Bế Giang Hà Bế Giang Hà (1919 - ?), a native of
Cao Bằng province, came from a family of revolutionary traditions. His father was killed by
Chiang Kai-shek’s
army after 1945 and his father-in-law, a local village chief, provided for and hid cadres. During the
First Indochina War, Hà served as Political Commissar of Group 83 (Vietnamese Volunteer Army), the first unit to go to
Laos to fight as part of the
Indochinese trilateral alliance against
France in 1949. This armed group, stationed at
Vientiane, was equivalent to a regiment. With the signing of the
Genève Accords, Bế Giang Hà was transferred to the post of Chief of Office for the Ethnic Affairs Department,
Central Party Committee.
Đào Việt Hưng Đào Việt Hưng, born Lê Giang, was a
PAVN officer during the First Indochina War. He was the Deputy Political Commissar for the Vietnamese Volunteer Army at Upper Laos. He was awarded the First-Class
Order of Resolution for Victory in 1959.
Đỗ Chính Đỗ Chính (1926 - 18 February 1994), born Đỗ Đình Ân, was a Vietnamese politician from the Văn Phúc commune,
Mỹ Hào district,
Hưng Yên province. Born into a poor peasant family, he had to become self-reliant early on. As a teenager, he moved to
Hà Nội for work and to further his education. During the anti-Japanese national liberation movement, this poor but ambitious young man joined the Youth National Salvation Movement in Zone 3, Hà Nội. He was elected to the Executive Committee of the Zone's Youth Union and organized activities in the area. Due to alleged disturbances and sabotage from the
Vietnamese Kuomintang in
Phú Thọ province, the Phú Thọ Provincial
Việt Minh Committee request reinforcements. Đỗ Chính was assigned to Phú Thọ in January 1946, participating in the district Việt Minh committees of
Phù Ninh and
Thanh Ba districts. In December 1946, he was admitted to the
Indochinese Communist Party. He later served as Chairman of the Resistance Administrative Committee and concurrently as Secretary of the Thanh Thuỷ District Party Committee in Phú Thọ province. In August 1947, he transferred to work in the province, joining the Provincial Party Committee, serving as its Director of Office, then being appointed to the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Director of the Organization Department, and Director of the Inspection Department of the Phú Thọ Provincial Party Committee. From September 1949, he participated in the Party Affairs Committee of Zone 10 and then the Việt Bắc Inter-Region. In mid-1950, the organization reassigned him to the border province of Hải Ninh (now
Quảng Ninh), where he served as Deputy Secretary and then Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, concurrently Political Officer of the Hải Ninh Provincial Force. After the Genève Conference in 1954, he was selected as Chairman of the Hải Ninh Provincial Military & Political Committee in preparation for the takeover. In October 1955, he joined the Land Reform Group in
Ninh Bình province. Throughout this early phase in his career, Chính was always present in the hotspots of conflict concerning the Vietnamese Kuomintang Party, bandits, and remnants of Chiang Kai-shek's army seeking refuge across the
Sino-Vietnamese border. Being a studious person, he always devoted time to studying politics, culture, learning
Cantonese and other languages of the ethnic minorities in the areas where he worked. He was then transferred to the military in the capacity of Political Officer for the 2nd Battalion under Group 40 of the Supreme Command, Deputy Director of the Political Section in the 332nd Regiment (Northeastern Military Region), and then Political Commissar of the 248th Regiment (Left Bank Military Region). From March 1959 to May 1961, he returned to civic duties as Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and directly as Director of the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department in Hải Ninh. In June 1961, Chính was transferred to
