Nguyen Van Vy
Encyclopedia
Nguyễn Văn Vy was a Vietnam
ese soldier who rose to the rank of lieutenant general
in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
(ARVN).
Vy was born on January 16, 1916, in Hanoi
. He originally served in the Vietnamese National Army
under General Nguyen Van Hinh
. On May 1, 1955, he was arrested after trying to take over the Army in the name of Emperor Bao Dai
to stop Ngo Dinh Diem
from taking power, and later fled into exile in France.
Vy returned to South Vietnam
after the 1963 coup which removed Diem from power and led to his assassination. He was arrested during the 1964 South Vietnamese coup
for allegedly participating in a plot to declare the country neutral and open talks with the North Vietnamese. But like most military leaders involved in the alleged plot, he was soon released. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant General, and was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in 1967. In February 1967, Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky
appointed him and the Defense Minister, General Cao Văn Viên
, to a committee to root out corruption among senior military personnel. President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
replaced Viên as Defense Minister with Lt. Gen. Vy on May 25, 1968. As Defense Minister, Vy ran the Servicemen's Mutual Aid and Savings Fund (SMASF), a government-run and owned pension fund for South Vietnamese military personnel.
In the summer of 1971, Vy allegedly embezzled millions of dollars from the fund in order to create or buy the Bank of Industry and Commerce, Vicco (a road and bridge construction company), Vi-navatco (a transportation fim), Icico (an insurance company), and Foproco (a food processing company). Thiệu removed him from office on August 6, 1972, for these actions. Vy was placed under house arrest, and fired in March 1974.
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 who rose to the rank of lieutenant general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
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).
Vy was born on January 16, 1916, in Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
. He originally served in the Vietnamese National Army
Vietnamese 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...
under General Nguyen Van Hinh
Nguyen Van Hinh
Nguyễn Văn Hinh , was appointed the Vietnamese National Army Chief of Staff by Emperor Bảo Đại. On November 8, 1954, after the First Indochina War he left South Vietnam in exile for France....
. On May 1, 1955, he was arrested after trying to take over the Army in the name of Emperor Bao Dai
Bao Dai
Bảo Đại , born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy , was the 13th and last ruler of the Nguyễn dynasty. From 1926 to 1945, he was king of Annam under French ‘protection’. During this period, Annam was a protectorate within French Indochina, covering the central two-thirds of the present-day Vietnam...
to stop 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...
from taking power, and later fled into exile in France.
Vy returned to South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
after the 1963 coup which removed Diem from power and led to his assassination. He was arrested during 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...
for allegedly participating in a plot to declare the country neutral and open talks with the North Vietnamese. But like most military leaders involved in the alleged plot, he was soon released. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant General, and was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in 1967. In February 1967, Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky
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...
appointed him and the Defense Minister, General Cao Văn Viên
Cao Van Vien
Cao Văn Viên was a Vietnamese soldier who served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and rose to the position of Chairman of the South Vietnamese Joint General Staff...
, to a committee to root out corruption among senior military personnel. President 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...
replaced Viên as Defense Minister with Lt. Gen. Vy on May 25, 1968. As Defense Minister, Vy ran the Servicemen's Mutual Aid and Savings Fund (SMASF), a government-run and owned pension fund for South Vietnamese military personnel.
In the summer of 1971, Vy allegedly embezzled millions of dollars from the fund in order to create or buy the Bank of Industry and Commerce, Vicco (a road and bridge construction company), Vi-navatco (a transportation fim), Icico (an insurance company), and Foproco (a food processing company). Thiệu removed him from office on August 6, 1972, for these actions. Vy was placed under house arrest, and fired in March 1974.