Pham Ngoc Thao - Legacy

Legacy

Although Thảo's last plot failed, his activities in 1965 and the resultant infighting led to a series of internal purges within the ARVN. Amid the instability, the Vietcong made strong gains across the country throughout the year. In response to the deteriorating military situation, the Americans began to deploy combat troops to South Vietnam in large numbers.

Thảo was posthumously promoted by the ARVN to the rank of one–star general and awarded the title of Heroic war dead (Vietnamese: Liệt sĩ). After the Fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, the communist government awarded him the same title and paid war pensions to his family, claiming him as one of their own. In 1981, the communists had his body exhumed and reburied in the "Patriots' cemetery" in Ho Chi Minh City (previously Saigon). Tảng believed Thảo "was a man who throughout his life fought single-mindedly for Vietnam's independence". Tảng, who later abandoned communism, said that Thảo "was a nationalist, not an ideologue", and credited him with turning the military tide towards the communists by helping to bring down Diệm and fomenting chronic instability and infighting for 18 months. Hồ Chí Minh had reacted to Diệm's death by saying "I can scarcely believe that the Americans would be so stupid". A communist report written in March 1965, soon after Thảo's revolt had caused Khánh to depart, stated that "The balance of force ... has changed very rapidly in our favor. ... The bulk of the enemy's armed forces ... have disintegrated, and what is left continues to disintegrate".