Nguyen Van Troi

Nguyen Van Troi

Nguyễn Văn Trỗi moments before being shot
Born c. 1947
Died 15 October 1964
Saigon, South Vietnam
Conviction(s) Attempted murder
Penalty Death by firing squad

Nguyễn Văn Trỗi (c. 1947[1] – 15 October 1964) was a Viet Cong (National Liberation Front) bomber. He became known after being captured by the South Vietnamese when trying to assassinate United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and future ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. who were visiting South Vietnam in May 1963.[2]

Contents

Execution

Sentenced to death, Trỗi got a brief reprieve after Venezuela's revolutionary FALN kidnapped United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Smolen: the group threatened to kill the American if Trỗi was executed. Smolen was eventually released unharmed, and Trỗi was shot by firing squad shortly thereafter in Chi Hoa Prison.[3]

Nguyễn Văn Trỗi became the first publicly executed member of the Viet Cong.[4] His execution was filmed, and he remained defiant to the end. His last words before his execution in Saigon to correspondents were "You are journalists and so you must be well informed about what is happening. It is the Americans who have committed aggression on our country, it is they who have been killing our people with planes and bombs .... I have never acted against the will of my people. It is against the Americans that I have taken action." When a priest offered him absolution, he refused, saying: "I have committed no sin. It is the Americans who have sinned." He refused to have his eyes covered before volleys hit him saying "Let me look at our beloved land", and as the first shots were fired, he called out, "Long live Vietnam!".[2]

Legacy

In the West, Trỗi's arrest went largely unreported in the mainstream; indeed, major news media did not report on Trỗi at all until the FALN kidnapping episode.[5] His anonymity persisted after his execution, despite the honors heaped upon him in Communist countries. Apart from advocacy by revolutionaries like the Weather Underground,[6] and a brief mention in Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book, Trỗi is still rarely acknowledged in Western accounts of the Vietnam War.

Trỗi was glorified by the Viet Cong and North Vietnam as a martyr. The first notable act of recognition was in 1965 when the DRVN issued a postage stamp, illustrated on the right, bearing a portrait of him.[7] Considered an exemplar, Trỗi has his name bestowed upon a large school, the Lycée Nguyễn Văn Trỗi in Nha Trang, and a national academic award, The Nguyễn Văn Trỗi Prize.

Most cities in Vietnam have named major streets after him.[8] In Hồ Chí Minh City, the major road upon which McNamara traveled—and where Trỗi planned to assassinate him—is named Nguyen Van Troi Boulevard. In Đà Nẵng, the Nguyễn Văn Trỗi Bridge spans the Hàn River. Other countries have commemorated Trỗi but none more so than Cuba: there the 14,000-seat public stadium in Guantánamo is named Estadio Nguyen Van Troi, and his statue overlooks Nguyen Van Troi Park in Havana; the city also has a school and a hospital named for him.

Anti-war activists Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden named their son, an actor now known as Troy Garity, in honour of Trỗi.[9]

Biography

Troi's wife, Phan Thi Quyen, authored the 1965 book Nguyen Van Troi As He Was[10]

References

  1. ^ Staff report (16 October 1964). Another Nasty Stunt. Time. Article describes him as aged 17 at the time of his execution, although other sources cite 1940 as his year of birth, making him 24 years old at death.
  2. ^ a b Greene, Felix Greene (1966). Vietnam! Vietnam! In photographs and text. Palo Alto, California: Fulton Publishing Company, LCCN 66-28359
  3. ^ Staff report. (23 October 1964). "Suggestions, Anyone?" Time
  4. ^ Reuters (15 October 1964). "Saigon Executes Youth For Plot on McNamara". New York Times
  5. ^ e.g. See New York Times, 1963-64.
  6. ^ Grathwohl, Larry, and Reagan, Frank (1976). Bringing Down America: An FBI Informer with the Weathermen. Arlington House, New Rochelle, NY. p. 39.
  7. ^ New York Times (19 May 1968). "Postal Issues of North Vietnam".
  8. ^ Vietnam Country Map. Periplus Travel Maps. 2002-03. ISBN 0-7946-0070-0. 
  9. ^ "The heart doesn't grow Fonda" by Mark Steyn, The Telegraph, 3 January 1998.
  10. ^ Phan Thi Quyen (c. 1965) Nguyen van troi tel qu'il etait (edited by Tran Dinh Van). Hanoi: Editions en langues etrangeres; F8HG.4/P535T