Early Career
Tung was born in 1923 in central Vietnam, which was then the protectorate of Annam in French Indochina. The former servant of the Ngô family was devoutly Roman Catholic, short and bespectacled. Tung had a military background almost entirely in security and counterespionage, which was an unusual basis for leading the special forces. Tung had first served the French as a security officer in central Vietnam. He then worked for Diệm as a lieutenant in the military security service in central Vietnam. As a high-ranking official in Nhu's Cần Lao, the secret Catholic political apparatus which maintained the Ngô family's grip on power. Tung raised party funds by extorting money from wealthy businessmen. Tung was primarily known among colleagues for his unwavering loyalty to Diệm. In 1960, he was promoted straight to the rank of colonel and placed in charge of the special forces. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) regarded Tung as the third most powerful man in South Vietnam behind Diệm and Nhu, thereby ranking him as South Vietnam's most powerful military officer.
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