Nguyễn Văn Vy

Nguyễn Văn Vỹ (; 16 January 1916 – 1981) was a South Vietnamese soldier who rose to the rank of General in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). In addition to his military career, he served as Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Vietnam from 1967 to 1972.

Vy was born in 1916 in Hanoi.

Military career After graduating from the administration school, against his father wishes, joined the French Officer military academy and served as an officer of an airborne regiment. He was a veteran of the Dien Bien Phu battle and took part in the allied landing in Korea. He originally served in the Vietnamese National Army under General Nguyễn Văn Hinh. On 1 May 1955 Vy was arrested after trying to take over the Army in the name of Emperor Bảo Đại to stop Ngô Đình Diệm from taking power fraudulently, and was forced to flee to France as an exile.

Vy returned to South Vietnam after the 1963 coup which removed Diem from power and led to his assassination. Like most of the military leaders involved in the alleged plot, he was soon released. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant General, and was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in 1967.

In February 1967 Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ appointed him and the Defense Minister, General Cao Văn Viên, to a committee to root out corruption among senior military personnel. As Defense Minister, Vy ran the Servicemen's Mutual Aid and Savings Fund (SMASF), a government-run and owned pension fund for South Vietnamese military personnel.

In 1971 Vy allegedly embezzled millions of dollars from the fund in order to create or buy the Bank of Industry and Commerce, Vicco (a road and bridge construction company), Vi-navatco (a transportation firm), Icico (an insurance company), and Foproco (a food processing company). Thiệu removed him from office on 6 August 1972. He was placed under house arrest, and fired in March 1974. He died in the Bégin Military Teaching Hospital in 1981 at the age of 65.

Awards and decorations