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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-07817 to 363-07822.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-07817 to 363-07822
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Title
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Article about General Trần Thiện Khiêm and General Nguyễn Khánh
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Description
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Original title: "generals kh", Article draft about General Trần Thiện Khiêm and General Nguyễn Khánh, for the New York Herald Tribune
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Transcript
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- Page 1
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deepe
101 cong ly; saigom
generals kh-l
Staten.
Sentary, 18
Add -
(Note to Editor: Please hold this until I cable that
Gen. Khiem has been named No. 2 man im the new government.
might also cable an insert or correction when his new position b
becomes official).
I
SAIGON-Seventeen years ago, two young cadets graduated as
classmates from a French military academy in the mountainous jungles
bordering Cambodia.
out going
One was a dynamic soccer layer soccer exuberant 2/1t. nguyen
khanh. The other was shy, soft-spoken 2/13. tren thien khiem.
Today, they are known as the Generals KH and are the two
most powerful men in Viet Nam. They are the two key leaders om
whom American has based their hopes for a fanimang clear-cu
victory against Communist Viet Cong Communist guerrillas. But t
the tasks before the two generals encompass more than military
tactics or strategy. They must also clearly solve the formidable
political problems facing the country-of building a strong political
unity among nationalist forces strong enough to counter the
ideology
political pro Communist propaganda amongst the peasants in the
countryside were the where the war is being waged. and (More)
urban nonulations where Communists are attentive to infilte
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deepe; 101 cong ly; saigon
generals kh--2
Maj. Gen. Khanh was recently elected by his military junta
as President of the Republic of Viet Nam. He is also Supreme
And Cm. The juntal, called MRC.
Commander of the Armed Forces. Lt. Gen. Khiem-with one mukemm
higher rank tham Gen. Khanh-is Minister of Defense, Commander-in
in-Chief of the Armed
1st Vice Chm.
Forces and Vice President of the Republic. And.
the justs.
Both were born in the southern provinces of Vietnam, Khanh
the som of/ wealthy landowner and Khiem the son of a middle-class
Both Axe Nominal Bund, but Don't Bead. support-together.
family. During the closing days of World War II, both fought
in the Plain of Reeds, mmmmmm a wasteland south of Saigon
which looks like the war prairies of the Old West, but parle
prairies submerged in two feet of salt water.
Then both jmx became cadets in the Frenchie Military
Academy in Dalat, a mountain resort city north of Saigon. Of the
17 members in the class, only 11 graduated-and these eleven are
among some of the most important field commanders and administrators
now in the Khanh government. 0mm During their school-days,
Khanh distinguished himself on the soccer field and earned the
affectionate nickname afdrag
of "Little Boy" from
his classmates.
including thanh thiem
Eight of these 11/then joined for several months the Communist
Viet Minh movement which was fighting French colonialism.
Included
in those eight were Khenkend Khier
(More)
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deepe
101 congly; saigon
generals kh--3
They supplemented their French-styled conventional warfare schooling
with the realities of g Viet Minh guerrilla warfare tactics--a
combination which is of value to them today. Ironically, when the
eight get the Viet Minh, they were put under the supervision
as an ex-Communist ectig boting as
of an cadre named Pham Ngoc Thao, now Khanh's press secretary
and an influential political advisor.
As 1/1ts., both Khiem a nd Khanh were married; Khiom to
a beautiful woman from a traditional family; Khanh to an
even more beautiful woman who had been married to a Viet Minh
enginner who has since been seen in Peking and Moscow.
After the French Indo-China war in 1954, both Khiom and Khn
Khanh and Khiem became staunch military supporters of President
Ngo Dinh Diem Khanh became a brilliant regimental team commander, but
was distrusted by Diem. In 1958, he was commander of Zone 6/5
in the now battle-weary Mekong Delta area. Hiem Khiem was his
deputy. According to Khanh, the Cambodian newspapers at that
time carried stories that the "colonels KH" might ex launch
a coup which would overthrew Diem.
