Cao Van Vien
Encyclopedia
Cao Văn Viên was a Vietnam
ese soldier
who served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
(ARVN) and rose to the position of Chairman of the South Vietnamese Joint General Staff. Considered one of "the most gifted" of South Vietnam's military leaders, he has been called "absolutely a key figure" and one of "the most important Vietnamese military leaders" in the American-led fighting during the Vietnam War
. Along with Trần Thiện Khiêm
, he was one of only two four-star generals in the entire history of South Vietnam.
in the Mekong Delta
, he moved to what was then called Cochinchina
to become a prospector
. Although he became a follower of Ho Chi Minh
and fought as a guerrilla against French colonial
rule, he soon concluded that Minh's movement was more communist
than nationalist
and joined independent fighter groups. He was captured by the French, released, and enrolled at the University of Saigon where he obtained a bachelor's degree
in French literature
. His schoolmate was Lâm Quang Thi
.
as a Second Lieutenant
in 1949. He rose quickly through the ranks, becoming a battalion
commander
in 1953 and major
in 1954. He attended the Vietnamese National Military Academy as a lieutenant, where he met and became friendly with many of South Vietnam's later military leaders. He twice served in military intelligence
(in 1953 and 1954), and twice as a military logistics
officer. After the formation of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in 1955, he was appointed chief of military logistics for the ARVN Joint General Staff. He graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1957. By 1960, he had completed parachute training with both the Vietnamese and American military, earned his Vietnamese combat pilot's license, and earned his American combat helicopter pilot's license. Viên was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
and appointed Chief of Staff of the Special Military Staff in the office of the President of the Republic in 1956. He and his family moved to a modest home in the Cholon
neighborhood of Saigon (where he lived until April 1975). He was promoted to Colonel
in 1960 and named Commander of the Vietnamese Airborne Division
in November 1960. This came after Colonel Nguyen Chanh Thi
and Lieutenant Colonel Vuong Van Dong
, the two highest-ranking paratroopers led a failed coup attempt
against Diem and fled into exile in Cambodia
. Based on his experiences, Viên concluded in 1961 that the Viet Cong were no longer acting alone but were being led and reinforced by regular units of the People's Army of Vietnam
(PAVN).
Viên refused to participate in the 1963 coup
against South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem
. He was one of several military leaders who were unaware of the coup. When called to a lunchtime meeting with other senior officers and informed of the coup d'état
, he reportedly broke down in tears and resigned, refusing to go along with the putsch. Vien was not aware of the plot, and the generals had discussed whether to assassinate him during their planning phase because they knew he was a Diem admirer. His loyalty to the conspirators now suspect, [a [rifle]] was thrust into his back and he was moments from being killed. But Major General Tôn Thất Đính
had spoken with General Dương Văn Minh
during the planning for the coup and convinced Minh to save Viên's life. Dinh played mahjong
with Vien’s wife, and had convinced Minh that Vien would not oppose the coup. Vien had planned with Diem to allow the president to take refuge at his home in the event of a coup, but the offer could not be taken up because the rebels surrounded Vien's house after taking him into custody. Another account has him accepting the coup after being informed of it. General Lâm Quang Thi later recalled that Viên was a Diem loyalist, but remained neutral during the coup. Viên was briefly imprisoned and stripped of his command, but reinstated a month later.
Col. Viên was a critical supporter of the 1964 South Vietnamese coup
in which President Dương Văn Minh was toppled by General Nguyễn Khánh
, plotting with him to overthrow Minh and successfully ordering his Airborne Division troops to help secure the capital. By March 14, Viên had been promoted by the new regime to Brigadier General
.
Viên was named Commander of III Corps
, which held the critical region around Saigon. While commanding troops during action in Kiến Phong Province (now Đồng Tháp Province) in March 1964, his unit was ambushed and surrounded on three sides. Viên was wounded in the upper arm and shoulder, and was decorated by the United States with the Silver Star
and by the Republic of Vietnam with the National Order of Vietnam
(Knight). The Silver Star citation said that while leading his men in an anti-communist assault, and despite "the confusion and inferno of enemy fire" from both sides and an arm and shoulder wound, Vien “continued to exercise command vigorously and effectively until the enemy had been routed". Viên was the first senior South Vietnamese military officer to be wounded in the field. His actions won him widespread respect from American military officers.
Viên was appointed Chief of Staff of the Joint General Staff (JGS) on September 11, 1964, after President Khanh dismissed General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
in order to win Buddhist
support for his government. As Chief of Staff of the JGS, he controlled troop movements around the capital and assigned officers to a few critical positions. He supported Khanh and helped suppress a counter-coup by Major General Duong Van Duc
on September 14, 1964. He helped put down another coup on September 27. Along with General Nguyen Chanh Thi
, Air Commodore Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
, General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, and Admiral Chung Tấn Cang
, he supported a coup against Prime Minister Trần Văn Hương
in December 1964. He led the then-biggest helicopter attack of the war in February 1965. When Viet Cong forces launched a mortar
attack on the city of Đồng Xoài on June 10, 1965, Viên held U.S. forces from attacking—keeping the U.S. out of the war at a time when the United States was still attempting to avoid active involvement in the war. When President Phan Khắc Sửu
resigned on June 17, 1965, and now-Air Marshall Nguyễn Cao Kỳ succeeded him, Viên was made a member of the military council which acted as a de facto
cabinet.
on November 1, 1965, during the celebrations accompanying the second anniversary of Diem's assassination, and by January 1966 had been promoted again to Lieutenant General
. Viên seemed an unlikely choice for such a high position, but he was one of the few generals who could not be accused of having cooperated with the French colonial regime, his loyalty to the Diem regime and his role as a coup leader made him acceptable to conservatives and liberals alike, and he was remarkably apolitical. The appointment may also not have been as important as it appeared, for the JGS was almost routinely excluded from command decisions (which were often made by South Vietnam's military presidents). He had no authority to promote colonels to general, or promote generals to higher rank. At least one historian has characterized his tenure as JGS Chief as "ineffectual". An American general later said he believed that Viên used presidential interference in JGS decision-making as a means of avoiding blame and therefore did not challenge presidential decisions as much as he might otherwise have done. Major General Hoàng Xuân Lãm
(Commander, I Corps
) and Lieutenant General Lê Nguyên Khang
(Commander, III Corps) were both particularly loyal to Viên, and helped the South Vietnamese government retain some degree of political stability. His control over the Corps was further strengthened when Prime Minister Kỳ appointed Brigadier General Nguyễn Văn Mạnh
, another Viên loyalist, Commander of IV Corps
in November 1966. With this appointment, Viên (along with Kỳ, Khang, and director of information Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Bảo Trí) was considered by American observers to be one of the most powerful people in the government.
Viên nonetheless attempted to be an active strategic thinker and reformer as JGS Chief. In 1965, he proposed invading Laos
and establishing a defensive line across the southern portion of that country in order to cut off the Viet Cong's flow of supplies coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail
. He met with President
Lyndon B. Johnson
in Guam
in February 1966 to discuss the plan, but Johnson refused to authorize U.S. military support for the campaign and it never went forward. In September 1966, Viên sought and won command of the Vietnamese Navy and for the first time integrated naval plans into JGS planning, but this arrangement lasted only two months. Viên also worked to improve the relationship between his military leaders and their American advisors. When a leading general complained that American advisors were interfering in the chain of command, Viên held a meeting of all senior military leaders to smooth over the differences and reassure his commanders. Unlike many senior South Vietnamese military leaders, he was not shy of strongly criticizing units and commanders which he felt did not perform well. He said the 25th Division
, led by Brigadier General Phân Trường Chinh, was "the worst division in ARVN, and possibly the worst division in any army." He instituted modern accounting systems to improve the payment of salaries and benefits, and fought for and won a harsh new law designed to catch and punish deserters. He also retained a limited role in commanding troops in the field. At the command of Prime Minister Ky, he personally led troops to Da Nang
and Huế
during the Buddhist Uprising
of April 1966 and helped crush the rebellion of General Nguyễn Chánh Thi
. He also instituted new fire control procedures designed to reduce air and artillery strikes against civilian targets. Even as late as 1968, he was in the field assessing the use of modern weapons (such as heavy helicopters and advanced missiles) by the enemy.
had been replaced as Defense Minister by Lt. Gen. Viên. Viên did not, however, assume the post of Deputy Prime Minister as the Defense Minister usually did. Viên was promoted to full General on February 5, 1967. In his role as Defense Minister, General Viên and Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Văn Vy
were appointed to a committee to investigate and root out corruption among the top South Vietnamese military leadership. More than 50 ARVN officers were removed from service in the campaign's first push. (After the war ended, however, Viên was accused of refusing to act on accusations of corruption presented to him.) Viên also strongly criticized in a letter to General William Westmoreland
(the senior U.S. military commander in South Vietnam) what he saw as an over-pessimistic and derogatory article by the U.S. news media about South Vietnamese troops and combat actions. Gen. Westmoreland subsequently assigned "military-information advisors" at the corps and division
level to smooth over relations.
