Lý Tòng Bá

Lý Tòng Bá
Born	(1931-11-14)November 14, 1931 Long Xuyên, French Indochina
Died	February 22, 2015(2015-02-22) (aged 83) Las Vegas, Nevada
Allegiance	State of Vietnam South Vietnam
Service / branch	Vietnamese National Army Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Years of service	1950 – 25 October 1955 (Vietnamese National Army) 26 October 1955 – 30 April 1975 (Army of the Republic of Vietnam)
Rank	Major general
Commands	23rd Division 25th Division
Battles / wars	Battle of Ap Bac Battle of Kontum

Lý Tòng Bá (14 November 1931, in Long Xuyên – 22 February 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada) was a major general of the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

Military career

He entered the Vietnamese National Army in the 1950s during the First Indochina War. He was trained in armor and rose in rank, reaching captain by the early 1960s.^[1][2]

In 1962 Bá commanded a mechanized company of M113 armored personnel carriers attached to the 7th Division based at Mỹ Tho. On 25 September 1962 Bá's unit of nine M113s took part in a multi-regiment operation against the Vietcong (VC) in the Plain of Reeds. Despite the advice of the US armored adviser that the terrain was unsuited for armor, Bá's unit was ordered to ordered to cross a canal and attack a group of 60 VC. After the lead unit had crossed they saw a group of 14 VC and Bá, decided to attack. While the armored adviser proposed a flank attack Bá's M113s charged straight ahead through the flooded paddies towards where the VC had last been seen. Suddenly VC appeared all around the M113s some firing automatic weapons and rifles and others running wildly in an attempt to evade the armored vehicles. As the M113s scattered the VC the ARVN soldiers on board fired from open roof hatches and with the mounted M2 Browning machine guns. The US advisor then convinced Bá to dismount the troops which was a mistake as they lost the advantage of manoevure and the troops were bogged down in knee-deep water. After an hour the troops remounted and the M113s advanced on the VC positions eventually forcing them to withdraw by mid-afternoon. ARVN units found more than 150 VC dead, captured 38 VC and seized 27 weapons, including an American .50-caliber machine gun and two Browning automatic rifles.^{[3]: 22–4}

Bá's mechanized company was redesignated as the 4th Mechanized Rifle Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment.^[3]: 24 During the Battle of Ap Bac Bá was ordered to rescue ARVN forces who had been cut off, but he refused to take orders directly from US advisers and was reluctant to move his M113s across the terrain and a canal. Senior US adviser John Paul Vann who was flying overhead became so frustrated with Bá that he threatened to have him shot. Bá's unit eventually approached the besieged forces in single file rather than spread out and suffered losses as the VC were able to engage each M113 individually with his unit eventually losing 14 killed.^{[3]: 25–7 [4]}

In the early 1960s the ARVN cavalry forces were regarded as an important factor in upholding or overthrowing any South Vietnamese government, having been used to suppress at least three coup attempts. President Ngo Dinh Diem acted to ensure the loyalty of his armor leaders. Only the most trustworthy armor officers were assigned to the greater Saigon area. Diem also limited fuel allocations so that armored units could not reach Saigon and Bá had to telephone the Independence Palace frequently to report his location. Despite these precautions armored units joined the November 1963 South Vietnamese coup d'état and Diem and his brother Ngô Đình Nhu would be executed in a 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry M113.^[3]: 48

In the September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt he supported General Dương Văn Đức's unsuccessful coup attempt.

In 1966 he served as chief of Bình Dương province.^[5] In 1968 he served as chief of Bình Định province.^[1]

On 15 January 1972 he was appointed as commander of the 23rd Division replacing Brigadier general Vo Van Canh.^[6]

During the Easter Offensive of 1972, he commanded the 23rd Division and together with Vann successfully defended Kontum against the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) attack.^[7]

In 1975 he commanded the 25th Division responsible for defending the northwestern approaches to Saigon.^[8] As the PAVN forces closed in on Saigon in late April 1975, the 25th Division's Củ Chi Base Camp came under artillery fire on 28 April and then siege from the PAVN. Bá ordered his force to fight in place, but on the morning of 29 April after PAVN tanks broke through the defensive lines, order collapsed and Bá and his remaining forces attempted to flee the base.^[9][10]

After initially evading capture he was eventually caught by the PAVN and sent to a reeducation camp for 12 years. He emigrated to the United States in 1990.^[1]

References

1. Frankum, Ronald (2011). Historical Dictionary of the War in Vietnam. p. 269.
2. "Cựu Chuẩn Tướng Lý Tòng Bá qua đời, hưởng thọ 85 tuổi" (in Vietnamese). Nguoi Viet Daily News. 22 February 2015. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
3. Starry, Donn. Vietnam Studies: Mounted Combat in Vietnam (PDF). United States Army Center of Military History. ISBN 9780881430059. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
4. Jacobs, Seth (2006). Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam, 1950–1963. Rowman & Litterfield. p. 141. ISBN 9780742544482.
5. Hay, John (1989). Tactical and materiel innovations (PDF). United States Army Center of Military History. p. 141.
6. "South Vietnam Division chief is reported being replaced". the New York Times. 16 January 1972.
7. McKenna, Thomas (2011). Kontum: The Battle to save South Vietnam. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813133980.
8. Le Gro, William (1985). Vietnam from ceasefire to capitulation (PDF). US Army Center of Military History. pp. 142–3. ISBN 9781410225429. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
9. Peter Arnett (25 May 1975). "Blind panic of South Vietnamese Army in final hours of the war is depicted". The New York Times.
10. Veith, George (2012). Black April: The fall of South Vietnam 1973–75. Encounter Books. pp. 479–80. ISBN 9781594035722.