956, Hạnh intervened to save Tám's life and released him shortly after. Via Tám, Hạnh was exposed to leftist ideas and sympathized with the
A turning point of Hạnh's life occurred at the death of his father in October 1963. To fulfill his father's dying wish of being buried in his homeland - at the time under the control of the VC - Hạnh negiotated a ceasefire with the VC and was allowed to organized his father's funeral there. The VC also allowed Hạnh to visit and pay respect to his father's grave three days later. Hạnh's filial love attracted the attention of the VC and he was consider a potential VC sympathizer since then. Tám was assigned with the task to persuade Hạnh.[2][5]
Hạnh finally agreed to work intelligence agent for the VC under the pseudonym "Morning Star" and codename S7. Tám acted as the sole communicator between Hạnh and the VC. To protect Hạnh's cover, the VC did not assigned him any specific task.[6] Nonetheless, Hạnh made use of his own authority to assist the VC occasionally. Using the excuse of "caution", he refrained his troops from having aggressive actions against the VC, forbade excessive use of firepower and only allowed helicopters to open fire to retaliate against enemy fire. He refused to execute the bombardment of Tháp Mười to avoid civilian casualties. During engagements with the VC, Hạnh's troop only took part perfunctorily and retreated immediately at the end of the battle. He then gained the nickname of "cautious commander" and "the commander who captures no target". Some of Hạnh's colleagues suspected him as a Communist sympathizer, but no evidence was found.[2][5]
Hạnh rescued VC sympathizers arrested by the Saigon authorities. He assisted in the release of Huỳnh Xuân, a VC agent arrested in 1968 on accusations of weapon smuggling. He took part in the anti-corruption campaigns and assisted the political opponents of Thiệu. Via Tám, Hạnh provide vital information related to the military activities of South Vietnam.[3]
Hạnh received his first official mission in 1970, when he was tasked to participate in "the Third forces", a collection of politicians and social dignitaries who supported the unification of Vietnam and reconciliation with the VC and North Vietnam. Specifically, Hạnh's target was his old friend Minh who also sympathized with the reconciliation ideas. However Hạnh's mission was temporarily disrupted by his relocation in 1972 and his forced retirement in 1974.[5][3]
Role in the 1975 Ho Chi Minh Offensive
In early 1975 he confirmed that the ARVN was unable to recover its losses to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) at Battle of Phước Long. He advised that the ARVN could be caught off-guard at Buôn Mê Thuột and had no local reserves there. During the offensives of 1975, Hạnh encouraged the PAVN to make rapid advances and leave the liberated areas to the local defense forces without the risk of being attacked at the rear. During the Fall of Saigon, Hạnh advised the PAVN to block all the roads to Saigon at the divisional level to facilitate the surrender Saigon government.[3]
After the collapse of ARVN defenses at
Hạnh made use of his authority to report the irredeemable situation of the ARVN to Minh, urged Minh to stop all the resistance. Hạnh also frustrated all the individual attempts to prolong the fight of the bitter military officers, and prevented the destruction of Đồng Nai bridge and other bridges lead to Saigon. He then ordered the Military Police to confiscate the weapons of unsupervised soldiers and maintain strict security in Saigon. On 30 April at 9:30 AM, Minh and Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh broadcast their announcements to cease all resistance and ordered all ARVN soldiers and officers to follow suit. Hạnh also contacted general Nguyễn Khoa Nam, commander of IV Corps in the Mekong Delta, to obey the orders of Minh. Then Hạnh together with Minh and Minh's cabinet arranged the surrender of Saigon government to the PAVN.[7][8][3]
After 1975
The unified
Hạnh died on 29 September 2019, aged 95.[9]
References
- ^ "Viên chuẩn tướng quân đội Sài Gòn có công trong ngày 30/4". 30 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f Bút ký Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh – Kỳ 1: Tôi là ai?
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Thời khắc vàng của ông Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh".
- .
- ^ a b c d Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh – Người phổ biến lệnh buông súng của Tổng thống Dương Văn Minh
- ^ Cuộc đời ly kỳ của nhân sỹ yêu nước, Chuẩn tướng VNCH Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh
- ^ a b Bút ký Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh - Kỳ 2: Phải giữ Sài Gòn
- ^ "Bút ký Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh - Kỳ cuối: Ngày lịch sử". 4 October 2019.
- ^ a b Nhân sĩ Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh qua đời ở tuổi 95 (in Vietnamese)
- ^ Tưởng niệm 1 năm ngày mất Nhân sĩ Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh (2019 - 2020)