The summer of 1967, Viên played a critical role in helping overcome a political crisis in the government. In September 1966, South Vietnamese voters elected a Constituent Assembly which was charged with writing a new constitution for the Republic of Vietnam. The new constitution was promulgated in March 1967, and local elections held. A presidential election was scheduled for September 3, 1967, but Air Marshal and Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ and Head of State
Gen. Nguyễn Văn Thiệu both sought the presidency. With the U.S. military preparing for a major expansion in its armed forces in Vietnam, American diplomats and senior military officers made it clear that they would not tolerate another military coup or interference in the electoral process. Under the pretense of holding a meeting of the Armed Forces Council (an informal body of senior army, navy, and air force leaders to discuss military policy), Lt. Gen. Viên forced the military to resolve the crisis by unofficially backing one of the two candidates. With the assent of Prime Minister Kỳ, the support was unofficial so that if the military's candidate did not win the loss would not be seen as a public lack of confidence in the armed forces. After a three-day meeting, the military agreed to support Thiệu for president and Kỳ for executive vice president. Viên may have supported a Kỳ candidacy at first. According to Ky, Viên was for a short time considered for the presidency, but Viên refused and no majority formed behind his candidacy. Viên subsequently traveled to Thailand
and met with exiled general Dương Văn Minh, warning him not to return to South Vietnam in an attempt to seek the presidency.
On August 10, 1967, Viên held his first press conference since becoming Chief of the JGS or Defense Minister, and accidentally revealed the existence of a secret, major bombing campaign against Viet Cong and PAVN troops in Cambodia
. Since 1965, the United States had been making increasingly regular bombing raids on suspected Viet Cong and PAVN staging and supply areas throughout Cambodia. In his press conference on August 10, Gen. Viên briefly discussed the existence of the secret bombings, and declared them a failure. The U.S. government immediately and categorically denied that any such bombings had taken place. Gen. Viên was the first high military official in either South Vietnam or the United States to admit that the U.S. was bombing Cambodia.
Thiệu had initially signalled that he would replace Viên as Defense Minister with Lt. Gen. Vy if he won the presidency. But when Thiệu won the presidential election on September 3, he agreed to keep Viên as Defense Minister even though most of the cabinet
would now be civilians rather than military personnel. He was also a member of the National Security Council, a body created by the new constitution to advise the President and Prime Minister on issues of national importance. He continued to act as a chief military strategist for the government, working with Gen. Westmoreland on the Combined Campaign Plan for 1967. In his role as Chief of the JGS and Defense Minister, Viên was the highest-ranking government official to greet President Johnson at Cam Ranh Bay
when he made his second battle-zone trip to Vietnam in December 1967.
As Defense Minister, Gen. Viên also attempted to reform the government's pacification campaign. The failure of the Strategic Hamlet Program
(an attempt to separate peasants from the Viet Cong by moving the population into fortified villages) by 1963 led to a re-emphasis on a military solution by 1965. The Phoenix Program
, designed to identify and either capture or kill Viet Cong insurgents, was implemented and the South Vietnamese government began to focus on the "Revolutionary Development" program of economic development. In 1966, Viên and Westmoreland agreed to train ARVN troops in "clear and hold
" pacification tactics. Although the American and South Vietnamese governments both realized the importance of pacification, the pacification proram showed few results and was close to collapse by mid-1967. In September 1967, Major General Nguyễn Đức Thắng, Viên's deputy at the JGS, was appointed Minister of Construction and Development to revitalize the pacification program. Thắng proposed and Viên approved a plan for reform that would: 1) Require provincial chiefs to report to the Ministry of Construction and Development and the Minister for Pacification in Saigon and not military Corps commanders; 2) Strip Corps commanders of their ability to appoint province chiefs; 3) Transfer the role of Government Delegate for each province from Corps commanders to civilian political leaders; and 4) Transfer control of ARVN battalions engaged in pacification campaigns from Corps commanders to the Minister for Pacification. Viên sought the advice of Gen. Westmoreland, who agreed that the plan should be implemented. But President Thiệu repeatedly refused to implement the plan, fearing the loss of political support. Angry at Thiệu's action, Maj. Gen. Thắng resigned in January 1968 and became Viên's personal assistant.
Thiệu replaced Viên as Defense Minister with Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Văn Vy on November 98, 1967. Viên's departure was not seen as a snub or loss of political power, but rather as a way of relieving him of the less important duties of Defense Minister so that he could focus on prosecuting the war.
Viên played a critical role in the Tet Offensive of January 31, 1968. Fearing an attack during Tết
(the Vietnamese New Year), Westmoreland had advised Viên to limit the traditional Tết cease-fire to just 24 hours. Viên tried but failed to win approval for this limitation. Viet Cong and PAVN forces attacked I and II Corps shortly after midnight on January 31, and Saigon and III Corps at about 3 AM local time. Not alerted to the extent of the battle due to disruptions in communications but realizing after several hours that a major attack on Saigon was under way, Viên was forced to drive himself through the back streets of Saigon at 7 AM to reach JGS headquarters at Tân Sơn Nhứt Airport
. JGS Headquarters was one of six critical targets for the communist forces, and elements of the C-10 Sapper Battalion were assigned to attack the building. Shortly after his arrival, enemy combatants seized control of Gate 4 at the airport and were threatening to attack JGS Headquarters. By sheer luck, two armed and supplied battalions were at Tân Sơn Nhứt awaiting transport to I Corps. Viên immediately ordered their dispersal throughout the city of Saigon, preventing a collapse in the city's defense. Retaining two companies
, he ordered a counter-attack against the enemy elements controlling access to the airport and threw them back. Due to the severe lack of personnel, Vien used almost his entire staff as combat personnel and took personal command of them in the field to repel the communist attack on the air base. Majors and colonels led platoons and captains and lieutenants acted as privates. Thanks to Gen. Viên's actions, JGS Headquarters remained the only secure military location in Saigon. Kỳ and most of the top generals in the city spent the next several days in Viên's office coordinating the counter-attack, sleeping on his office rug at night. Viên coordinated the city's defense throughout the first critical hours of the Tet Offensive, ordering JGS officers and staff into the streets to personally lead combat divisions throughout Saigon. Most of the fighting in the city ended by dawn the next day, although small elements of communist forces held out until March 7 Viên personally led troops in Operation Tran Hung Dao, the counter-offensive which began on February 3.
In the aftermath of the Tet Offensive, Viên became convinced that North Vietnam intended to cut South Vietnam in two by occupying the Tây Nguyên
, or Central Highlands. Westmoreland disagreed, and reinforced Khe Sanh
more than 185 miles (300 km) to the north. On April 1, 1968, Viên attended a meeting at Nha Trang
called by Gen. Westmoreland and attended by Westmoreland, Lt. Gen. Lê Nguyên Khang
(Commander of III Corps), Gen. Creighton Abrams
(who was due to succeed Westmoreland on June 10, 1968), and Deputy Ambassador to Vietnam Samuel D. Berger. Berger made an impromptu speech declaring the Tet Offensive a great victory for South Vietnam and urging support for President Thiệu (rumors of another coup were rife). But angry at what he perceived as President Thiệu's lack of aggressive prosecution of the war and exhausted by his duties, Viên allegedly attempted to resign on April 3, 1968. Viên then denied he had done so, instead saying that he threatened to do so if U.S. and South Vietnamese forces were put under a unified command.
Vien later criticised the US and South Vietnam for not pressing home their advantage and going on a large-scale offensive in an attempt to totally defeat the communists immediately.
refugees in the country. Viên (like Kỳ) opposed the appointment of Trần Văn Hương as Prime Minister, and Kỳ signalled to President Thiệu that he would not like to see Viên or the other generals who supported Kỳ removed from their positions. Viên subsequently accompanied Thiệu to Hawaii
for yet another meeting with President Johnson in July 1968 and to an eight-day state visit to Taiwan
and South Korea
in May 1969. Viên's political position remained unstable, however. Several times in 1969 and 1970, Prime Minister Trần Văn Hương advised Thiệu to replace Vien with Lt. Gen. Đỗ Cao Trí
.
Lt. Gen. Viên continued to act as chief strategist for South Vietnamese armed forces, but his influence was increasingly impaired. In June 1968, he advocated that the U.S. resume bombing of North Vietnam. In September 1968, he advocated the invasion and occupation of Cambodia, Laos, and southern North Vietnam. But as President Johnson and later President Richard Nixon
began implementing the policy of Vietnamization (under which there would be gradual American troop withdrawals and extensive re-arming and training of ARVN forces with the aim of leaving the war completely in the hands of the South Vietnamese), Viên and other South Vietnamese military leaders were rarely consulted or informed ahead of time about these decisions. For example, when the U.S. considered an immediate halt to all bombing of North Vietnam in October 1968, only President Thiệu was consulted. Viên nonetheless was forced to help implement Vietnamization. Based on the conversations in Hawaii six months earlier, he held the first JGS discussions on American troop withdrawals in January 1969. Viên remained silent about his views of the American policy, but his aides were extremely pessimistic about its success. Viên did, however, support Ambassador
Ellsworth Bunker
's "One War" strategy (under which pacification, counter-insurgency
, and Vietnamization all took equal importance) and assisted Gen. Abrams with developing the Combined (US/SVN) Strategic Objective Plan of 1969. The plan involved the transfer of hundreds of aging American military camps to the South Vietnamese armed forces. Many ARVN officers criticized Viên's plan to base ARVN troops in these static positions, arguing that it isolated the Army from the populace, hurt morale, and reduced mobility. Lt. Gen. Viên accompanied President Thiệu to Midway Atoll
in June 1969, where the two men learned of President Nixon's intention to withdraw 25,000 American troops from South Vietnam within 60 days. In what became the then-largest single transfer of military equipment to South Vietnam, Lt. Gen. Viên received 64 river patrol boats
from the United States just days later—yet another indication of the American withdrawal.
