Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh

Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh (; July 26, 1926 – September 29, 2019) was a Vietnamese military officer of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, rising to the rank of Brigadier General.

He was also a Viet Cong (VC) sympathizer and spy. Hạnh played an important role in the Fall of Saigon when he used his authority and influence to facilitate the bloodless surrender of the South Vietnam government. Hạnh's contribution to the VC was recognized by the unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam and he was considered as a patriotic figure in the unified Vietnam.

Hạnh is the main character of the historical novel The Brigadier General by Nguyễn Trần Thiết.

Childhood Hạnh was born on 26 July 1926 at Phú Phong, Châu Thành district, Mỹ Tho province (Cochinchina), to a wealthy farming family. His grandfather, Nguyễn Quang Phát, was a Confucian scholar. He refused to take part in the pro-French village governing body and committed suicide in 1947 at the age of 72, after being unjustly humiliated by a Moroccan French soldier. One of his paternal uncles, Nguyễn Tấn Thành, was a Communist, and took a vital role in converting Hạnh into a communist sympathizer. Hạnh did well in maths and was also a good learner of French. He finished his highschool study in the Collège de My Tho (now is the Nguyễn Đình Chiểu High School in Mỹ Tho City). After the 1945 August Revolution, he worked as a secretary for the regional Viet Minh branch in his homeland Mỹ Tho. However, Mỹ Tho was quickly overrun by the French army. Many people evacuated to other regions, including Hạnh to Saigon.

Service in the French Union Army and the South Vietnamese Army An unemployed Hạnh was proposed by a friend to join the French Union Army and he did so in 1946. He attended the Vũng Tàu Military School, became a subordinate and a close friend of Dương Văn Minh. He was promoted to the rank lieutenant and became a battalion commander. He was later promoted to major, 11th regiment commander, and at the end of 1954 he took over the Long Xuyên subzone after the French Army left. He became Minh's staff chief in early 1955 and took over the area of Rừng Sác, Chợ Lớn province, Gia Định, Tây Ninh and Saigon city. Under the command of Minh, he participated in several military campaigns in 1955–56 against the rebel forces of Hoà Hảo and Cao Đài. He took a 42 weeks training course at Fort Leavenworth - Kansas in 1958, and an intelligence and strategy course at Fort Hollabird - Maryland in 1962. He was promoted to colonel in 1963 and appointed as staff chief of IV Corps under the command of Huỳnh Văn Cao.

Hạnh's military career suffered under the presidency of Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, who considered Minh and his associates as rivals. He was promoted to Brigadier general in 1969 and was appointed as vice-commander of IV Corps and II Corps. Nonetheless, Hạnh made use of his own authority to assist the VC occasionally. Using the excuse of "caution", he restrained his troops from having aggressive actions against the VC, forbade excessive use of firepower and only allowed helicopters to open fire to retaliate against enemy fire. He refused to execute the bombardment of Tháp Mười to avoid civilian casualties. During engagements with the VC, Hạnh's troop only took part perfunctorily and retreated immediately at the end of the battle. He then gained the nickname of "cautious commander" and "the commander who captures no target". Some of Hạnh's colleagues suspected him as a Communist sympathizer, but no evidence was found.

Hạnh died in Saigon on 29 September 2019, aged 95.