South Vietnamese general (1928?1975)
Major General
Ph?m V?n Phu
(16 October 1928?– 30 April 1975) was an officer in the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
.
Military service
[
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]
Vietnamese National Army
[
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]
Phu began his military career as an interpreter for the
French Army
. He was then selected to attend the
Dalat Military Academy
, graduating in July 1953. He was appointed as a company commander in the
5th Vietnamese Parachute Battalion
of the
Vietnamese National Army
. During the
battle of Dien Bien Phu
he was captured with the remainder of the French garrison when it was overrun by the
Viet Minh
on 7 May 1954. He was held prisoner for 16 months and contracted
tuberculosis
.
[1]
: 135
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
[
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]
Upon his release he continued to serve with the new
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
(ARVN), becoming one of the first ARVN
Special Forces
commanders.
[1]
: 135
After serving in the
Mekong Delta
and then as deputy commander of the
1st Division
, in August 1970 he was appointed commander of the 1st Division. He commanded the division during
Operation Lam Son 719
in early 1971 and was promoted to
Major general
.
[1]
: 135?6
In an interview with
The New York Times
in early February 1972 he and
3rd Infantry Division
commander General
V? V?n Giai
expressed doubts about the widely anticipated PAVN offensive in the northern provinces in mid-February stating that no major action would take place until March at the earliest due to the need for the PAVN to build up their logistics.
[2]
After suffering exhaustion during the 1972
Easter Offensive
, he was relieved of command and hospitalized. Following his recuperation, he served as director of the
Quang Trung National Training Center
from early 1973.
[1]
: 136
On 5 November 1974 he assumed command of
II Corps/Military Region II
in
Pleiku
.
[1]
: 136
1975
[
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]
He was theater commander during the
Battle of Ban Me Thuot
which was part of North Vietnam's
Campaign 275
to capture the
Central Highlands
.
[3]
: 140
When the initial PAVN attacks began in the Central Highlands Phu received conflicting reports on the PAVN objectives and believed that either Pleiku or
Kontum
were the intended targets rather than
Ban Me Thuot
, leading to a delayed response to the PAVN attack.
[3]
: 149
On 14 March 1975 following the loss of Ban Me Thuot, Phu flew to
Cam Ranh Base
for a meeting with President
Nguy?n V?n Thi?u
, chairman of the
Joint General Staff
(JGS) General
Cao V?n Vien
, Lt Gen.
đ?ng V?n Quang
and Prime Minister
Tr?n Thi?n Khiem
. Thi?u outlined his concept, Phu's role would be to retake Ban Me Thuot using the troops he still had in Kontum and Pleiku Provinces and the
22nd Division
from
Binh đ?nh Province
. With
Route 19
cut in Pleiku and Binh đ?nh and no way to use Routes 14 and 21 through
Darlac
, Phu had only the rough interprovincial Route 7B available to withdraw his Kontum-Pleiku forces, assemble them in
Khanh Hoa Province
and then fight back up Route 21 into Ban Me Thuot. Although many hazards were discussed, this approach was accepted by Thi?u and Phu flew back to his headquarters to set the plan in motion.
[3]
: 151
On his return to Pleiku, Phu appointed the newly promoted Brigadier General Pham Duy Tat, commander of II Corps
Rangers
, to command the withdrawal down Route 7B. Phu then moved his command post to II Corps Rear at
Nha Trang
and departed with his staff.
[3]
: 151
Tat however was only concerned with the safety of his Rangers and their families and responsibility for the withdrawal fell to Phu's chief of staff Colonel Le Khac Ly.
[4]
: 92
Phu hoped that surprise would make it possible to reach
Tuy Hoa
within three days before the PAVN could discover and react to the movement. However the poor condition of Route 7B prevented quick movement and the withdrawal of ARVN forces led to a mass exodus of civilians who soon became entangled in combat formations, impeding their movement and ability to deploy and fight.
[3]
: 152
The PAVN moved to intercept the withdrawal and by 18 March was attacking the column. The vanguard of the "convoy of tears" eventually reached Tuy Hoa on 25 March. Only an estimated 20,000 of the 60,000 troops reached Tuy Hoa and they were no longer fit for combat.
[4]
: 96
On 29 March Phu issued new command responsibilities for what was left of II Corps, however the momentum of the PAVN advance was such that a defense at Cam Ranh was no longer feasible.
[3]
: 163?4
Phu met with General
Nguy?n V?n Hi?u
, the deputy commander of
III Corps
near
Phan Thi?t
on the morning of 2 April, Hi?u informed Phu that II Corps had been dissolved and the remaining provinces and forces would be incorporated into III Corps. On hearing this Phu attempted suicide with his pistol but was stopped by one of his officers, he was then put on a helicopter and flown to
Saigon
.
[1]
: 353
He committed suicide in Saigon on 30 April 1975, the day of the
fall of Saigon
.
[1]
: 496
Assessments
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In postwar interviews conducted by the
RAND Corporation
with senior South Vietnamese military and civilian officials on the causes of the collapse of South Vietnam, the interviewees were all highly critical of the withdrawal from the Central Highlands with one saying "it must rank as one of the worst planned and the worst executed withdrawal operations in the annals of military history." Phu was widely blamed for the disaster with interviewees saying that while he had been a "good division commander" he was "unfit" for Corps command with "poor intellectual and professional capability." Ly described him as "the type of person who acts according to his sentiment rather than his logic". One interviewee suggested that Phu failed to stay and command the withdrawal himself due to fear of being captured by the PAVN as he had at Dien Bien Phu.
[4]
: 96
Awards and decorations
[
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]
South Vietnam
:
National Order of Vietnam
, Class Unknown
Army
Distinguished Service Order
, First Class
Gallantry Cross
(17)
[1]
: 135
Hazardous Service Medal
Armed Forces Honor Medal
, First Class
Leadership Medal
, Level Unknown
Staff Service Medal
, First Class
Training Service Medal
, First Class
Civil Actions Medal
, First Class
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Military Service Medal
, Second Class
Air Service Medal, Class Unknown
Navy Service Medal, First Class
Chuong My Medal, First Class
France
:
References
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Corps
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Divisions
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Branches
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ARVN Sub-branches
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Air bases
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Coup attempts
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Notable
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Ranks and insignia
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