Viên was awarded the Legion of Merit, Commander, in December 1969.
met with him in April 1970 to warn against it, Viên began planning for ARVN troops to engage in cross-border attacks into Cambodia to strike at Viet Cong and PAVN staging and supply areas. He also reorganized the ARVN command structure, providing for joint command of III and IV Corps while operating inside Cambodia and the establishment of a Cambodian military liaison officer to the JGS.
At a high-level meeting of cabinet officials and generals in October 1970, Viên again sought and won support for a plan (Operation Lam Son 719
) to send ARVN troops into Laos
to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Viên and President Thiệu met with United States Secretary of Defense
Melvin R. Laird
on January 11, 1971, and proposed their plan. With Laird's tentative approval, Viên met with Gen. Creighton Abrams and worked out the military details. Viên had proposed an invasion of Laos "countless" times since 1965, making it one of his top strategic goals. But the invasion was a disaster. Poor roads, rough terrain, and a much higher than expected number of PAVN artillery and machine gun positions (which interdicted airborne resupply efforts) brought the invasion to a halt halfway to its intended target of the city of Tchepone by the first of March. A worried Viên met with Gen. Abrams, President Thiệu, and U.S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker on March 3 to discuss a change in tactics, and concluded that ARVN airborne forces would make an assault on the abandoned town of Tchepone and occupy it. The assault was successful, and two days later a withdrawal began. The withdrawal turned into an undisciplined, panicked retreat with very heavy losses which was completed on April 6, 1971.
In an example of what he called "pure psywar
," Viên also spread rumors that ARVN troops might invade across the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone
and invade North Vietnam (rumors intended to keep three PAVN brigade
s pinned down there). General Viên met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Laird, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Admiral
Thomas H. Moorer
, and Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command (CINCPAC)
Admiral John S. McCain, Jr.
in November 1971 to discuss the effect of military aid cuts.
General Viên's role as Chief of JGS became more advisory after 1971. After PAVN's success during the early months of the Easter Offensive in March and April 1972—during which the city of Quảng Trị
and the provinces of Bình Định
and Kon Tum Province
were lost to communist forces—President Thiệu consulted with Gen. Viên but continued to personally direct the war without general staff assistance. Viên still believed ARVN capable of defeating the insurgents if his military forces were given enough supplies. As the Easter Offensive ended in October, speculation was rife that the Thiệu government might not be able to survive. Viên was among the individuals who South Vietnamese and American officials felt might be able to form a coalition government with the Viet Cong, if such an action were necessary.
Gen. Viên nearly became a signatory to the Paris Peace Accords
in 1973. A tentative agreement between the United States and North Vietnam was reached in late October 1972, but President Thiệu rejected the accord and demanded 69 changes. Concerned that the Hanoi government might pull out of the negotiations altogether and seek to defeat the South Vietnamese, President Nixon ordered the heavy aerial bombing (Operation Linebacker II
) of North Vietnam in December 1972. Although American losses were light overall and damage in North Vietnam heavy, American public opinion and Congressional anger ran high against the bombing campaign. The Hanoi government agreed to return to the bargaining table, and Nixon suspended operations against North Vietnam on December 29, 1972. Nixon offered repeated, private assurances (which did not have the weight of formal diplomatic guarantees) to President Thiệu several times during the first two weeks of January, but could not get him to agree to sign the peace document. When President Thiệu continued to balk, Nixon told him that he would independently sign the peace accord on January 23 with or without South Vietnamese consent. Thiệu capitulated. By January 22, however, it was unclear if Thiệu would actually send a delegate to Paris to sign the documents. Gen. Viên offered to go to Paris to initial the peace agreement without Thiệu's consent, but President Nixon vetoed the idea.
General Viên was the most senior South Vietnamese official to represent the government as General Frederick C. Weyand
and the final contingent of U.S. ground troops left Vietnam on March 28, 1973.
Viên ordered heightened security for the 1974 Tết holiday, and in April 1974 traveled to the United States to plead (unsuccessfully) for more military aid. He was appointed a member of the Presidential Military Council in 1975 along with generals Trần Thiện Khiêm and Dạng Văn Quảng. He also promoted Lt. Gen. Đổng Văn Khuyên, a close friend and Commander of the Central Logistics Command, to act concurrently as Chief of Staff of the JGS. In the opinion of Major General Homer D. Smith, the U.S. defense attaché, Khuyên's appointment enhanced operations and personnel operations while diminishing the managerial efficiency of logistics and creating jealousy among other military commanders.
and Maj. Gen. Homer D. Smith. Weyand delivered a personal message from President Gerald Ford
indicating that limited amounts of critical supplies and equipment were coming, but that the South Vietnamese army had to hold its ground.
General Viên met with Gen. Trần Văn Đôn
, the new South Vietnamese Defense Minister, on April 16 and advised him that ARVN troops would no longer fight. To Australian Army
Brigadier
Ted Serong
, this was a sign that Gen. Viên himself was abandoning the fight. But Maj. Gen. Homer D. Smith felt that Viên and the JGS staff were working very hard to reconstitute forces which had fled and wanted to continue to fight. On April 21, Gen. Viên issued a statement that said he would not resign and intended to stay and fight. On April 27, Viên helped brief members of the National Assembly on what was likely to happen once the city fell. Air Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ later said he called Gen. Viên on April 27 and offered to lead a tank
column so that they could open the road to the west and help tens of thousands of people flee the city, but Gen. Viên dissuaded him. Viên's next actions are unclear. Some accounts say that Gen. Viên then resigned, telling President Trần Văn Hương that he could not serve under Gen. Dương Văn Minh (who had returned to the country in 1968 and would be named President on April 27). But other versions of the fall of Saigon have Gen. Viên leaving Vietnam on April 28 without resigning, leaving the JGS in turmoil.
Saigon fell to PAVN forces
on April 30, 1975.
said he had "a very warm personal working relationship" with Viên, and described the general as a "major factor in getting things done".
There are some critics, however. General Lâm Quang Thi called him a "colorless" man who preferred practicing yoga
over leading troops. Los Angeles Times
reporter George McArthur called him "something of a prima donna." Nguyễn Tiến Hưng described him as "a mediocre staff officer, without imagination."
aircraft which landed at El Toro Marine Air Station
. He was met by Marine
Brigadier General R.W. Taylor and taken to an undisclosed location before being reunited with his family. The Viên family had strong ties to the U.S. already: In 1973, Gen. Viên's oldest son was a doctoral student
at American University
and his second-oldest son was attending high school
in Washington, D.C.
The Viên family settled briefly in New Jersey
, where his wife Tran Thi Tao ran a dry cleaning
business. The Viên family then moved to Falls Church, Virginia
, His wife started an export-import business. For a time, Gen. Viên was paid $1,500 by the U.S. Army to write monographs about the conduct of the Vietnam War. His most comprehensive analysis was The Final Collapse, in which he argued that cutbacks in military assistance and a lack of U.S. air power led to the defeat of the South Vietnamese government. After finishing his work for the U.S. Army, Gen. Viên considered teaching French literature, but he suffered from rheumatoid arthritis
and was unable to work. Viên was a lifelong adherent of Buddhism
; fluent in English
, French, and Laotian; never smoked or drank; and loved birds. He became an American citizen in 1982. He kept bees and allowed them to sting him to dull the pain of his arthritis, but this unorthodox remedy was only temporarily effective.
Gen. Viên's wife died in 1991. His daughter, Lan Cao
, became a professor of law at the College of William and Mary
. His son Cao Anh Tuan died in 1996, and his son Cao Anh Dzung disappeared and has never been found. Cao Văn Viên lived his last years at Sleepy Hollow Manor, an assisted living
facility in Annandale, Virginia
. He died there of cardiac arrest
on January 22, 2008. He was survived by his daughter and five grandchildren.
General Viên's wife, Tao Thi Tran, was the daughter of one of the largest landowners in the Mekong Delta. Her father was executed by the Viet Cong and her family's land confiscated. A savvy businesswoman, she built a large number of businesses while her husband was in the military. She owned and ran bars
and hotel
s that catered to U.S. military personnel and diplomats, owned and operated a Pepsi-Cola bottling franchise, owned a San Miguel beer distributorship
, owned a large construction company that built 20 to 30 homes each year, owned extensive tracts of land, and ran an export-import business which specialized in Vietnamese handicrafts. She was also said to sell favors and military and political promotions.
Accusations were also frequently made that General Viên's wife had enriched the family due to her husband's position, although there was almost no evidence to support such claims. In September 1970, a member of the National Assembly accused Gen. Viên of extensive corruption. After the fall of Saigon, Nguyễn Văn Ngái (a former Minister of Rural Development and former Senator in the National Assembly) also accused the Viêns of corruption. Another unsubstantiated claim was that the Viêns had deposited $1 million in a bank in Guam during their flight from South Vietnam.
, the Republic of China
, South Korea
, and Thailand. He also received the following honors from the Republic of Vietnam as of 1967:
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
who served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
(ARVN) and rose to the position of Chairman of the South Vietnamese Joint General Staff. Considered one of "the most gifted" of South Vietnam's military leaders, he has been called "absolutely a key figure" and one of "the most important Vietnamese military leaders" in the American-led fighting during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Along with Trần Thiện Khiêm
Tran Thien Khiem
General Trần Thiện Khiêm was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. During the 1960s he was involved in several coups. He helped President Ngo Dinh Diem put down a November 1960 coup attempt and was rewarded with promotion...