Hải Phòng, becoming a standing member of the Municipal Party Committee, serving as Vice Chairman of the Administrative Committee and concurrently Director of the Municipal Planning Committee. Although serving in the military, Đỗ Chính still participated in the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and served as a member of the Hải Phòng Municipal Administrative Committee to facilitate the coordination of combat and production activities supporting the war effort. In particular, when the Hải Phòng Port's operations failed to keep pace with cargo handling, the Party assigned him to concurrently take the position of Secretary of the Port District Party Committee to resolve difficulties and ensure timely cargo release for combat, production, and battlefield support. During this time, the Municipal Party Committee sometimes assigned him to directly serve as Chairman of the Agricultural Committee - a pilot model for managing the agricultural sector proposed by Hải Phòng and approved by the Central Party Committee. Chính devoted much effort and dedication to both directing production and building this pilot management model. At the 4th Party Congress (December 1976), he was elected as an alternate member of the Party Central Committee, and appointed Minister of Fisheries and concurrently Secretary of the Party Cadre Committee. In 1981, Đỗ Chính held the position of Director of the Central Party Planning and Finance Committee; he was re-elected as a standing member of the Central Committee of the Party for the 5th session (March 1982), 6th session (1986), and 7th session (December 1991); and a
National Assembly delegate for the 6th session (1981-1986). He was entrusted with many important responsibilities: Deputy Director and then Head of the Vietnamese experts delegation in
Cambodia (from 1984), Director of the Vietnamese Economic Committee, First Deputy Director of the Central Economic Committee, and concurrently Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Economic Agencies group. During the mid-term of the 7th Party Congress, due to poor health, Chính voluntarily requested to withdraw from the Standing Committee of the Party Central Committee. He commanded several battles, such as destroying a platoon of remnant French troops at the Thadeua bund and eliminating a commando platoon in the Nongpakthop field northwest of Vientiane. In 1946, Rừa and other Vietnamese cadres went to
Thailand to purchase weapons and organized an overseas Vietnamese armed group named the "Trần Phú Detachment", where he again became deputy commander. Afterwards, he returned to Vietnam and was transferred to the position of Deputy Commander of the 99th Regiment in
Bến Tre. When Zone 8 decided to establish the 307th Battalion, he was appointed its commander. Rừa led the 307th Battalion to victory in many battles: Song Thuận -
Mỹ Tho, Tháp Mười,
Mộc Hóa, La Bang… In early June 1949, when the enemy launched a large-scale sweep operation in
Đồng Tháp Mười, his battalion was ordered to resist the enemy. Rừa directly commanded the operation at the head of the 931st Company. His troops annihilated nearly an entire enemy company, but 20 soldiers were killed, including battalion commander Đỗ Huy Rừa at Sài Tư, North Mỹ Thành commune,
Cai Lậy district,
Tiền Giang province. Musician Nguyễn Hữu Trí, then working at Zone 8, composed the song "The 307th Battalion" based on the poem "Cửu Long River" from famous writer
Nguyễn Bính. In 1984, Rừa was reburied at the Tiền Giang Provincial Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery. He was posthumously designated a
Hero of the People's Armed Forces.
Êban Y Blốk Y Blốk Êban (1921 - 13 January 2018) was the first general officer of the PAVN to hail from the
Central Highlands. Born in Chư Dluê village, Hoà Xuân commune,
Buôn Ma Thuột in a family of seven siblings, he was the youngest son in the family. Y Blốk suffered many hardships, starting with losing his father at the age of 2. At 15, after finishing primary school, he was conscripted by the French into the Blue Belt force, part of the
Tirailleurs Indochinois, to serve as a guard at the Buôn Ma Thuột prison. At 20, his mother passed away. Not being allowed to return home to tend to her funeral, he began to resent the colonial authorities. In prison, Y Blốk came into contact with several political prisoners, among them
Nguyễn Chí Thanh, and was gradually attracted by revolutionary ideals. On August 22, 1945, he led a platoon of Blue Belt soldiers in transforming the
Trần Trọng Kim government's flag-raising ceremony into a rally supporting the
August Revolution and seizing power for the Việt Minh. Y Blốk Êban's actions, under the direction of the Provisional Leadership Committee of
