Trương Như Tảng
Trương Như Tảng | |
---|---|
Minister of Justice | |
In office June 8, 1969 – 1978 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Cholon, French Indochina[1] | 14 November 1923
Died | 8 November 2005 Paris, France[2] | (aged 81)
Nationality | Vietnamese |
Political party | Provisional Revolutionary Government |
Trương Như Tảng (14 November 1923 – 8 November 2005) was a Vietnamese lawyer and politician. He was active in many anti-South Vietnam organizations before joining the newly created North Vietnam-aligned Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam as the Minister of Justice. He spent many years in the jungles near and in Cambodia until the Fall of Saigon in 1975. He quickly became disillusioned with the newly imposed North Vietnamese regime and escaped the reunited Socialist Republic of Vietnam via a boat in August 1978. He was sent to a refugee camp in Indonesia before moving to Paris, France, to live out his life in exile.
Early life
Tảng grew up in
Anti-government organizer
Through contacts that he had made during his studies in France, Tảng became involved in the anti-government activities in South Vietnam. His position as corporate executive gave him access to the ruling circle and he could easily recruit non-communist anti-government people. Through this time he became close friends with co-conspirator Albert Thảo until Thảo's death in 1965.[7] In February 1965, he was arrested and held for six months by the National Police and held in jail under suspicion of being part of the Self-Determination Movement, an anti-government group opposed to the Diệm regime (the Diệm regime had already ceased in 1963, two years earlier).[8] After his wife paid a US$5,000 (US$ 46,431 in 2024) bribe to the South Vietnamese military tribunal, Tảng was sentenced to just two years, which were then suspended.[8] His arrest did not stop Tảng's activities and he continued his urban organizing of anti-government forces before being arrested a second time.[citation needed]
Arrest and life in the jungle
On June 16, 1966, he was pulled over by agents working under General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan.[9][page needed] He was held at a National Police secret prison where he was tortured and held without charge. An anti-government agent, Ba Tra, had been arrested and gave the South Vietnamese government extensive information on anti-government forces working in the city. Ba Tra was held and tortured for about two weeks before signing a confession that he was a communist.[10] Another bribe by his wife of US$6000 (US$ 55,717 in 2024) got him transferred to National Police headquarters where, in a small cell, he spent the next six months.[11]
In February 1967, he and two other women anti-government organizers, San No and Duy Lien, were part of a secret prisoner exchange for two American prisoners.
Disillusionment
After the
After spending some time in exile in the Vietnamese countryside, Tảng decided to leave the country before things got worse. Through friends of his wife, he and others pooled their money to buy a boat which they boarded in August 1978. While on the open ocean, they tried to flag down ships patrolling the busy shipping lanes. However none of the freighters would stop to pick them up, and they drifted further and further south. They were attacked by Thai pirates who stole money and valuables from the passengers but let the boat continue on.[14] Their boat travelled almost to Indonesia before coming across an Indonesian oil platform. Stopping there, they were picked up by UN ships and taken to a refugee camp on Galang Island, Indonesia. From there, Tảng went into exile in Paris, and, in 1985, published a book about his life as a Viet Cong in the NLF and PRG. The book, A Vietcong Memoir, outlines not only his own experiences, but also the impact of the war among other revolutionaries.[15]
Published works
- Truong, Như Tảng; David Chanoff, Van Toai Doan (1985). A Vietcong memoir (1985 ed.). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 978-0-15-193636-6.) - Total pages: 350
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
Notes and references
- Notes
- ^ Europa 1999, p. 1575
- ^ Match ID: Truong, Nhu Tang
- ^ Truong 1985, pp. 1–10
- ^ a b Tang 1985
- ^ Truong 1985, p. 25
- ^ Truong 1985, p. 30
- ^ Kahin 1979, p. 497
- ^ a b Truong 1985, p. 101
- ^ Thomas 1998
- ^ Truong 1985, p. 115
- ^ Truong 1985, p. 116
- ^ Truong 1985, p. 126
- ^ a b Truong 1985, p. 279
- ^ Truong 1985, p. 304
- ^ Manning 1985
- References
- Europa (1999). International Who's Who 2000, Volume 63 (1999 ed.). Europa. ISBN 978-1-85743-050-9. - Total pages: 1743
- JSTOR 2757066.
- Thomas, Robert McG (July 16, 1998). "Nguyen Ngoc Loan, 67, Dies; Executed Viet Cong Prisoner". New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
- Truong, Như Tảng; David Chanoff, Van Toai Doan (1985). A Vietcong memoir (1985 ed.). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 978-0-15-193636-6.)- Total pages: 350
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Tang, Truong Nhu (March 31, 1985). "A New Look at the Old Enemy". The New York Times. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- Manning, Robert (May 26, 1985). "Defeated by Victory". The New York Times. Retrieved October 4, 2015.