, he was one of only two four-star generals in the entire history of South Vietnam.
Early life
Viên was born to Vietnamese parents in Vientiane, Laos, in December 1921. His father was a merchant. Hearing rumors of a gold rushGold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
in the Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
, he moved to what was then called Cochinchina
Cochinchina
Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...
to become a prospector
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
. Although he became a follower of Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
and fought as a guerrilla against French colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
rule, he soon concluded that Minh's movement was more communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
than nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and joined independent fighter groups. He was captured by the French, released, and enrolled at the University of Saigon where he obtained a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in French literature
French literature
French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...
. His schoolmate was Lâm Quang Thi
Lam Quang Thi
General Lâm Quang Thi was a senior military officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.-Early life and family:...
.
Military career
Viên attended the French-run Cap Saint Jacques Military School, graduating with a commission in the Vietnamese National ArmyVietnamese National Army
On March 8, 1949, after the Elysee accords, the State of Vietnam was recognized by France as an independent country ruled by Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại. The Vietnamese National Army or Vietnam National Army was the State of Vietnam's military force created shortly after that. It was commanded by...
as a Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in 1949. He rose quickly through the ranks, becoming a battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
in 1953 and major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in 1954. He attended the Vietnamese National Military Academy as a lieutenant, where he met and became friendly with many of South Vietnam's later military leaders. He twice served in military intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
(in 1953 and 1954), and twice as a military logistics
Military logistics
Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:...
officer. After the formation of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in 1955, he was appointed chief of military logistics for the ARVN Joint General Staff. He graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1957. By 1960, he had completed parachute training with both the Vietnamese and American military, earned his Vietnamese combat pilot's license, and earned his American combat helicopter pilot's license. Viên was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
and appointed Chief of Staff of the Special Military Staff in the office of the President of the Republic in 1956. He and his family moved to a modest home in the Cholon
Cholon, Ho Chi Minh City
Chợ Lớn is a Chinese-influenced section of Ho Chi Minh City . It is the largest Chinatown in Vietnam. It lies on the west bank of the Saigon River, having Binh Tay Market as its central market. Cholon consists of the western half of District 5 as well as several adjoining neighborhoods in District...
neighborhood of Saigon (where he lived until April 1975). He was promoted to Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in 1960 and named Commander of the Vietnamese Airborne Division
Vietnamese Airborne Division
The Vietnamese Airborne Division was one of the earliest components of the State of Vietnam's military forces . The Vietnamese Airborne Division began as companies organised in 1948, prior to any agreement over armed forces in Vietnam...
in November 1960. This came after Colonel Nguyen Chanh Thi
Nguyen Chanh Thi
Lieutenant General Nguyễn Chánh Thi was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . He is best known for frequently being involved in coups in the 1960s and wielding substantial influence as a key member of various juntas that ruled South Vietnam from 1964 until 1966, when he was...
and Lieutenant Colonel Vuong Van Dong
Vuong Van Dong
Lieutenant Colonel Vương Văn Đông was an officer of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who led the failed coup attempt of 1960 against President Ngô Đình Diệm. After the failed coup, he fled to Cambodia with the other coup leaders aboard a commandeered air force C-47. Đông was allowed to quietly...
, the two highest-ranking paratroopers led a failed coup attempt
1960 South Vietnamese coup attempt
On November 11, 1960, a failed coup attempt against President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam was led by Lieutenant Colonel Vuong Van Dong and Colonel Nguyen Chanh Thi of the Airborne Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ....
against Diem and fled into exile in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. Based on his experiences, Viên concluded in 1961 that the Viet Cong were no longer acting alone but were being led and reinforced by regular units of the People's Army of Vietnam
Vietnam People's Army
The Vietnam People's Army is the armed forces of Vietnam. The VPA includes: the Vietnamese People's Ground Forces , the Vietnam People's Navy , the Vietnam People's Air Force, and the Vietnam Marine Police.During the French Indochina War , the VPA was often referred to as the Việt...
(PAVN).
Viên refused to participate in the 1963 coup
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem
The arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, then president of South Vietnam, marked the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup d’état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963...
against South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
. He was one of several military leaders who were unaware of the coup. When called to a lunchtime meeting with other senior officers and informed of the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, he reportedly broke down in tears and resigned, refusing to go along with the putsch. Vien was not aware of the plot, and the generals had discussed whether to assassinate him during their planning phase because they knew he was a Diem admirer. His loyalty to the conspirators now suspect, [a [rifle]] was thrust into his back and he was moments from being killed. But Major General Tôn Thất Đính
Ton That Dinh
Major General Tôn Thất Đính is a retired officer who served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . He is best known as one of the key figures in the November 1963 coup that deposed and resulted in the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, the first president of the Republic of Vietnam .A favourite of...
had spoken with General Dương Văn Minh
Duong Van Minh
Minh was born on 16 February 1916 in Mỹ Tho Province in the Mekong Delta, the son of a wealthy landowner who served in a prominent position in the Finance Ministry of the French colonial administration...
during the planning for the coup and convinced Minh to save Viên's life. Dinh played mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...
with Vien’s wife, and had convinced Minh that Vien would not oppose the coup. Vien had planned with Diem to allow the president to take refuge at his home in the event of a coup, but the offer could not be taken up because the rebels surrounded Vien's house after taking him into custody. Another account has him accepting the coup after being informed of it. General Lâm Quang Thi later recalled that Viên was a Diem loyalist, but remained neutral during the coup. Viên was briefly imprisoned and stripped of his command, but reinstated a month later.
Col. Viên was a critical supporter of the 1964 South Vietnamese coup
1964 South Vietnamese coup
Before dawn on January 30, 1964, General Nguyen Khanh ousted the military junta led by General Duong Van Minh from the leadership of South Vietnam without firing a shot. It came less than three months after Minh's junta had themselves come to power in a bloody coup against then President Ngo Dinh...
in which President Dương Văn Minh was toppled by General Nguyễn Khánh
Nguyen Khanh
Nguyễn Khánh is a former general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who variously served as Head of State and Prime minister of South Vietnam while at the head of a military junta from January 1964 until February 1965. He was involved in or against many coup attempts, failed and successful,...
, plotting with him to overthrow Minh and successfully ordering his Airborne Division troops to help secure the capital. By March 14, Viên had been promoted by the new regime to Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
.
III Corps (South Vietnam)
III Corps was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975...
, which held the critical region around Saigon. While commanding troops during action in Kiến Phong Province (now Đồng Tháp Province) in March 1964, his unit was ambushed and surrounded on three sides. Viên was wounded in the upper arm and shoulder, and was decorated by the United States with the Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
and by the Republic of Vietnam with the National Order of Vietnam
National Order of Vietnam
The National Order of Vietnam was a combined military-civilian decoration of South Vietnam and was considered the highest honor that could be bestowed upon an individual by the Republic of Vietnam government....
(Knight). The Silver Star citation said that while leading his men in an anti-communist assault, and despite "the confusion and inferno of enemy fire" from both sides and an arm and shoulder wound, Vien “continued to exercise command vigorously and effectively until the enemy had been routed". Viên was the first senior South Vietnamese military officer to be wounded in the field. His actions won him widespread respect from American military officers.
Viên was appointed Chief of Staff of the Joint General Staff (JGS) on September 11, 1964, after President Khanh dismissed General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Nguyen Van Thieu
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was president of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1975. He was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , became head of a military junta, and then president after winning a fraudulent election...
in order to win Buddhist
Buddhism in Vietnam
Buddhism in Vietnam as practiced by the ethnic Vietnamese is mainly of the Mahāyāna tradition. Buddhism came to Vietnam as early as the 2nd century CE through the North from Central Asia and via Southern routes from India...
support for his government. As Chief of Staff of the JGS, he controlled troop movements around the capital and assigned officers to a few critical positions. He supported Khanh and helped suppress a counter-coup by Major General Duong Van Duc
Duong Van Duc
Major General Dương Văn Đức was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He is best known for leading a coup attempt against General Nguyễn Khánh on September 14, 1964...
on September 14, 1964. He helped put down another coup on September 27. Along with General Nguyen Chanh Thi
Nguyen Chanh Thi
Lieutenant General Nguyễn Chánh Thi was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . He is best known for frequently being involved in coups in the 1960s and wielding substantial influence as a key member of various juntas that ruled South Vietnam from 1964 until 1966, when he was...
, Air Commodore Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
Nguyen Cao Ky
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ served as the chief of the Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South Vietnam in a military junta from 1965 to 1967...
, General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, and Admiral Chung Tấn Cang
Chung Tan Cang
Admiral Chung Tấn Cang was the commander of the Republic of Vietnam Navy from 1963 to 1965...
, he supported a coup against Prime Minister Trần Văn Hương
Tran Van Huong
Trần Văn Hương was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the penultimate president of South Vietnam prior to its surrender to the communist forces of North Vietnam.-Biography:...
in December 1964. He led the then-biggest helicopter attack of the war in February 1965. When Viet Cong forces launched a mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
attack on the city of Đồng Xoài on June 10, 1965, Viên held U.S. forces from attacking—keeping the U.S. out of the war at a time when the United States was still attempting to avoid active involvement in the war. When President Phan Khắc Sửu
Phan Khac Suu
Phan Khắc Sửu was President of South Vietnam from 1964–1965.-Biography:He was an octogenarian, a trained agricultural engineer and was a member of the Cao Đài religion.He was a member of Emperor Bảo Đại’s political cabinet....
resigned on June 17, 1965, and now-Air Marshall Nguyễn Cao Kỳ succeeded him, Viên was made a member of the military council which acted as a de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
cabinet.
