Tran Ngoc Châu (1 January 1924 – 17 June 2020) was a Vietnamese soldier (Lieutenant Colonel), civil administrator (city mayor, province chief), politician (leader of the Lower House of the National Assembly), and later political prisoner, in the Republic of Vietnam until its demise with the Fall of Saigon in 1975.
Much earlier in 1944, he had joined the Việt Minh to fight for independence from the French. Yet as a Vietnamese Buddhist by 1949 he had decisively turned against Communism in Vietnam. He then joined new nationalist forces led by the French. When Vietnam was divided in 1954, he became an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN).
For many years he worked on assignments directly under President Ngô Đình Diệm (1954–1963). He became the mayor of Da Nang, and was later a province chief in the Mekong Delta. In particular, Châu became known for his innovative approaches to the theory and practice of counter-insurgency: the provision of security ("pacification") to civilian populations during the Vietnam War. The ultimate government goal of winning the hearts and minds of the people eventually led him to enter politics.
In 1967, after resigning from the ARVN Châu was elected to the newly formed National Assembly in Saigon. He became a legislative leader. Along with others, however, he failed to persuade his old friend Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, the former general who had become President (1967–1975), to turn toward a negotiated peace. Hence Châu associated with Assembly groups in opposition to the prevailing war policies and the ubiquitous corruption.
Under the pretext that he spoke to his communist brother, Châu was accused of treason in 1970, during a major government crackdown on dissidents. Among others, Daniel Ellsberg spoke on his behalf before the United States Congress. Amid sharp controversy in South Vietnam, widely reported in the international press, Châu was tried and sent to prison for several years. Detention under house arrest followed. Soon after Saigon fell in 1975, he was arrested and held by the new communist regime, in a re-education camp. Released in 1978, he and his family made their escape by boat, eventually arriving in America in 1979.See text below for source references.
Early life and career
Family, education Tran Ngoc Châu was born in 1923 or 1924 into a Confucian–Buddhist family of mandarins (quan in Vietnamese),Cf., Buttinger (1958) at pp. 289–290, 219 n23 & 24. A mandarin (quan) was a public official drawn from those who passed "the prescribed number of official tests" and thus a merit selection "based on a democratic principle". Such an "anti-colonial" view "became quite popular among Vietnamese nationalists" during the early independence struggle. Yet mandarins, although "not an economically anchored ruling class" nor "a closed group", had features of a social "elite".Phan Thi Dac (1966) p. 66. Traditionally Vietnam was a land of three religions (Tam Giáo): Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist. who lived in the ancient city of Huế, then the imperial capital, on the coast of central Vietnam. Since birth records at that time were not common, his family designated January 1, 1924, as his birthday "just for convenience". His grandfather Tran Tram was a well-known scholar and a minister in the imperial cabinet, and his father Tran Dao Te was a chief judge.Fermoyle (2009), p. 422 (photo of grandfather), p. 423 (photo of father). As traditional members of the government, his family had "never resigned themselves to French rule." Châu spent seven youthful years as a student monk at a Buddhist school and seminary. In addition he received a French education at a lycée. Yet along with his brothers and sister, and following respected leaders, Châu became filled with "the Vietnamese nationalist spirit" and determined to fight for his country's independence.Châu with Fermoyle (2012) at pp. 4–5, 7 (family background); at 8, 25 (joins Việt Minh); 8–9 (Buddhist school, French lycée); 5 (two quotes). His mandarin grandfather (pp. 5, 79), and father (105). From a large family, Châu had three brothers and a sister who also joined the Việt Minh resistance (p. 109). Later Châu's own wife and six children, in addition to his small army pay, received income from family rental property (cf. p. 277).Grant (1991), re Tran Ngoc Châu: at 68–69 (family origins).Châu with Sturdevant (2001) p. 181. (brother joins Việt Minh), p. 182 (Châu).
In the Việt Minh resistance
In 1944, Châu joined the anti-French and anti-Japanese "resistance" (khang chien), that is, the Việt Minh. He followed two older brothers and a sister.Châu with Fermoyle (2012) at p. 8 (family and Việt Minh); also p. 109.Grant (1991), pp. 69–70 (recruited for Việt Minh by a teacher and leader of Routiers, the French 'boy scouts'). "Châu and his brothers and sisters, all but the youngest boy, joined the Việt Minh" (p. 69).Chau with Sturdevant (2001) pp. 180–182. Then considered a popular patriotic organization, the Việt Minh emphasized Vietnamese nationalism.Tucker (2000) pp. 441–442. Việt Minh translates "Vietnam Independence League". Founded in 1941 as a "communist front organization" by 1945 it had successfully become the leading Vietnamese independence party by championing nationalism and obscuring its founders' class struggle ideology.Cf. Ho Chi Minh (1970) re Việt Minh: p. 30 (founded by communist party members, to attract nationalists and people of all classes), p. 32 (celebrates its support "from all social strata"), p. 46 (calculated concealment of communist class warfare doctrine in order to "unite the entire people").Cf. Halberstam (1971). Ho Chi Minh in 1941 was adamant that communists create a front party (the Việt Minh) to conceal their Soviet links, otherwise they would be vulnerable to charges of being controlled by foreigners. This front party must be more Vietnamese nationalist than any rival party (p. 63). Ho himself had then not set foot in Vietnam in 30 years (p. 61). Since 1924, he had worked as a professional revolutionary whose activities and travels were directed by the Communist International in Moscow (pp. 37, 39; 42, 44, 45–46; 70). Châu was picked to attend a 3-month "Political Military Course". Afterwards he was made a platoon leader.Châu, paper submitted to Congress, in US Senate (1970), p. 371.