Đắk Lắk province, caught the local government off guard. This first victory brought Y Blốk into the ranks of the Việt Minh, and he joined the Provisional Administrative Committee of Đắk Lắk. From June 1946, he was sent to study at the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy. In November 1946, he was appointed as the commander of an armed unit in hostile territory north of
Khánh Hoà, simultaneously searching for routes and building a base among the local population. In December 1947, he was promoted to Commander of the Ma Trang Lơng Battalion. In 1953, he was sent to Việt Bắc to attend the National Conference on Guerrilla Warfare. Upon his return, the Central Party Committee assigned him the task of bringing 20 kg of gold into the Inter-Region. This was an extremely difficult and dangerous mission, but after six months of arduous effort, he successfully transport the gold back to base. In 1954,
Inter-Region 5’s original plan was for Y Blốk to “lurk” within hostile territory, but then Commander of Inter-Region 5, Major General Nguyễn Chánh, vetoed a decision appointing Y Blốk Êban as the Commander of the 120th Regiment and send him to the
North for training. There, he met Chairman
Hồ, General
Võ Nguyên Giáp and received further political training. In 1958, Y Blốk was awarded the rank of Colonel. In 1960, he returned to the Central Highlands, serving as Deputy Commander and then Acting Commander of the 6th Military Region. In 1974, Y Blốk was promoted to Senior Colonel, Chairman of the Đắk Lắk Military Control Commission. In January 1975, the
Politburo and the
Central Military Commission decided on Buôn Ma Thuột as the main target of the
Central Highlands Campaign. At exactly 2:03 AM on March 10, 1975, along with other military units, Y Blốk Êban led the armed forces of Đắk Lắk province in an attack on Buôn Ma Thuột. By 10:00 AM on March 11, 1975, they had taken complete control of the town, a key victory in deciding the outcome of the campaign. During this period, he was also Deputy Commander of the Central Laos Front and a standing member of the 5th Regional Committee. On April 15, 1945, he became an instructor at the Counter-Japanese Military & Political School (now the First Army Academy). This was the initial capital of the Việt Minh in the pre-uprising days, and later, students of this school were quickly dispersed to various localities to seize power for the revolution. After the August Revolution, Hoàng Nam Hải was first appointed Commander of the 3rd Detachment, then Commander of the
Sơn La Regiment (148th Regiment), tasked with the First Western Advance into Laos to block the return of the
French. In September 1946, Phùng Thế Tài took over as commander. Hải became the Director of
Zone 2's Military & Political School. After nearly six months, he received a new assignment, commanding the 34th Regiment (now 45th Artillery Brigade). From June 1949, he was in charge of the Company Training School of
Inter-Region 3 (now the 3rd Military Region's Military School), and then worked at the Military Culture School for 5 years. Before retiring, Hải was serving as Chief Justice at the Criminal Court of the Supreme People's Court (2nd Class Councillor). On 5 October 2003, Hải passed away at the Friendship Hospital, aged 80, and was buried at Thanh Tước Cemetery, Hà Nội. He was awarded the following honors: Second-Class
Order of Independence, Order of Resolution for Victory, Third-Class Glorious Fighter Order, First-Class Resistance Order, 50-Year Party Membership Badge, Commemorative Medal “For a Career in Justice”. It was later renamed the “Capital Regiment” on 12 January 1947, where it distinguished itself in the
defense of Hà Nội. He is considered the father of the “chain attack” tactic in
Vietnam. At the age of 16, Hải was introduced by his cousin, Hoàng Văn Nọn, the first Secretary of the Cao Bằng Provincial Party Committee (later a member of the Central Committee of the Party in its first term, and a delegate to the
7th Congress of the Comintern in the
Soviet Union), to the revolutionary movement. The following year, he was admitted to the Indochinese Communist Party (now the
Communist Party of Vietnam). In 1941, Hoàng Siêu Hải was sent to study military science at the
Liuzhou branch of the Republic of China Military Academy.
Hoàng Thế Dũng Hoàng Thế Dũng (1924 - 19 October 2001) was the Political Commissar of the 102nd Regiment under the 308th Brigade. He was implicated in the infamous “Revisionist - Anti-Party Affair”.