Joint General Staff
Viên was promoted to Chief of the Joint General Staff (JGS) on October 1, 1965. He was promoted to Major GeneralMajor General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
on November 1, 1965, during the celebrations accompanying the second anniversary of Diem's assassination, and by January 1966 had been promoted again to Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
. Viên seemed an unlikely choice for such a high position, but he was one of the few generals who could not be accused of having cooperated with the French colonial regime, his loyalty to the Diem regime and his role as a coup leader made him acceptable to conservatives and liberals alike, and he was remarkably apolitical. The appointment may also not have been as important as it appeared, for the JGS was almost routinely excluded from command decisions (which were often made by South Vietnam's military presidents). He had no authority to promote colonels to general, or promote generals to higher rank. At least one historian has characterized his tenure as JGS Chief as "ineffectual". An American general later said he believed that Viên used presidential interference in JGS decision-making as a means of avoiding blame and therefore did not challenge presidential decisions as much as he might otherwise have done. Major General Hoàng Xuân Lãm
Hoang Xuan Lam
Hoàng Xuân Lãm was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and a native of the city of Huế. Given responsibility for the I Corps Tactical Zone in 1967, Lãm coordinated the South Vietnamese offensive known as Operation Lam Sơn 719 which aimed at striking the North Vietnamese logistical...
(Commander, I Corps
I Corps (South Vietnam)
The I Corps Tactical Zone was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975. It was one of four corps which the ARVN oversaw. This was the northernmost region of South Vietnam, bordering North Vietnam...
) and Lieutenant General Lê Nguyên Khang
Le Nguyen Khang
Lieutenant General Lê Nguyên Khang was a Marine Commander of the Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps for South Vietnam.-Assignments:*Commander of the Marine Corps,*VNN Commander,*Commander of the Capital Military Zone,...
(Commander, III Corps) were both particularly loyal to Viên, and helped the South Vietnamese government retain some degree of political stability. His control over the Corps was further strengthened when Prime Minister Kỳ appointed Brigadier General Nguyễn Văn Mạnh
Nguyen Van Manh
Major General Nguyễn Văn Mạnh was an officer of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.He served as the commander of IV Corps, which oversaw the Mekong Delta region of the country, from 23 November 1966 until 29 February 1968, when he was replaced by Lieutenant General Nguyen Duc Thang after he was...
, another Viên loyalist, Commander of IV Corps
IV Corps (South Vietnam)
The IV Corps was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975...
in November 1966. With this appointment, Viên (along with Kỳ, Khang, and director of information Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Bảo Trí) was considered by American observers to be one of the most powerful people in the government.
Viên nonetheless attempted to be an active strategic thinker and reformer as JGS Chief. In 1965, he proposed invading Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and establishing a defensive line across the southern portion of that country in order to cut off the Viet Cong's flow of supplies coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Ho Chi Minh trail
The Ho Chi Minh trail was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam through the neighboring kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia...
. He met with President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
in Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
in February 1966 to discuss the plan, but Johnson refused to authorize U.S. military support for the campaign and it never went forward. In September 1966, Viên sought and won command of the Vietnamese Navy and for the first time integrated naval plans into JGS planning, but this arrangement lasted only two months. Viên also worked to improve the relationship between his military leaders and their American advisors. When a leading general complained that American advisors were interfering in the chain of command, Viên held a meeting of all senior military leaders to smooth over the differences and reassure his commanders. Unlike many senior South Vietnamese military leaders, he was not shy of strongly criticizing units and commanders which he felt did not perform well. He said the 25th Division
25th Division (South Vietnam)
The 25th Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam —the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975—was part of the III Corps that oversaw the region of the country surrounding the capital, Saigon. It was based at Cu Chi to the west of the city centre....
, led by Brigadier General Phân Trường Chinh, was "the worst division in ARVN, and possibly the worst division in any army." He instituted modern accounting systems to improve the payment of salaries and benefits, and fought for and won a harsh new law designed to catch and punish deserters. He also retained a limited role in commanding troops in the field. At the command of Prime Minister Ky, he personally led troops to Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
and Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
during the Buddhist Uprising
Buddhist Uprising
The Buddhist Uprising of 1966 was a period of civil and military unrest in South Vietnam, largely focused in the I Corps area in the north of the country in central Vietnam...
of April 1966 and helped crush the rebellion of General Nguyễn Chánh Thi
Nguyen Chanh Thi
Lieutenant General Nguyễn Chánh Thi was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . He is best known for frequently being involved in coups in the 1960s and wielding substantial influence as a key member of various juntas that ruled South Vietnam from 1964 until 1966, when he was...
. He also instituted new fire control procedures designed to reduce air and artillery strikes against civilian targets. Even as late as 1968, he was in the field assessing the use of modern weapons (such as heavy helicopters and advanced missiles) by the enemy.
Defense Minister
On January 26, 1967, Prime Minister Kỳ announced that Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Hữu CóNguyen Huu Co
Lieutenant General Nguyễn Hữu Có served as an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and was prominent in several coups and juntas in the 1960s....
had been replaced as Defense Minister by Lt. Gen. Viên. Viên did not, however, assume the post of Deputy Prime Minister as the Defense Minister usually did. Viên was promoted to full General on February 5, 1967. In his role as Defense Minister, General Viên and Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Văn Vy
Nguyen Van Vy
Nguyễn Văn Vy was a Vietnamese soldier who rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ....
were appointed to a committee to investigate and root out corruption among the top South Vietnamese military leadership. More than 50 ARVN officers were removed from service in the campaign's first push. (After the war ended, however, Viên was accused of refusing to act on accusations of corruption presented to him.) Viên also strongly criticized in a letter to General William Westmoreland
William Westmoreland
William Childs Westmoreland was a United States Army General, who commanded US military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak , during the Tet Offensive. He adopted a strategy of attrition against the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the North Vietnamese Army. He later served as...
(the senior U.S. military commander in South Vietnam) what he saw as an over-pessimistic and derogatory article by the U.S. news media about South Vietnamese troops and combat actions. Gen. Westmoreland subsequently assigned "military-information advisors" at the corps and division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
level to smooth over relations.
The summer of 1967, Viên played a critical role in helping overcome a political crisis in the government. In September 1966, South Vietnamese voters elected a Constituent Assembly which was charged with writing a new constitution for the Republic of Vietnam. The new constitution was promulgated in March 1967, and local elections held. A presidential election was scheduled for September 3, 1967, but Air Marshal and Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ and Head of State
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
Gen. Nguyễn Văn Thiệu both sought the presidency. With the U.S. military preparing for a major expansion in its armed forces in Vietnam, American diplomats and senior military officers made it clear that they would not tolerate another military coup or interference in the electoral process. Under the pretense of holding a meeting of the Armed Forces Council (an informal body of senior army, navy, and air force leaders to discuss military policy), Lt. Gen. Viên forced the military to resolve the crisis by unofficially backing one of the two candidates. With the assent of Prime Minister Kỳ, the support was unofficial so that if the military's candidate did not win the loss would not be seen as a public lack of confidence in the armed forces. After a three-day meeting, the military agreed to support Thiệu for president and Kỳ for executive vice president. Viên may have supported a Kỳ candidacy at first. According to Ky, Viên was for a short time considered for the presidency, but Viên refused and no majority formed behind his candidacy. Viên subsequently traveled to Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and met with exiled general Dương Văn Minh, warning him not to return to South Vietnam in an attempt to seek the presidency.
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. Since 1965, the United States had been making increasingly regular bombing raids on suspected Viet Cong and PAVN staging and supply areas throughout Cambodia. In his press conference on August 10, Gen. Viên briefly discussed the existence of the secret bombings, and declared them a failure. The U.S. government immediately and categorically denied that any such bombings had taken place. Gen. Viên was the first high military official in either South Vietnam or the United States to admit that the U.S. was bombing Cambodia.
Thiệu had initially signalled that he would replace Viên as Defense Minister with Lt. Gen. Vy if he won the presidency. But when Thiệu won the presidential election on September 3, he agreed to keep Viên as Defense Minister even though most of the cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
would now be civilians rather than military personnel. He was also a member of the National Security Council, a body created by the new constitution to advise the President and Prime Minister on issues of national importance. He continued to act as a chief military strategist for the government, working with Gen. Westmoreland on the Combined Campaign Plan for 1967. In his role as Chief of the JGS and Defense Minister, Viên was the highest-ranking government official to greet President Johnson at Cam Ranh Bay
Cam Ranh Bay
Cam Ranh Bay is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in the province of Khánh Hòa. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilometers / 180 miles northeast of Hồ Chí Minh City / Saigon.Cam Ranh is...
when he made his second battle-zone trip to Vietnam in December 1967.
As Defense Minister, Gen. Viên also attempted to reform the government's pacification campaign. The failure of the Strategic Hamlet Program
Strategic Hamlet Program
The Strategic Hamlet Program was a plan by the governments of South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War to combat the Communist insurgency by means of population transfer.In 1961, U.S...
