Word: nguyens
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...unexpected new reality. It had taken a bare seven weeks for the Saigon government to slide precipitately to abject defeat. The collapse had begun with a Communist attack on the provincial capital of Ban Me Thuot in the Central Highlands, 160 miles north of Saigon. Then followed President Nguyen Van Thieu's disastrous strategic withdrawal, which turned into a rout. Within weeks, Communist forces had advanced virtually unopposed to the very outskirts of Saigon. Forced to resign and flee the country, Thieu was replaced by his aging, ineffectual Vice President, Tran Van Huong, who in turn gave way after just...
...early last week there were at least 130,000 Communist troops surrounding Saigon, squared off against just 60,000 ARVN troops. And while South Vietnamese forces were steadily depleted through desertions and encounters with the enemy, the North Vietnamese forces kept growing. General Nguyen Van Toan, commander of the military region around the capital, privately conceded that the battle had been lost; so did most of ARVN's top leadership. "Their morale and their leadership are just flowing away," said a senior military observer who only a week ago was still hopeful that Saigon could yet pull off "a small...
That very evening the iron gates of Independence Palace were thrown open, and black limousines began rolling up the long driveway, carrying South Viet Nam's 159 Deputies, 60 Senators, its judiciary and top generals. All had been summoned on just two hours' notice. The helicopter of Premier Nguyen Ba Can fluttered overhead and set down on the palace grounds. Under unbearable pressure, having utterly lost his credibility as South Viet Nam's leader, Thieu announced that he was stepping down...
...week progressed, Minh's backing became almost unanimous. Former Premier and Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky, who just a month ago seemed to be making his own bid for power, began trying to organize pro-Minh sentiment within the armed forces. Politicians, religious and opposition leaders added their backing; even the powerful leader of the An Quang Pagoda group, the Venerable Thich Tri Quang, issued an unprecedented personal endorsement...
...sleeping on the floor. In 1946 Tra became chief of staff of the Viet Minh in central Viet Nam. Not long after the war with the French ended, he was named deputy chief of staff to North Viet Nam's Defense Minister and legendary military strategist, General Vo Nguyen Giap. Tra returned to the South in 1965 to become head of the National Liberation Front's military committee and adopted the pseudonym Nam Trung...