Lê Văn Hưng was born in Hóc Môn, 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...

 of Vietnam

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 –...

, and graduated from Thủ Đức Military Academy

Thu Duc Military Academy

Thủ Đức Military Academy was an officer training school of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . It was located in the Thủ Đức district of the capital Saigon....

, 5th class, in 1955. He held many commands from company to battalion level. However, Hưng was perhaps best known as the “Hero of An Lộc” in 1972 when he commanded the 5th Division in defense of the city of An Lộc

An Loc

An Loc is a small town in Bình Phước Province in southern Vietnam, located approximately 90 km north of Saigon with a population of 15,000...

 from the coordinated attacks of the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces in the Battle of An Lộc

Battle of An Loc

The Battle of An Lộc was a major battle of the Vietnam War that lasted for 66 days and culminated in a decisive victory for South Vietnam. In many ways, the struggle for An Lộc in 1972 was an important battle of the war, as South Vietnamese forces halted the North Vietnamese advance towards...

.

Living in a tiny underground bunker for almost three months, Hưng commanded soldiers of the 5th Division, the “famed” 81st Airborne Ranger, the 11th Airborne Brigade, the 21st Division and the Provincial Force of Bình Long Province

Binh Long Province

thumb|right|[[Binh Duong Province|Binh Duong]], [[Phuoc Long Province|Phuoc Long]] and Binh Long provinces in map of South VietnamBình Long is a former province of Dong Nam Bo region in South Vietnam. It now corresponds to the western part of Binh Phuoc province. It was formed on October 22, 1956...

. His forces repelled countless waves of attack by the North Vietnamese infantry, supported by Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

-made T-54 tanks.

Hưng vowed, “If I’m still alive, An Lộc still stands.” His strong determination to hold An Lộc at any cost, and the fighting spirit of the South Vietnamese 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) soldiers, kept An Lộc from falling into communist hands.

Hưng was promoted to General in the field; and later commanded the 21st Division before becoming Deputy Commander of the 4th Military Region (MR4).

When the communists made their “Hồ Chí Minh Campaign

Ho Chi Minh Campaign

The Hồ Chí Minh Campaign was the final title applied to a series of increasingly large-scale and ambitious offensive operations by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam which began on 13 December 1974...

” final assault on South Vietnam in April 1975, after listening to the capitulation order of President 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...

, General Hưng gathered his headquarters staff and family to say goodbye. He was unable to fight to the death because the town people of Cần Thơ had begged him not to resist, believing that it would cause futile bloodshed. Hưng was one of five ARVN generals who committed suicide that day.