(an attempt to separate peasants from the Viet Cong by moving the population into fortified villages) by 1963 led to a re-emphasis on a military solution by 1965. The Phoenix Program
Phoenix Program
The Phoenix Program |phoenix]]) was a controversial counterinsurgency program designed, coordinated, and executed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency , United States special operations forces, and the Republic of Vietnam's security apparatus during the Vietnam War that operated...
, designed to identify and either capture or kill Viet Cong insurgents, was implemented and the South Vietnamese government began to focus on the "Revolutionary Development" program of economic development. In 1966, Viên and Westmoreland agreed to train ARVN troops in "clear and hold
Clear and hold
Clear and hold is a counter-insurgency strategy in which military personnel clear an area of guerrillas or other insurgents, then keep the area clear of insurgents while winning the support of the populace for the government and its policies...
" pacification tactics. Although the American and South Vietnamese governments both realized the importance of pacification, the pacification proram showed few results and was close to collapse by mid-1967. In September 1967, Major General Nguyễn Đức Thắng, Viên's deputy at the JGS, was appointed Minister of Construction and Development to revitalize the pacification program. Thắng proposed and Viên approved a plan for reform that would: 1) Require provincial chiefs to report to the Ministry of Construction and Development and the Minister for Pacification in Saigon and not military Corps commanders; 2) Strip Corps commanders of their ability to appoint province chiefs; 3) Transfer the role of Government Delegate for each province from Corps commanders to civilian political leaders; and 4) Transfer control of ARVN battalions engaged in pacification campaigns from Corps commanders to the Minister for Pacification. Viên sought the advice of Gen. Westmoreland, who agreed that the plan should be implemented. But President Thiệu repeatedly refused to implement the plan, fearing the loss of political support. Angry at Thiệu's action, Maj. Gen. Thắng resigned in January 1968 and became Viên's personal assistant.
Thiệu replaced Viên as Defense Minister with Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Văn Vy on November 98, 1967. Viên's departure was not seen as a snub or loss of political power, but rather as a way of relieving him of the less important duties of Defense Minister so that he could focus on prosecuting the war.
Role during Tet Offensive
Tet
Tet can mean:*Tết or Tết Nguyên Đán, the Vietnamese new year**Tet Offensive, a military campaign that began in 1968*Têt in Roussillon, France*Equal temperament, abbreviated as 12-TET, 19-TET and so on...
(the Vietnamese New Year), Westmoreland had advised Viên to limit the traditional Tết cease-fire to just 24 hours. Viên tried but failed to win approval for this limitation. Viet Cong and PAVN forces attacked I and II Corps shortly after midnight on January 31, and Saigon and III Corps at about 3 AM local time. Not alerted to the extent of the battle due to disruptions in communications but realizing after several hours that a major attack on Saigon was under way, Viên was forced to drive himself through the back streets of Saigon at 7 AM to reach JGS headquarters at Tân Sơn Nhứt Airport
Tan Son Nhat International Airport
Tan Son Nhat International Airport is Vietnam's largest international airport in terms of area . It has a handling capacity of 15-17 million passengers per year, compared with the capacity of Hanoi - Noi Bai airport of 8 million passengers and Da Nang's 2 million passengers...
. JGS Headquarters was one of six critical targets for the communist forces, and elements of the C-10 Sapper Battalion were assigned to attack the building. Shortly after his arrival, enemy combatants seized control of Gate 4 at the airport and were threatening to attack JGS Headquarters. By sheer luck, two armed and supplied battalions were at Tân Sơn Nhứt awaiting transport to I Corps. Viên immediately ordered their dispersal throughout the city of Saigon, preventing a collapse in the city's defense. Retaining two companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
, he ordered a counter-attack against the enemy elements controlling access to the airport and threw them back. Due to the severe lack of personnel, Vien used almost his entire staff as combat personnel and took personal command of them in the field to repel the communist attack on the air base. Majors and colonels led platoons and captains and lieutenants acted as privates. Thanks to Gen. Viên's actions, JGS Headquarters remained the only secure military location in Saigon. Kỳ and most of the top generals in the city spent the next several days in Viên's office coordinating the counter-attack, sleeping on his office rug at night. Viên coordinated the city's defense throughout the first critical hours of the Tet Offensive, ordering JGS officers and staff into the streets to personally lead combat divisions throughout Saigon. Most of the fighting in the city ended by dawn the next day, although small elements of communist forces held out until March 7 Viên personally led troops in Operation Tran Hung Dao, the counter-offensive which began on February 3.
In the aftermath of the Tet Offensive, Viên became convinced that North Vietnam intended to cut South Vietnam in two by occupying the Tây Nguyên
Tây Nguyên
Tây Nguyên, translated as Western Highlands and sometimes also called Central Highlands, is one of the regions of Vietnam. It contains the provinces of Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Lâm Đồng....
, or Central Highlands. Westmoreland disagreed, and reinforced Khe Sanh
Khe Sanh
Khe Sanh is the district capital of Hướng Hoá District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, located 63 km west of Đông Hà.Khe Sanh Combat Base was a United States Marine Corps outpost in South Vietnam used during the Vietnam War. The airstrip was built in September 1962...
more than 185 miles (300 km) to the north. On April 1, 1968, Viên attended a meeting at Nha Trang
Nha Trang
Nha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khanh Hoa province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the North by Ninh Hoà district, on the East by the South China Sea, on the South by Cam Ranh town and on the West by Diên Khánh district...
called by Gen. Westmoreland and attended by Westmoreland, Lt. Gen. Lê Nguyên Khang
Le Nguyen Khang
Lieutenant General Lê Nguyên Khang was a Marine Commander of the Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps for South Vietnam.-Assignments:*Commander of the Marine Corps,*VNN Commander,*Commander of the Capital Military Zone,...
(Commander of III Corps), Gen. Creighton Abrams
Creighton Abrams
Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. was a general in the United States Army who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968–72 which saw U.S. troop strength in Vietnam fall from a peak of 543,000 to 49,000. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1972 until shortly...
(who was due to succeed Westmoreland on June 10, 1968), and Deputy Ambassador to Vietnam Samuel D. Berger. Berger made an impromptu speech declaring the Tet Offensive a great victory for South Vietnam and urging support for President Thiệu (rumors of another coup were rife). But angry at what he perceived as President Thiệu's lack of aggressive prosecution of the war and exhausted by his duties, Viên allegedly attempted to resign on April 3, 1968. Viên then denied he had done so, instead saying that he threatened to do so if U.S. and South Vietnamese forces were put under a unified command.
Vien later criticised the US and South Vietnam for not pressing home their advantage and going on a large-scale offensive in an attempt to totally defeat the communists immediately.
Post-Defense Minister role
Thiệu considered replacing Viên as JGS Chair in June 1968, but kept him in the position. Viên remained a strong supporter of Executive Vice President Kỳ, who remained a very powerful figure in the government and had the support of nearly 1 million Roman CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
refugees in the country. Viên (like Kỳ) opposed the appointment of Trần Văn Hương as Prime Minister, and Kỳ signalled to President Thiệu that he would not like to see Viên or the other generals who supported Kỳ removed from their positions. Viên subsequently accompanied Thiệu to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
for yet another meeting with President Johnson in July 1968 and to an eight-day state visit to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
in May 1969. Viên's political position remained unstable, however. Several times in 1969 and 1970, Prime Minister Trần Văn Hương advised Thiệu to replace Vien with Lt. Gen. Đỗ Cao Trí
Do Cao Tri
Lieutenant General Đỗ Cao Trí was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam known for his fighting prowess and flamboyant style. Tri started out in the French Army before transferring to the Vietnamese National Army and the ARVN...
.
Lt. Gen. Viên continued to act as chief strategist for South Vietnamese armed forces, but his influence was increasingly impaired. In June 1968, he advocated that the U.S. resume bombing of North Vietnam. In September 1968, he advocated the invasion and occupation of Cambodia, Laos, and southern North Vietnam. But as President Johnson and later President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
began implementing the policy of Vietnamization (under which there would be gradual American troop withdrawals and extensive re-arming and training of ARVN forces with the aim of leaving the war completely in the hands of the South Vietnamese), Viên and other South Vietnamese military leaders were rarely consulted or informed ahead of time about these decisions. For example, when the U.S. considered an immediate halt to all bombing of North Vietnam in October 1968, only President Thiệu was consulted. Viên nonetheless was forced to help implement Vietnamization. Based on the conversations in Hawaii six months earlier, he held the first JGS discussions on American troop withdrawals in January 1969. Viên remained silent about his views of the American policy, but his aides were extremely pessimistic about its success. Viên did, however, support Ambassador
United States Ambassador to South Vietnam
After World War II, France attempted to regain control of Vietnam, which they had lost to Japan in 1940. Following the First Indochina War, the country was split into two parts, the north and the south. The southern part was named The State of Vietnam under the leadership of Bảo Đại...
Ellsworth Bunker
Ellsworth Bunker
Ellsworth F. Bunker was an American businessman and diplomat...
's "One War" strategy (under which pacification, counter-insurgency
Counter-insurgency
A counter-insurgency or counterinsurgency involves actions taken by the recognized government of a nation to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it...
