Lâm Quang Thi

Lieutenant General Lâm Quang Thi (7 May 1932 – 19 January 2021) was a senior military officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.[1]

In this Vietnamese name, the surname is Lam. In accordance with Vietnamese custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Quang Thi.
Lâm Quang Thi
Born(1932-05-07)7 May 1932
Bạc Liêu, French Indochina
Died19 January 2021(2021-01-19) (aged 88)
Fremont, California, U.S.
Allegiance South Vietnam
Service/branchArmy of the Republic of Vietnam
Years of service1950–1975
Rank Lieutenant General
Commands held9th Infantry Division
Vietnamese National Military Academy
I Corps
Battles/warsVietnam War

Early life and family

Lam was born in Bac Lieu in 1932 to a family of wealthy landowning farmers. Lam's parents met through a matchmaker and married two years before he was born. Lam'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.[2] Lam's 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, Lam 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.[3]

Military service

Lam graduated from the National Military Academy, in Da Lat, South Vietnam. 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. Last position until 4 1975: Commander in Chief of Army Corp I Forward Command.

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

Lam died on January 19, 2021, aged 88, in Fremont, California, from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in California.[4]

Awards and decorations

References
  1. 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.
  2. Lam (2001), p. 6–8
  3. Lam (2001), p. 10–12
  4. "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
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.