Nguyễn Ngọc Loan

Major General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan (Vietnamese: [ŋʷǐənˀ ŋâwkp lʷāːn]; 11 December 1930 – 14 July 1998) was a South Vietnamese general and chief of the South Vietnamese National Police.

In this Vietnamese name, the surname is Nguyen. In accordance with Vietnamese custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Loan.

Nguyễn Ngọc Loan
Born(1930-12-11)11 December 1930
Huế, French Indochina
Died14 July 1998(1998-07-14) (aged 67)
Burke, Virginia, United States
Allegiance South Vietnam
Service/branch Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF)
Republic of Vietnam National Police
Rank Major General
Battles/warsTet Offensive, Fall of Saigon

Loan gained international attention when he summarily executed a handcuffed prisoner of war named Nguyễn Văn Lém on February 1, 1968, in Saigon, Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. Nguyễn Văn Lém was a Viet Cong (VC) member. The event was witnessed and recorded by Võ Sửu, a cameraman for NBC, and Eddie Adams, an Associated Press photographer. The photo and film became two famous images in contemporary American journalism.

Despite the determination of the Immigration and Naturalization Service that Loan committed war crimes, owing to which he was liable for deportation back to Vietnam, the then US President, Jimmy Carter, personally intervened to halt the deportation proceedings.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.