Brigadier General Trần Văn Hai (1927 – April 30, 1975) was an officer in the

Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; ) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. Its predecessor was the ground forc ...

. He was born in

Cần Thơ Cần Thơ () is the List of cities in Vietnam, fourth-largest city in Vietnam, and the largest city along the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam. It is noted for its floating markets, rice paper-making village, and picturesque rural canals. It has ...

Military service

In 1951, Hai graduated from the Dalat Military Academy, Class 7. In May 1968, he was commanding the Ranger Branch Command, directly supervising the Ranger operations to clear

Vietcong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the Communism, communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vi ...

(VC) forces that infiltratedthe Chợ Lớn area in the

May Offensive Phase Two of the Tet Offensive of 1968 (also known as the May Offensive, Little Tet, and Mini-Tet) was launched by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) against targets throughout South Vietnam, including Saigon from 29 April ...

. On 2 June Hai was onboard a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

UH-1 The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Bell Huey family, Huey family, as well as the first turb ...

gunship that was firing rockets at VC positions. One of the rockets misfired and hit a South Vietnamese command group at the Thuong Phuoc High School, killing Saigon police chief Lieutenant colonel Nguyễn Van Luân, port director of Saigon Lieutenant Colonel Pho Quoc Chu, 5th Ranger Group commander Nguyễn Van Phuoc and 4 other officers, all allies of

Prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Nguyễn Cao Kỳ. Kỳ was supposed to be present but cancelled; the attack gave rise to rumours that this was an attempt by President

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 ...

to assassinate his political rival Kỳ. On 8 June 1968 Thiệu appointed him as director general of the Republic of Vietnam National Police, replacing Nguyễn Ngọc Loan. During the next week he replaced seven of Saigon's nine district police chiefs. He was the commander of the 7th Division at Dong Tam, near

Mỹ Tho Mỹ Tho () is a city in the Tiền Giang province in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam. It has a population of approximately 169,000 in 2006 and 220,000 in 2012. It is the regional center of economics, education and technology. The majori ...

. In 1970, he was commander of the Special Tactical Area 44, before commanding the 7th Division. He was renowned for being incorruptible, outspoken and brav

On April 30, 1975, at midnight he committed suicide at the Division Headquarters,

Đồng Tâm Base Camp Đồng Tâm Base Camp (also known as Đồng Tâm Army Airfield) is a former U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base west of Mỹ Tho in the Mekong Delta, southern Vietnam. History 1966–9 Đồng Tâm Base C ...

. His motives are unknown, but according to NY Times, General Hai feared persecution due to the humiliation of surrendering to VC divisions outside at the NH4 (now National Route 1A). General Hai is one of the five ARVN generals who committed suicide to avoid a humiliating surrender to VC/NVA soldiers.

References

External links

1927 births 1975 deaths Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals South Vietnamese military personnel of the Vietnam War Deaths by firearm in Vietnam People from Cần Thơ Vietnamese military personnel who died by suicide {{Vietnam-bio-stub