Võ Văn Ba (1923 – 8 June 1975) was a spy for South Vietnam and the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Vietnam War.
Võ Văn Ba | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 1, 1923 Long An province, French Indochina |
| Died | June 8, 1975 (aged 52) Saigon, Vietnam |
| Allegiance | South Vietnam |
| Service | Vietcong |
| Years of service | 1965-1975 |
Early life
editVõ was born in 1923 in Long An province, French Cochinchina.[1]
Career
editVõ joined the NLF (National Liberation Front) and served as a cadre in Tây Ninh province.[1] In the mid 1960s, he was recruited by the South Vietnamese Police Special Branch and from 1969 onwards he was run as a spy by the South Vietnamese and the CIA. He provided his handlers with correspondence and plans from the Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN), the political and military headquarters that controlled the insurgency in South Vietnam.[1]
At the end of his career he was serving as communist party secretary for Phu Kuong district, Tây Ninh province with responsibility for recruiting members of the Cao Dai religious sect.[2]
Frank Snepp, who served as a CIA agent at the Embassy of the United States, Saigon from 1969 to the Fall of Saigon in April 1975, described Võ as the most important intelligence asset of the war, saying he was the equivalent of having a spy in Hitler's bunker.[3]
Capture and death
editAs South Vietnam collapsed in the face of the 1975 spring offensive, the PAVN captured many South Vietnamese military and intelligence officers including a Mr. Phuong who identified Võ as a South Vietnamese spy. Võ was arrested in Tây Ninh province on the last day of the war, 30 April 1975. According to North Vietnamese sources he committed suicide while in prison awaiting trial on 8 June 1975.[1][2]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Tucker, Spencer (2011). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. pp. 1304–5. ISBN 9781851099610.
- ^ a b Finlayson, Andrew (2014). Rice Paddy Recon: A Marine Officer's Second Tour in Vietnam, 1968-1970. McFarland. p. 238. ISBN 9780786496235.
- ^ Tina Ha Giang (21 November 2021). "Câu chuyện về Võ Văn Ba, điệp viên hàng đầu của VNCH và CIA ở Nam Việt Nam". BBC News Tiếng Việt. Retrieved 15 December 2021.