Early Years
| Dương Văn Minh | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 February 1916 |
| Died | 6 August 2001 |
| Allegiance | Vietnamese National Army Army of the Republic of Vietnam |
| Years of service | 1940–1964 |
| Rank | General (Đại tướng) |
| Commands held | Head of the Military Revolutionary Council (November 1963–January 1964) |
| Battles/wars | Battle for Saigon, Operation Rung Sat, 1963 South Vietnamese coup |
| Relations | Brigadier General Dương Văn Nhut, a brother in the People's Army of Vietnam |
Minh was born on 16 February 1916 in Mỹ Tho Province in the Mekong Delta, the son of a wealthy landowner who served in a prominent position in the Finance Ministry of the French colonial administration. He went to Saigon where he attended a top French colonial school, where King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia also studied. Unlike many of his classmates, Minh declined French citizenship and joined the Corps Indigène, the local component of the French colonial army.
He began his military career in 1940, and was one of only 50 Vietnamese officers to be commissioned when he graduated from the École Militaire in France. During the 1940s, Imperial Japan invaded Indochina and seized control from France. Minh was captured and later had only a single tooth that remained from the torture he had suffered at the hands of the Kempeitai (Japanese military police). He always smiled, displaying the single tooth, which he regarded as a symbol of his toughness.
Read more about this topic: Duong Van Minh
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