, and Vietnamization all took equal importance) and assisted Gen. Abrams with developing the Combined (US/SVN) Strategic Objective Plan of 1969. The plan involved the transfer of hundreds of aging American military camps to the South Vietnamese armed forces. Many ARVN officers criticized Viên's plan to base ARVN troops in these static positions, arguing that it isolated the Army from the populace, hurt morale, and reduced mobility. Lt. Gen. Viên accompanied President Thiệu to Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
in June 1969, where the two men learned of President Nixon's intention to withdraw 25,000 American troops from South Vietnam within 60 days. In what became the then-largest single transfer of military equipment to South Vietnam, Lt. Gen. Viên received 64 river patrol boats
Patrol Boat, River
Patrol Boat, River , or PBR, is the United States Navy designation for a small rigid-hulled patrol boat used in the Vietnam War from March 1966 until the end of 1971...
from the United States just days later—yet another indication of the American withdrawal.
Vietnamization
Viên continued to worry about the prosecution of the war effort. He told the press and his American military advisors that he expected the United States to maintain a force of at least 250,000 troops on the ground for the next several years, and that if the U.S. did not he did not expect South Vietnam to survive. Beginning in 1970, he asked to be relieved as Chief of the JGS and assigned command of the Airborne Brigade, but President Thiệu refused each time (wishing to retain the apolitical general in this critical role). As Vietnamization continued, Viên clamped down once more on the American press. He led JGS staff in exercises in determining how much territory ARVN could defend with varying amounts of U.S. aid. He also began planning independent military operations to cope with the effects of Vietnamization. Although Gen. William B. RossonWilliam B. Rosson
General William Bradford Rosson commanded the U.S. Army, Pacific from October 1970 to January 1973. He was commissioned in 1940 through ROTC and saw combat in World War II, earning the Distinguished Service Cross for valor on the Anzio Beachhead in Italy...
met with him in April 1970 to warn against it, Viên began planning for ARVN troops to engage in cross-border attacks into Cambodia to strike at Viet Cong and PAVN staging and supply areas. He also reorganized the ARVN command structure, providing for joint command of III and IV Corps while operating inside Cambodia and the establishment of a Cambodian military liaison officer to the JGS.
At a high-level meeting of cabinet officials and generals in October 1970, Viên again sought and won support for a plan (Operation Lam Son 719
Operation Lam Son 719
Operation Lam Son 719 was a limited-objective offensive campaign conducted in southeastern portion of the Kingdom of Laos by the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam between 8 February and 25 March 1971, during the Vietnam War...
) to send ARVN troops into Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Viên and President Thiệu met with United States Secretary of Defense
United States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
Melvin R. Laird
Melvin R. Laird
Melvin Robert Laird is an American politician and writer. Laird was a Republican congressman who also served as Richard Nixon's Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1973. Laird urged Nixon to maintain a policy of withdrawing US soldiers from Vietnam...
on January 11, 1971, and proposed their plan. With Laird's tentative approval, Viên met with Gen. Creighton Abrams and worked out the military details. Viên had proposed an invasion of Laos "countless" times since 1965, making it one of his top strategic goals. But the invasion was a disaster. Poor roads, rough terrain, and a much higher than expected number of PAVN artillery and machine gun positions (which interdicted airborne resupply efforts) brought the invasion to a halt halfway to its intended target of the city of Tchepone by the first of March. A worried Viên met with Gen. Abrams, President Thiệu, and U.S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker on March 3 to discuss a change in tactics, and concluded that ARVN airborne forces would make an assault on the abandoned town of Tchepone and occupy it. The assault was successful, and two days later a withdrawal began. The withdrawal turned into an undisciplined, panicked retreat with very heavy losses which was completed on April 6, 1971.
In an example of what he called "pure psywar
Psychological warfare
Psychological warfare , or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations , have been known by many other names or terms, including Psy Ops, Political Warfare, “Hearts and Minds,” and Propaganda...
," Viên also spread rumors that ARVN troops might invade across the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone
Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone
The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam as a result of the First Indochina War.During the Second Indochina War , it became important as the battleground demarcation separating North Vietnamese territory from South Vietnamese territory.-...
and invade North Vietnam (rumors intended to keep three PAVN brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
s pinned down there). General Viên met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Laird, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, and is the principal military adviser to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council and the Secretary of Defense...
Admiral
Admiral (United States)
In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, admiral is a four-star flag officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below Fleet Admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health...
Thomas H. Moorer
Thomas Hinman Moorer
-External links:...
, and Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command (CINCPAC)
United States Pacific Command
The United States Pacific Command is a Unified Combatant Command of the United States armed forces responsible for the Pacific Ocean area. It is led by the Commander, Pacific Command , who is the supreme military authority for the various branches of the Armed Forces of the United States serving...
Admiral John S. McCain, Jr.
John S. McCain, Jr.
John Sidney "Jack" McCain Jr. was a United States Navy admiral, who served in conflicts from the 1940s through the 1970s, including as the Commander, United States Pacific Command....
in November 1971 to discuss the effect of military aid cuts.
General Viên's role as Chief of JGS became more advisory after 1971. After PAVN's success during the early months of the Easter Offensive in March and April 1972—during which the city of Quảng Trị
Quang Tri
Quảng Trị is a town district of Quang Tri province in the North Central Coastal region of Vietnam. Significantly, it was the only South Vietnamese provincial capital to be captured by the North Vietnamese forces for a limited period in the 1972 offensive....
and the provinces of Bình Định
Binh Dinh Province
Bình Định is a province of Vietnam. It is located in Vietnam's South Central Coast region.-Administration:Binh Dinh is divided into one city and 10 districts:*An Lão*An Nhơn*Hoài Ân*Hoài Nhơn*Phù Cát*Phù Mỹ*Tuy Phước*Tây Sơn*Vân Canh...
and Kon Tum Province
Kon Tum Province
Kon Tum province lies in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam and shares borders with Laos and Cambodia. It has an area of 9,934 square km and a population of approximately 330,000. The economy is primarily agricultural.-Name:...
were lost to communist forces—President Thiệu consulted with Gen. Viên but continued to personally direct the war without general staff assistance. Viên still believed ARVN capable of defeating the insurgents if his military forces were given enough supplies. As the Easter Offensive ended in October, speculation was rife that the Thiệu government might not be able to survive. Viên was among the individuals who South Vietnamese and American officials felt might be able to form a coalition government with the Viet Cong, if such an action were necessary.
Gen. Viên nearly became a signatory to the Paris Peace Accords
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords of 1973 intended to establish peace in Vietnam and an end to the Vietnam War, ended direct U.S. military involvement, and temporarily stopped the fighting between North and South Vietnam...
in 1973. A tentative agreement between the United States and North Vietnam was reached in late October 1972, but President Thiệu rejected the accord and demanded 69 changes. Concerned that the Hanoi government might pull out of the negotiations altogether and seek to defeat the South Vietnamese, President Nixon ordered the heavy aerial bombing (Operation Linebacker II
Operation Linebacker II
Operation Linebacker II was a US Seventh Air Force and US Navy Task Force 77 aerial bombing campaign, conducted against targets in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam during the final period of US involvement in the Vietnam War...
) of North Vietnam in December 1972. Although American losses were light overall and damage in North Vietnam heavy, American public opinion and Congressional anger ran high against the bombing campaign. The Hanoi government agreed to return to the bargaining table, and Nixon suspended operations against North Vietnam on December 29, 1972. Nixon offered repeated, private assurances (which did not have the weight of formal diplomatic guarantees) to President Thiệu several times during the first two weeks of January, but could not get him to agree to sign the peace document. When President Thiệu continued to balk, Nixon told him that he would independently sign the peace accord on January 23 with or without South Vietnamese consent. Thiệu capitulated. By January 22, however, it was unclear if Thiệu would actually send a delegate to Paris to sign the documents. Gen. Viên offered to go to Paris to initial the peace agreement without Thiệu's consent, but President Nixon vetoed the idea.
General Viên was the most senior South Vietnamese official to represent the government as General Frederick C. Weyand
Frederick C. Weyand
Frederick Carlton Weyand was a U.S. Army General. Weyand was the last commander of US military operations in the Vietnam War from 1972–1973, and served as the 28th US Army Chief of Staff from 1974-1976.-Early career:...
and the final contingent of U.S. ground troops left Vietnam on March 28, 1973.
Viên ordered heightened security for the 1974 Tết holiday, and in April 1974 traveled to the United States to plead (unsuccessfully) for more military aid. He was appointed a member of the Presidential Military Council in 1975 along with generals Trần Thiện Khiêm and Dạng Văn Quảng. He also promoted Lt. Gen. Đổng Văn Khuyên, a close friend and Commander of the Central Logistics Command, to act concurrently as Chief of Staff of the JGS. In the opinion of Major General Homer D. Smith, the U.S. defense attaché, Khuyên's appointment enhanced operations and personnel operations while diminishing the managerial efficiency of logistics and creating jealousy among other military commanders.