Hoàng Thọ Hoàng Xuân Tùy Hoàng Xuân Tùy (24 December 1922 - 22 June 2013), born Hoàng Tiêu Diêu, was a Vietnamese officer, educator and politician from Xuân Tùy village, Quảng Phú commune (now Đan Điền commune,
Huế). A student at the Civil College of Indochina, he joined the Việt Minh in 1944. In October 1945, he enlisted in the army and was sent to study at the Vietnamese Military & Political School. Tùy was retained as a key cadre and recommended for Party membership by Party Branch Secretary
Trần Tử Bình. He was admitted in 1946 while serving as Political Officer in the 7th Class Cadet Platoon. He was introduced by
Tố Hữu to work as a secretary for Nguyễn Chí Thanh in Huế. However, since Thanh already had a secretary, he went back to Thanh Hóa. After working there for a while, Tuỳ was transferred to become a political commissar in a Westward Advance battalion. However, just like before, he had to return to Hà Nội because someone else had already taken office. In early 1947, Tùy went to Việt Bắc and was assigned as Political Commissar of the 23rd Regiment (later the 72nd Regiment). In 1949, the 72nd Regiment was disbanded after the French retreated, and he became Chairman of the
Bắc Kạn Provincial Military Control Commission. Hoàng Xuân Tùy was transferred to the post of Political Commissar in the 36th Regiment, and then secretary to General Võ Nguyên Giáp. In 1950, he was made Director of the Political Section and Deputy Commander of the 308th Brigade. From 1951, Tùy headed the Information Office for the
People’s Army newspaper, later Director of the Propaganda Department and charge d’affaires of the People's Army newspaper at the Điện Biên Phủ Front,
Hoà Bình Campaign and Northwestern Campaign. During this time, he was promoted to Director of the newspaper. In February 1956, he became one of the central figures of the newly established
Hà Nội Polytechnic, emerging as vice dean in 1958 and led the school as dean from 1961. In October 1965, he was appointed Deputy Minister of
University and Vocational College. After retirement, Tùy actively participated in social activities and was one of the founders of the Vietnamese Association for the Promotion of Learning and the Hồ Chí Minh Municipal Association for the Relief of Disabled Children. In his later years, Hoàng Xuân Tùy was elected Director of the Liaison Committee for the Old Soldiers of Điện Biên Phủ in Hồ Chí Minh city. He passed away here on 22 June 2013, having been awarded the First-Class Order of Resolution for Victory, the First-Class Resistance Order, the 65-Year Party Membership Badge and the honor of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces.
Lê Văn Viễn Lý Ban Lý Ban (10 March 1912 - 30 September 1981), born Bùi Công Quan, also known as “Lý Bích Sơn”, was a senior official of
Vietnam from Long Hòa village,
Cần Đước ward, Chợ Lớn province. An early follower of patriotic movements in his locale, Ban was introduced to the
Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League by teacher
Phạm Văn Đồng. While studying, he actively participated in propaganda and mobilization activities among youth, students, and the
overseas Chinese community in Sài Gòn - Chợ Lớn. In 1929, Ban joined the
Communist Party of Annam, and in 1930 became a member of the Indochinese Communist Party. He was arrested twice by
French police in 1931, but due to lack of evidence, they had to release him and place him under house arrest in his hometown. In 1932, he secretly traveled to Sài Gòn to contact the organization but failed. To avoid being apprehended, Ban boarded a ship to
Hong Kong. In
Guangdong, Ban participated in the revolutionary struggle of the Chinese people. In early 1934, he was sent to study at the
Party School in the
Central Soviet Base Area of
Ruijin,
Jiangxi. During this time, he diligently studied and systematically absorbed revolutionary theories and experience. High-ranking officials of the Chinese Communist Party such as
Zhou Enlai,
Dong Biwu,
Li Fuchun,
Ye Jianying... paid attention to and aided their young Vietnamese student. Here, he was admitted to the Chinese Communist Party, and he met and befriended a revolutionary fighter from Hà Nội named
Nguyễn Sơn, then an officer in the
Workers and Peasants Red Army. Both would participate in the
Long March. In 1945 or early 1946, Ban returned to Vietnam. In Hà Nội, he was assigned to work at the Central Party Office. In 1947, he was chosen to lead the Central Directorate of Overseas Chinese Affairs, then designated Deputy Director of the Political Department of the Vietnamese National Army and Militia on 1 February 1949, contributing to the leadership of units fighting against French colonialism. As cross-border telegraphic connection was poor and the
People’s Liberation Army had recently gained control of
Beijing in 1949, Chairman Hồ and the Party Central Committee decided to send Ban on a mission to China. During the First Indochina War, he was in charge of directing Chinese assistance. After peace was restored in the North, he was assigned to the
Ministry of Industry and Trade to consolidate the
National Bank and build up the Customs industry. In 1958, when the Ministry of Foreign Trade was established, he was appointed Deputy Minister and simultaneously Secretary of the Party Committee. At the Third Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Ban was elected as an alternate member of the
