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| Lâm Quang Thi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1932-05-07)7 May 1932 Bạc Liêu, French Indochina |
| Died | 19 January 2021(2021-01-19) (aged 88) Fremont, California, United States |
| 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 |
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.
Early life and family
Thi was born in Bac Lieu on 7 May 1932, to a family of wealthy landowning farmers. 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. 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.
Military service
He joined the Vietnamese National Army in 1950 and graduated from the National Military Academy, in Da Lat. 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.
Post-war life
Lam 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. 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
Lâm died from COVID-19 in Fremont, California, on 19 January 2021, aged 88, during the COVID-19 pandemic in California.
Awards and decorations
National Honours
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
South Korea :
Order of Military Merit, Chung Mu Medal
USA :
Officer of the Legion of Merit
References
- 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) - ^ 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
- 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
- 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
- Waterloo unearths some enlightening findings about the writer's father, a former general for South Vietnam.
- 1932 births
- 2021 deaths
- People from Bạc Liêu province
- Hoa people
- Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals
- American people of Chinese descent
- Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit
- Military personnel from California
- Golden Gate University alumni
- Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College
- Recipients of the National Order of Vietnam
- Recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam)
- Recipients of the Distinguished Service Order (Vietnam)
- Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (South Korea)
- Vietnamese emigrants to the United States
- Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California
- People from Fremont, California