David Truong (born Trương Đình Hùng, September 2, 1945 – June 26, 2014) was a

South Vietnamese South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with i ...

national who lived in the United States and partook in the

anti-Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War began in 1965 with demonstrations against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War, United States in the war. Over the next several years, these demonstrations grew ...

peace movement. Truong was the son of South Vietnamese politician

Trương Đình Dzu Trương Đình Dzu (born Trường Đình Dũ, 10 November 1917 – ) was a South Vietnamese lawyer and politician who unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the presidency in the 1967 elections against Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and his running ma ...

, a candidate for the presidency in the 1967 elections against

Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001) was a South Vietnam, South Vietnamese military officer and politician who was the Leaders of South Vietnam, president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was a general in the Repub ...

. Dzu advocated negotiating with the

National Liberation Front for South Vietnam National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

to end the war. Truong and co-conspirator Ronald Humphrey were arrested for passing diplomatic cables and classified information to Vietnam. They were convicted of

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

in 1978. He was born in

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

and also had a sister, Monique Truong Miller. In the 1960s he studied in

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in the United States, previously living and studying in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. After his conviction, Truong began his prison sentence in 1982 and was paroled in 1986. In 1981, he married American economist Carolyn Gates and after Truong's release the couple lived in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and later

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. He taught economics and worked as an economic development consultant for the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. David Truong died from cancer in June 2014 in a hospital in

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

, Malaysia.

Spying for Vietnam

Truong was arrested in January 1978, and a search of his apartment revealed two Top Secret State Department documents in his possession. The documents had been provided to him by Humphrey, a

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...

employee, to be passed on by Truong to Vietnam via a woman who turned out to be a

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

for the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

and the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. The spy ring routed purloined classified information through Vietnam's

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

mission in New York and its French Embassy in Paris. In retaliation, the American government, which lacked formal diplomatic relations with Vietnam at the time, expelled

Đinh Bá Thi Dinh (丁) is a Vietnamese surname. In Vietnam, the surname is spelled Đinh or Đình, but the latter is very rare in Vietnamese. Notable people * Andy Dinh, Team SoloMid owner, player * Dan Dinh, ''League of Legends '' player, brother of Andy Di ...

, Vietnam's UN legate, from the United States. The ambassador had been named an unindicted co-conspirator when Truong and his accomplice,

employee Ronald Humphrey, were indicted. In 1978, Truong was tried with co-conspirator Humphrey. Charged with six counts, including conspiracy, espionage, theft of classified information and failing to register as agents of a foreign government. Humphrey's defense was that he was trying to purchase the release of his common-law wife and her four children from Vietnam. Truong and Humphrey were convicted of spying for Vietnam and both were given a 15-year prison sentence. It is the only case of military espionage to come out of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. The case involved passing on documents through the wife of a naval attache,

Yung Krall Yung Krall (; 1946-2023) is an American former spy born in Vietnam. Her autobiography, ''A Thousand Tears Falling'', recounts her life growing up in the midst of the Vietnam War, as well as her life in America as a spy for the CIA, FBI, and NS ...

, codenamed "Agent Keyseat".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Truong, David 1945 births 2014 deaths American anti–Vietnam War activists American people convicted of spying for Vietnam People convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 South Vietnamese spies for North Vietnam Vietnamese emigrants to the United States