Pham Van Phu

Major General Phạm Văn Phú (1927, Ha Dong, North Vietnam – 30 April 1975, Saigon, Vietnam) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was a graduate of the 8th class of the Dalat Military Academy in 1954.

Military service

Phu was a company officer in the 5th Battalion of Vietnamese Paratroopers (5th BPVN) of the Army of the State of Vietnam at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. There, he was the only officer of Vietnamese ethnicity with the French Union army there, and was captured with the remainder of the French army when it surrendered on 7 May 1954. In the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, Pham served as Chief of Staff of the Special Forces, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, and director Quang Trung Training Center, before taking the command of the II Corps/Military Region II in Pleiku.

He was the commander during the Battle of Ban Me Thuot was part of North Vietnam's Campaign 275 to capture the Central Highlands following the victory at Phuoc Long on 6 January 1975. His troops suffered heavy losses on the way of withdrawal to the coastal areas in April 1975. He committed suicide in Saigon on 30 April 1975, the day of the fall of Saigon when the Republic of Vietnam fell to the forces of the North Vietnamese Army.

References

• Davidson, Phillip (1988). Vietnam at War: The History 1946-1975. Novato, CA: Presidio Press. (ISBN 0-19-506792-4)

External links

• The Twenty-five Year Century