Colonel General Trần Văn Trà | |
|---|---|
 Trần Văn Trà in 1974 | |
| 2nd Chairman ofSaigon | |
| In office 3 May 1975 – 20 January 1976 | |
| Preceded by | Lê Đức Anh |
| Succeeded by | Võ Văn Kiệt(as Chairman of People's Committee ofHo Chi Minh City) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1919-09-15)15 September 1919 |
| Died | 20 April 1996(1996-04-20) (aged 76) Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam |
| Awards | Resolution for Victory Order[1] |
| Nickname | Tư Chi |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  North Vietnam |
| Branch/service |  People's Army of Vietnam |
| Years of service | 1938–1982 |
| Rank | Colonel General |
| Commands |  (PLAF) Commander of the Liberation ArmyDeputy Secretary of the Military Committee Deputy Regional Commander (8 June 1968 to 2 July 1976) |
| Battles/wars | First Indochina War Vietnam War Tet Offensive Easter Offensive Ho Chi Minh Campaign |
Nguyễn Chấn, known asTrần Văn Trà (15 September 1919 – 20 April 1996) was a colonel-general in thePeople's Army of Vietnam. He was Commander ofB2 Front during 1963 – 1967, Deputy Commander ofLiberation Army of South Vietnam during 1968 – 1972; member of the Central Committee of theWorkers' Party of Vietnam from 1960 to 1982 (3rd and 4th terms) and second chairman ofSaigon administration afterFall of Saigon.[2]
The son of a bricklayer, Trần Văn Trà was born inQuảng Ngãi Province in 1918.[3] He joined theIndochinese Communist Party in 1938 and spent the years of the Second World War in a French prison. Between 1946 and 1954, Trà fought against the French in theVietnam People's Army and became a general in 1961, commanding communist forces in the southern half ofSouth Vietnam. During the days of TheFirst Indochina War with the French, theViet Minh recruited more than 600 defeated Japanese soldiers to fight with them.
In June 1946, some of these Japanese followers became instructors in a military school set up by the Viet Minh in Quang Ngai Province, Trà's birthplace, to teach fighting skills to more than 400 Vietnamese trainees. It is not known if Trà was one of the organisers or attendees at this military training school. He was Commander of7th Military Region (1949-1950) and Vice Commander ofCochinchina (1951-1954).
During theVietnam War against the Americans and South Vietnamese, he led the attack onSaigon during theTet Offensive of 1968 and commanded the B2 Front during theEaster Offensive.
During a 1974 meeting of North Vietnamese military leaders in Hanoi, Trà argued against a conservative strategy during the coming year and suggested that South Vietnam'sPhước Long Province be attacked in order to test bothSouth Vietnamese and American military reaction.[4] The attack was successful and the U.S. did not respond militarily, prompting larger, more aggressive communist operations. In April 1975, Trà became Deputy Commander of the A75 headquarters under Senior GeneralVăn Tiến Dũng during theHo Chi Minh Campaign, the final assault on Saigon which led to the capitulation of the South Vietnamese government. He took charge of Vice-Minister of Defence from 1978 to 1982.[citation needed][5]
In 1982, Trà publishedVietnam: A History of the Bulwark B-2 Theatre, Volume 5, Concluding the 30-Years War, which revealed how theHanoi Politburo had overestimated its own military capabilities and underestimated those of the U.S. and South Vietnam prior to and during theTet Offensive. This account offended and embarrassed the leaders of the newly unifiedSocialist Republic of Vietnam. This was probably the reason he lost his membership in theCentral Committee, and only two volumes were ever published of the five Tra had planned. Suggestions that he remained in such disgrace as to be under something similar to house arrest, until his death on 20 April 1996,[6][note 1] are exaggerated. He published two articles inTap chi lich su quan su [Journal of military history] in 1988,[7] and he was even permitted to travel to the United States in 1990 to present a paper at a conference at Columbia University.[8] In 1992, the People's Army published another volume of his projected five-volume history of the B-2 Theater.[9] From 1992 to 1996 he was Deputy Chairman of the Veterans Association of Vietnam.[10]
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