Central Executive Committee. On 4 September 1959, he was awarded the First-Class Order of Resolution for Victory. Before 1945, he joined a local National Salvation paramilitary unit. In 1945, he participated in seizing power in Ninh Bình province. After the success of the August Revolution, Quân was admitted to the Indochinese Communist Party and appointed as a commander of the local Liberation Force's platoon. Quân was eventually promoted to Commander of the 46th Regiment, a core unit of Inter-Region 3. After the victory at Điện Biên Phủ, he became Chairman of the
Nam Định Military Control Commission. It was the first major city in
Tonkin to fall under complete control of the Việt Minh. In October 1954, Quân was designated Chief of Staff of Inter-Region 3. As Deputy Commander of the Central Highlands Front (B3), he, along with the Front Command, organized numerous campaigns and directly commanded many battles, eliminating numerous hostile forces throughout the Central Highlands battlefield. Notable examples include the Northern Central Highlands Campaign. At the Battle of Đắk Tô - Tân Cảnh in 1972, Quân was placed in direct command over forces including the 28th Regiment, 66th Regiment, 95th Regiment, 24B Regiment (predecessor of the 10th Division) and local troops in
Kon Tum, succeeding in taking over the area. This division also included 8 specialized battalions. Following the
final military victory in late 1975, he and several cadres from the Military Training Bureau were assigned to participate in the "Summary of the
Hồ Chí Minh Campaign" Conference at
Đà Lạt. During conflicts against the French, he became famous as a flexible commander adept at both storming fortifications and maneuver warfare, rising from a company commander to leading the 302nd Battalion, then considered to be the strongest Việt Minh battalion in the Southeast. Truyện was also remembered for being a local forerunner in
special operations. His company was famously among the forces that engaged in a fierce battle with 3,000 French troops at Láng Le - Bàu Cò in 1948. Transferred to the North in early 1953, he was sent overseas for military studies, and raised to deputy regimental commander, concurrently chief of staff, stationed at Nà Sản in the Northwest. By the first major wave of rank conferment in 1958, Truyện was awarded the rank of Major. He was placed in command of this regiment at a later date. and Commander of the Northern Forward Command, Sector I, Sài Gòn - Gia Định. In preparation for the
Tết Offensive, with the aid of Intelligence Unit A20 and agent Nguyễn Văn Lễ, he disguised himself as a Congressman and personally traveled to the city centre for preliminary reconnaissance. Just before the Second Phase, Truyện was ordered to leave the Forward Command for a meeting at the Regional Command. He was killed by an artillery barrage on the Post shortly after making arrangements with his superior Mai Chí Thọ. In 2010, Senior Colonel Nguyễn Thế Truyện was posthumously recognized as a Hero of the People’s Armed Forces. A road was renamed after him in 2012. Another source reported that he was Chief Justice for the Military Tribunal of
Southern Vietnam. After 1954, he went North. Dr. Tiết was a standing member of the
Fatherland Front’s Central Committee, a
Vietnamese opera specialist in the
Ministry of Culture and a translator of
Hồ Chí Minh’s poetry.
Thanh Phong Thanh Phong, born Nguyễn Tri Phương, was an early military officer of the PAVN. He was the Political Officer for the Vietnamese Propaganda & Liberation Unit. In the
Shiwandashan Campaign, Vietnam sent a volunteer force led by
Lê Quảng Ba to aid China. Phong was designated the Commander of the
Longzhou Front, with
Chu Huy Mân as First Deputy Commander, concurrently Political Commissar and Hoàng Long Xuyên as Second Deputy Commander. According to Xuyên, Thanh Phong personally issued an order to him in May 1949: “Following a special order from Mr. Văn, a special operation is being launched to assist our allies. You will be responsible for commanding a detachment. Draw about 2 to 3 companies of local forces from Lạng Sơn. Your responsibility is to attack from
Nanguan down to
Pingxiang,
Shangshi, Xiashi, and then towards
Ningming. You will serve as a Deputy Commander of the Longzhou Front and have direct control over this direction. You will meet Mr. Chu Huy Mân’s troops at the capital of Ningming county. Mr. Mân will attack from
Shuikou, thrust down to Xiadong, and reunite with you at Ningming.” On 2 February 1952, the CIA identified Phong as “Special Attaché to […] general
Chen Geng” and ranked him at the Colonel-level. In early June 1957, Chairman Hồ Chí Minh signed Decree no. 021-SL, appointing “Mr. Thanh Phong, a divisional-level cadre, as Deputy Commander of the Việt Bắc Military Region.” He was a standing member of the Việt Bắc Autonomous Regional Committee and a former Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court. In 2009, Thanh Phong was posthumously awarded the Order of Hồ Chí Minh.
Trần Tấn Trần Tấn was a Deputy Director of the Ordnance Bureau and one of the lay judges in the corruption case of Colonel
Trần Dụ Châu. =="New Vietnamese" officers==