Here Châu mixed with peasants and workers for the first time, experiencing "the great gap between the privileged... and the underprivileged" and the "vital role" played by the rural villagers in Vietnam's destiny. He participated in the rigors of Việt Minh indoctrination, the "critiquing sessions" and party discipline, and admired the dedication of Vietnamese patriots. Exemplary was his young immediate superior Ho Ba, also from a mandarin family. Châu lived the rough life as a guerrilla soldier, entering combat many times. Yet he saw what he thought a senseless execution of a young woman justified as "revolutionary brutality". He also saw evidence of similar harsh behavior by French colonial forces. Châu was selected to head a company (over a hundred soldiers) and led his compatriots into battle. Promoted then to "battalion political commissar", Ho Ba had asked him to join the Communist Party of Vietnam.Châu with Fermoyle (2012) at pp. 12 ("great gap"); 33, 42–43, 54–55, 57–58 (Việt Minh doctrine); 87, 90–92, 101, 110 (yet Ho Ba opposed his father, pp. 91–92, because of his feudal privilege); 16–18 (senseless execution), 17 ("revolution is brutal" quote), cf. 37, , 58, 78, 80 (French brutality); 19, 23, 33, 117, 144 (leadership role in combat); 78–79 (commissar); 90–92, 113 (asked to join party by Ho Ba). About brutality, ironically it worked to increase support from the people (p. 78). Châu began in Việt Minh intelligence (p. 9), but soon switched to combat (p. 18). Years later, when Châu had changed sides and fought against the Viet Cong, he nonetheless used the "critiquing sessions" he'd learned from the Việt Minh (pp. 122, 162).Grant (1991). As a guerrilla Châu was wounded three times (p. 70), usually had little to eat, cut up rubber tires to make his sandals, "suffered malaria, and slept in a hammock in the rain and cold" (p. 72). Grant writes (at 70–71), contrary to Châu's memoirs (p. 78), that Châu was promoted to battalion commissar after the Việt Minh leadership dishonestly sentenced to death the prior commissar "for political reasons".Châu with Sturdevant (2001) p. 181. Many communist supporters within the Việt Minh were former political prisoners. During the Japanese occupation, communist party cadres had successfully recruited within the prisons.
A year after Châu had entered the rural Việt Minh, Japan surrendered ending World War II. Up north Việt Minh armed forces seized control of Hanoi in the August Revolution. Ho Chi Minh (1890–1969) proclaimed Vietnamese independence, and became the first President.Halberstam (1971) pp. 75–78, 80–81.Tucker (2000) p. 446. The French, however, soon returned and war commenced anew. Several writers comment that in 1945 Ho Chi Minh had become indelibly identified with Vietnamese independence, conferring on him the Mandate of Heaven in the eyes of many Vietnamese, and that his ultimate victory against France and later America predictably followed.Robert Shaplen in his 1965 book The Lost Revolution presents a thesis that, in short, Ho's and the Việt Minh's national stature resulting from the independence achieved in 1945 already shaped the probable outcome of the Vietnam War. Cf. Shaplen (1970) p. xi.Karnow (1983) p. 146. In 1945 the Emperor Bảo Đại's abdication conferred on Ho traditional legitimacy and the mandate of heaven. Later, "even anti-Communists regarded [Ho] as a hero" (p. 213). Re Dewey's OSS report: p. 139.Prados (2009) pp. 18, 19. A. Peter Dewey, leader of an OSS team to Vietnam in 1945, wrote a report strongly advising the U.S. stay out. In agreement were the views of the State Department's Far Eastern Bureau of John Carter Vincent and its Southeast Asia desk of Abbot Low Moffat.Cf. Fitzgerald (1972) p. 224. By his national charisma Ho "promoted himself out of the political sphere to become the revered 'ancestor' of the revolution within his lifetime."Stephen B. Young, "The Mandate and Politics in Vietnam" pp. 13–34, in Donnell and Joiner (1974). "The central concept that runs through Vietnamese life is the ultimate power of heaven and its mandate over human affairs." Such is fundamental in local traditions and is held by Buddhists. The Mandate of Heaven (mang troi in Vietnamese) is destiny and "assigns all of us our particular fate" (p. 13). The charisma of Ho Chi Minh in 1945 conferred on him a new mandate to rule, so that Ho could "legitimately replace old village councils" because his mandate would ultimately free Vietnam from foreigners (p. 26).Phan Thi Dac (1966) p. 92: 'Heaven' as determining destiny, a widespread belief. Cf., pp. 70, 78.Halberstam (1971) p. 82: In August 1945 "the Việt Minh had in one quick stroke taken over the nationalism of the country [and] Ho had achieved the legitimacy of power." If the French "challenged him now they would only increase his authority." Ho had become the "arbiter of Vietnamese nationalism". Accordingly, the Americans worked to avoid the national election scheduled for 1956 (p. 108).J. William Fulbright, The Price of Empire (New York: Pantheon 1989) p. 110: US President Eisenhower stated later that if the 1956 Vietnam elections (specified in the Geneva accords of 1954) had been held, Ho Chi Minh would have won by 80%.Châu with Fermoyle (2012) p. 294: The "honor and glory" from their war against the French still gave the Communists "an edge" into the late 1960s.