* BRIG. DEN. K
Byx Two years alter, ho later, however, Khanh became Chief of
Staff of the Joint General Staff in Saigon. Khiem became a colonel
and took over Khanh's command in the delta.
During the abortive
16 1960 paratrooper coup against Diem, ix Khanh in his pajamas,
according to versions in Saigon-ran to the Palace to convince
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deepe
generals--kh--4
Diem to negotiate with the rebels. Durin The long hours of
negotiation gave Diem a chance to call/iin troops and armored
cars from the provinces--including those under khiem-- Khi em and
his aunt units from thaDelta-to rout the rebels. The leader of
military leader of the paratrooper coup & is now one of Khanh's
division commanders named Sub Brig-Gen. Nguyen Chanh Thi
Close
Add - this ro
to Kual
now oppoint th
both Kniem and Khanhien,
Contact the pro- Dien Elemento in Chanh Thi
of in
But during the next three years,
the support of both Hiem Khiem and Khanh
for President Diem
"
quartie
quhile bote.
Bend, unt
continually diminished. During the Buddhist crisis of last year, lock Bad.
DR.
Command
Khanh, then a major-general commander the northern Corps II,
a
K. Z is
was known to be plotting a coup, but according to some reliable Diem Re
sources, an American CIA agent reported details of it to President
Diem's brother. Ngo Dinh Nhu.
Meanwhile in Saigon, Khiem
was able to manipulate
as a staff officer in the Army headquarters,
troops. On November 1,1963, he his manipulation and execution
of the coup plans of other generals brought down the House of
Ngo-President Diem, his brother Nhu, Nhu's wife now in exile
Am
in France, Diem's dictatorial brother in the Central Provinces
(now executed) and another brother, Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc.
When the first military junta took power on November 1, Khanh
told a group of military officers-again in Dalat--that if the
military did not uphold the spirit of the revolution, he would
launch his own coup against them.
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نه
deepe
generals kh--5
The other junta generals were evidently suspicious of him
and assigned him as I Corps commander-as far from Saigon as possible.
But thamartharmonereinkin three months later, Khanh's vow to
launch a coup against the cou-ma coup-makers came true.
The other
junta generals had fog forgotten the other General KH, who
as Commander of III Cre Corps controlled most of the gr troops a
around Saigon.
On Jan. 30, the other junta generals were arrested while
im their pajamas during an early morning raid. They are still
exiled in city of Dalat. Khanh became premier andKhiem his
minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Khant,
Elution Pres. Her strong Him. prpport-Call Him on Puppen
During recent weeks, Saigom lavished in rumors that
Khiem would again attempt a coup--this time against the other
General KH. Khanh's own secrui security officers repeatedly
asked him whether Khiem could be trusted. Always the
reply was "Gen. Khiem is my very good friend. "
Asked by a newsman whether there would be a coup, Khanh
laughed and answered, "The next coup will be mine."/
The current government reshuffle naming him President and
allowing a hard-core of government officials loyal to him indicates
his coup nay now be in rp process underway.
But observers here
believe the success of the coup-and the dynamics of winning the
anti-Communist war--also depend on the other General KH.
(End).
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deepe
generals kh-photos
inclosed roll of undeveloped film shows khanh and Ex Lt.
Gen. Tran Thien Khiem (on the left with four stars on collar).
Taken by Bev Deepe.
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Date
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1964, Aug. 18
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Subject
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Vietnam (Republic), 1961-1975; Trần, Thiện Khiêm, 1925-; Nguyễn, Khánh, 1927-2013; Generals; Military leadership; Vietnam (Republic). Quân lực
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Location
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Saigon, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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10.8231; 106.6311
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Size
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20 x 26 cm
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Container
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B3, F7
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Format
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dispatches
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Collector
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
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Language
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English