Role during regime's final days
Viên was present at the fateful meeting in March 1975 which led to South Vietnam's collapse. At the end of February 1975, President Thiệu (accompanied by Gen. Viên and Prime Minister Gen. Trần Thiện Khiêm) made a brief visit to Cam Ranh Bay to assess the military situation in South Vietnam's northernmost military zone. At an assembly of top generals on March 11, 1975, President Thiệu declared he would abandon the Central Highlands—trading land in order to achieve a more defensible concentration of population and troops around Saigon and the Mekong Delta. Although he had long believed such a move was necessary, Viên did not speak up in support of any such plan until this meeting. Yet, he also did not voice his belief that the war was unwinnable if the Central Highlands were abandoned. Accounts of this meeting do differ, however. Some versions of the meeting have Viên remaining silent at Thieu's decision. Whichever version is correct, the government did not prepare the army, its allies, or the public for the decision, nor did it anticipate how the decision might affect the war effort. Although Gen. Viên met with Maj. Gen. Homer D. Smith shortly after the March 11 meeting, he did not inform him about President Thiệu's decision—leaving the Americans unprepared for what followed. Thiệu's decision led to widespread panic among the public, and the collapse of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. As panic set in and ARVN troops refused to fight or deserted in large numbers, Gen. Viên tried to rally his nation's troops: "We have only one way and that is to fight for our survival. The historic hour has come." But privately he expressed his belief that the Thiệu government could no longer prosecute the war effort effectively. General Viên, President Thiệu, Vice President Trần Văn Hương, and Prime Minister Gen. Trần Thiện Khiêm consulted with Gen. Weyand (visiting South Vietnam on a fact-finding mission) on April 1. Also present were U.S. Ambassador Graham MartinGraham Martin
Graham Anderson Martin succeeded Ellsworth Bunker as United States Ambassador to South Vietnam in 1973. He would be the last person to hold that position. Martin previously served as ambassador to Thailand and as U.S. representative to SEATO....
and Maj. Gen. Homer D. Smith. Weyand delivered a personal message from President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
indicating that limited amounts of critical supplies and equipment were coming, but that the South Vietnamese army had to hold its ground.
General Viên met with Gen. Trần Văn Đôn
Tran Van Don
Trần Văn Đôn was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and one of the principal figures in the coup d'état which deposed Ngô Đình Diệm from the presidency of South Vietnam.-Family:...
, the new South Vietnamese Defense Minister, on April 16 and advised him that ARVN troops would no longer fight. To Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Ted Serong
Ted Serong
Brigadier Francis Philip "Ted" Serong DSO, OBE was a senior officer of the Australian Army, most notable for his contributions to counter-insurgency and jungle warfare tactics, and as commander of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam from 1962 until 1965.-Early life:The path that took Serong...
, this was a sign that Gen. Viên himself was abandoning the fight. But Maj. Gen. Homer D. Smith felt that Viên and the JGS staff were working very hard to reconstitute forces which had fled and wanted to continue to fight. On April 21, Gen. Viên issued a statement that said he would not resign and intended to stay and fight. On April 27, Viên helped brief members of the National Assembly on what was likely to happen once the city fell. Air Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ later said he called Gen. Viên on April 27 and offered to lead a tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
column so that they could open the road to the west and help tens of thousands of people flee the city, but Gen. Viên dissuaded him. Viên's next actions are unclear. Some accounts say that Gen. Viên then resigned, telling President Trần Văn Hương that he could not serve under Gen. Dương Văn Minh (who had returned to the country in 1968 and would be named President on April 27). But other versions of the fall of Saigon have Gen. Viên leaving Vietnam on April 28 without resigning, leaving the JGS in turmoil.
Saigon fell to PAVN forces
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
on April 30, 1975.
Assessment
Assessments of Cao Văn Viên's military career are generally positive. In his memoir, A Soldier Reports, Gen. William Westmoreland concluded, "Never have I known a more admirable man: honest, loyal, reserved, scholarly, diplomatic." Historians have said his strategic and command skills compared favorably with those of American General Earle G. Wheeler, and that Gen. Creighton Abrams respected Viên deeply. Maj. Gen. Homer D. Smith said, "I was most impressed with this gentleman. Our relationship was one of complete candor on the matters he chose to discuss. ... I never heard him say an unkind thing about anyone. Despite the obvious facts of too little support and and the failing prospects of getting more support, he was never bitter. He was a very gracious person." In a top secret report in July 1970, Colonel John K. SinglaubJohn K. Singlaub
John Kirk Singlaub is a highly-decorated former OSS officer and a retired Major General in the United States Army, and a founding member of the Central Intelligence Agency . He was a joint founder, with Congressman Larry McDonald, of the Western Goals Foundation, a conservative private...
said he had "a very warm personal working relationship" with Viên, and described the general as a "major factor in getting things done".
There are some critics, however. General Lâm Quang Thi called him a "colorless" man who preferred practicing yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
over leading troops. Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
reporter George McArthur called him "something of a prima donna." Nguyễn Tiến Hưng described him as "a mediocre staff officer, without imagination."
Post-war life
Cao Văn Viên left Vietnam for the United States on April 28, 1975. He arrived in America on April 29, 1975, aboard a C-141 StarlifterC-141 Starlifter
The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter was a military strategic airlifter in service with the Air Mobility Command of the United States Air Force...
aircraft which landed at El Toro Marine Air Station
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located near Irvine, California.Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps aviation on the West Coast. Designated as a Master Jet Station, its four runways could handle the largest aircraft...
. He was met by Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
Brigadier General R.W. Taylor and taken to an undisclosed location before being reunited with his family. The Viên family had strong ties to the U.S. already: In 1973, Gen. Viên's oldest son was a doctoral student
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
at American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
and his second-oldest son was attending high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The Viên family settled briefly in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, where his wife Tran Thi Tao ran a dry cleaning
Dry cleaning
Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a chemical solvent other than water. The solvent used is typically tetrachloroethylene , abbreviated "perc" in the industry and "dry-cleaning fluid" by the public...
business. The Viên family then moved to Falls Church, Virginia
Falls Church, Virginia
The City of Falls Church is an independent city in Virginia, United States, in the Washington Metropolitan Area. The city population was 12,332 in 2010, up from 10,377 in 2000. Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Anglican parish, Falls Church gained township status within...
, His wife started an export-import business. For a time, Gen. Viên was paid $1,500 by the U.S. Army to write monographs about the conduct of the Vietnam War. His most comprehensive analysis was The Final Collapse, in which he argued that cutbacks in military assistance and a lack of U.S. air power led to the defeat of the South Vietnamese government. After finishing his work for the U.S. Army, Gen. Viên considered teaching French literature, but he suffered from rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks synovial joints. The process produces an inflammatory response of the synovium secondary to hyperplasia of synovial cells, excess synovial fluid, and the development...
and was unable to work. Viên was a lifelong adherent of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
; fluent in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French, and Laotian; never smoked or drank; and loved birds. He became an American citizen in 1982. He kept bees and allowed them to sting him to dull the pain of his arthritis, but this unorthodox remedy was only temporarily effective.
Gen. Viên's wife died in 1991. His daughter, Lan Cao
Lan Cao
Lan Cao is the author of the 1997 novel Monkey Bridge and is a professor of law at the College of William and Mary.Cao was born in Vietnam and experienced the Vietnam War as a civilian. She moved to the United States when she was 13. Cao received her B.A. in political science from Mount Holyoke...
, became a professor of law at the College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
. His son Cao Anh Tuan died in 1996, and his son Cao Anh Dzung disappeared and has never been found. Cao Văn Viên lived his last years at Sleepy Hollow Manor, an assisted living
Assisted living
Assisted living residences or assisted living facilities provide supervision or assistance with activities of daily living ; coordination of services by outside health care providers; and monitoring of resident activities to help to ensure their health, safety, and well-being.Assistance may...
facility in Annandale, Virginia
Annandale, Virginia
Annandale is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 41,008 at the 2010 census, down from 54,994 in 2000 due to the splitting off of the western part of it to form Wakefield and Woodburn CDP's.-Geography:...
. He died there of cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
on January 22, 2008. He was survived by his daughter and five grandchildren.
Controversy over wealth
At the time that he left Vietnam, the American press believed that General Viên was one of the wealthiest generals able to escape the country. The Los Angeles Times reported that "repeated American complaints" had prevented Viên himself from accumulating wealth or engaging in corruption.General Viên's wife, Tao Thi Tran, was the daughter of one of the largest landowners in the Mekong Delta. Her father was executed by the Viet Cong and her family's land confiscated. A savvy businesswoman, she built a large number of businesses while her husband was in the military. She owned and ran bars
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
and hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s that catered to U.S. military personnel and diplomats, owned and operated a Pepsi-Cola bottling franchise, owned a San Miguel beer distributorship
Distribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...
, owned a large construction company that built 20 to 30 homes each year, owned extensive tracts of land, and ran an export-import business which specialized in Vietnamese handicrafts. She was also said to sell favors and military and political promotions.
Accusations were also frequently made that General Viên's wife had enriched the family due to her husband's position, although there was almost no evidence to support such claims. In September 1970, a member of the National Assembly accused Gen. Viên of extensive corruption. After the fall of Saigon, Nguyễn Văn Ngái (a former Minister of Rural Development and former Senator in the National Assembly) also accused the Viêns of corruption. Another unsubstantiated claim was that the Viêns had deposited $1 million in a bank in Guam during their flight from South Vietnam.
Other awards
In addition to his National Order of Vietnam, Silver Star, and Legion of Merit, General Viên was awarded eight other medals from the governments of the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, and Thailand. He also received the following honors from the Republic of Vietnam as of 1967:
- Army Distinguished Service Order, 1st class
- Air Force Order, 1st class
- Navy Distinguished Service Order, 1st class
- Gallantry Crosses (12 Citations: eight with Palm, two with Silver Star, two with Brass Star)
- Air Gallantry Medal (Golden Wing)
- Hazardous Service Medal