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Lâm Quang Thi (7 May 1932 – 19 January 2021) was a Lieutenant general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.[1]
Lâm Quang Thi | |
---|---|
Born | Bạc Liêu, French Indochina | 7 May 1932
Died | 19 January 2021 Fremont, California, United States | (aged 88)
Allegiance | South Vietnam |
Service | Army of the Republic of Vietnam |
Years of service | 1950–1975 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Commands | 9th Infantry Division Vietnamese National Military Academy I Corps |
Battles / wars | Vietnam War |
Early life and family
editThi was born in Bac Lieu on 7 May 1932, to a family of wealthy landowning farmers.[2]: 93 Thi's parents met through a matchmaker and married two years before he was born. Thi's father came from a family of Cao Dai adherents while his mother was a Roman Catholic. His maternal grandfather was one of the richest Chinese landowners in Bac Lieu at the turn of the 20th century.[3] His parents separated in 1937 after their fourth child was born, and his mother took their four children back down to her hometown in Tam Vu. After completing his primary education there, Thi was sent to Can Tho for his secondary education, where he enrolled into the Phan Thanh Gian College after passing through its tough entrance examinations.[4]
Military service
editHe joined the Vietnamese National Army in 1950 and graduated from the National Military Academy, in Da Lat.[2]: 93 He held the positions of Commander of the RVNAF Artillery Training Center, Commander of the Artillery in I Corps, Deputy Commander, RVNAF Artillery; Commander, 9th Infantry Division; and Commander of the Vietnamese National Military Academy.
On 10 March 1972, he replaced Nguyễn Văn Hiếu as deputy commander of I Corps.[5][2]: 93
Post-war life
editLam fled with his family to the United States in May 1975, when South Vietnam fell to the invading North Vietnamese army. He lived in Fremont, California. Lam earned a French Baccalaureate Degree in Philosophy and an MBA, both from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.[citation needed] His son, Andrew Lam, is a writer and a journalist.
Lam was interviewed about the war in Ken Burns's series The Vietnam War.
Death
editLâm died from COVID-19 in Fremont, California, on 19 January 2021, aged 88, during the COVID-19 pandemic in California.[6]
Awards and decorations
editNational Honours
edit- Commander of the National Order of Vietnam
- Army Distinguished Service Order, First Class
- Navy Distinguished Service Order, First Class
- Gallantry Cross
- Armed Forces Honor Medal, First Class
- Staff Service Medal, First Class
- Technical Service Medal, First Class
- Training Service Medal, First Class
- Civil Action Medal, First Class
- Chuong My Medal, First Class
- Administrative Service Medal, First Class
Foreign Honours
edit- South Korea :
- Order of Military Merit, Chung Mu Medal
- USA :
- Officer of the Legion of Merit
References
edit- ^ Lam, Andrew (June 13, 2006). "Iraq Massacre Can't Shake Vietnamese- American Support for U.S. Troops". New America Media. Archived from the original on June 21, 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c Veith, George (2012). Black April The Fall of South Vietnam 1973-75. Encounter Books. ISBN 9781594035722.
- ^ Lam (2001), p. 6–8
- ^ Lam (2001), p. 10–12
- ^ "U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, 1972-3 Command History Volume 1" (PDF). Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. 15 July 1973. p. C-26. Retrieved 19 January 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Cựu Trung Tướng Lâm Quang Thi qua đời, hưởng thọ 88 tuổi". Nguoi Viet Online. 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
Bibliography
edit- Lam, Quang Thi, The Twenty-Five Year Century: A South Vietnamese General Remembers the Indochina War to the Fall of Saigon, University of North Texas Press, 2001, ISBN 1-57441-143-8
- Lam, Quang Thi, Hell in An Loc: The 1972 Easter Invasion and the Battle That Saved South Viet Nam, University of North Texas Press, 2011, ISBN 1-57441-313-9
External links
edit- Book Review of The Twenty-five Year Century: A South Vietnamese General Remembers the Indochina War to the Fall of Saigon by General Lam Thi Quang
- A Vietnamese Response to McNamara War was lost in Washington, not in Saigon by Lam Quang Thi posted by the Pacific News Service
- My Father's Army Uniform Archived 2021-06-10 at the Wayback Machine by Andrew Lam
- The Twenty-five Year Century: A South Vietnamese General Remembers the Indochina War to the Fall of Saigon
- 30 Years After the Vietnam War: China Remains a Threat
- Setting the Record Straight on South Vietnam[usurped]
- Waterloo unearths some enlightening findings about the writer's father, a former general for South Vietnam.