Lâm Quang Thi

Lieutenant General Lâm Quang Thi (born 1932) was a senior military officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.[1]

In this Vietnamese name, the family name is Lam. According to Vietnamese custom, this person should properly be referred to by the given name Quang Thi.

Lâm Quang Thi
Born	1932 Bạc Liêu, French Indochina
Service/branch	Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Years of service	1950–1975
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	9th Infantry Division Vietnamese National Military Academy I Corps
Battles/wars	Vietnam War

Early life and family

Lam was born in Bac Lieu in 1932 to a family of wealthy landowning farmers. Lam's parents met through a matchmaker and married two years before he was born. Lam's father came from a family of Cao Dai adherents while his mother was a Roman Catholic. His maternal grandfather was one of the richest Chinese landowners in Bac Lieu at the turn of the 20th century.[2] Lam's parents separated in 1937 after their fourth child was born, and his mother took their four children down back to her hometown in Tam Vu. After completing his primary education there, Lam was sent Can Tho for his secondary education, where he enrolled into the Phan Thanh Gian College after passing through its tough entrance examinations.[3]

Military service

Lam graduated from the National Military Academy, in Da Lat, South Vietnam. He held the positions of Commander of the RVNAF Artillery Training Center, Commander of the Artillery in I Corps, Deputy Commander, RVNAF Artillery; Commander, 9th Infantry Division; and Commander of the Vietnamese National Military Academy. Last position until 4 1975: Commander in Chief of Army Corp I Forward Command.

Post-war life

Lam fled with his family to the United States in May 1975, when South Vietnam fell to the invading North Vietnamese army. He now lives in Fremont, California. Lam earned a French Baccalaureate Degree in Philosophy and an MBA, both from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. His son, Andrew Lam, is a writer and a journalist.

Lam was interviewed about the war in Ken Burns's series The Vietnam War.

Awards and decorations

• Vietnam Gallantry Cross
• Distinguished Service Order, 1st class
• Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal, 1st class
• National Order of Vietnam, 3rd class
• Staff Service Honor Medal, 1st class
• Vietnam Technical Service Medal, 1st class
• Training Service Honor Medal, 1st class
• Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal, 1st class
• Merit Thai
• Legion of Merit (United States)
• Order of Military Merit, Chung Mu Cordon (South Korea)

References

1. Lam, Andrew (June 13, 2006). "Iraq Massacre Can't Shake Vietnamese- American Support for U.S. Troops". New America Media. Archived from the original on June 21, 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
2. Lam (2001), p. 6–8
3. Lam (2001), p. 10–12

Bibliography

• Lam, Quang Thi, The Twenty-Five Year Century: A South Vietnamese General Remembers the Indochina War to the Fall of Saigon, University of North Texas Press, 2001, ISBN 1-57441-143-8
• Lam, Quang Thi, Hell in An Loc: The 1972 Easter Invasion and the Battle That Saved South Viet Nam, University of North Texas Press, 2011, ISBN 1-57441-313-9

External links

• Book Review of The Twenty-five Year Century: A South Vietnamese General Remembers the Indochina War to the Fall of Saigon by General Lam Thi Quang
• A Vietnamese Response to McNamara War was lost in Washington, not in Saigon by Lam Quang Thi posted by the Pacific News Service
• My Father's Army Uniform by Andrew Lam
• The Twenty-five Year Century: A South Vietnamese General Remembers the Indochina War to the Fall of Saigon
• 30 Years After the Vietnam War: China Remains a Threat
• Setting the Record Straight on South Vietnam
• Waterloo unearths some enlightening findings about the writer's father, a former general for South Vietnam.