Tran Hanh

Lieutenant General Trần Hanh (November 29, 1932 – December 5, 2024) was a pilot of the Vietnam People's Air Force and later Deputy Minister of Defence of Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, Trần Hanh was a MIG-17 pilot and officer of the 921st Regiment who shot down an F-105D in April 1965. After the war he became the Deputy Chief of the General Staff and later Deputy Minister of Defence of Vietnam before his retirement in 2000.

Early life Trần Hanh, whose real name was Trần Huy Hanh, was born in 1932 to a poor family in Lộc Vượng commune, Mỹ Lộc, Nam Định. He began to participate in Youth Union in December 1946 and the revolutionary movement in April 1947.

Career Trần Hanh joined the Vietnam People's Army in September 1949 and became a student of the Lê Lợi School for Officers and later Nguyễn Huệ School in December 1950. In his early career, Trần Hanh often served as political commissar (chính trị viên) of various military units, he was appointed political commissar of the 23rd Company of 680th Battalion, 48th Regiment, 320th Division in February 1954 and afterwards deputy political commissar of the 680th Battalion in June 1954. Later this year, Trần Hanh participated in the formation of 4 MIG-17s that shot down a US helicopter over Hòa Bình in November. Trần Hanh was promoted to deputy commander (trung đoàn phó) in May 1965 and commander (trung đoàn trưởng) of this regiment in October 1969. In March 1972, he became the Deputy Commander (Tư lệnh phó) of the Vietnam People's Air Force, or the 371st Division at that time, two years later Trần Hanh held the position of Commander of the 371st Division.

Death Trần died on December 5, 2024, at the age of 92. He was lie in state at the National Funeral Home on December 9, before was laid to rest at Chùa Tháp cemetery in Nam Định City.

Rank and decorations Trần Hanh was promoted to Major General (thiếu tướng) in 1984 and Lieutenant General (trung tướng) in 1989.

In 1967 Trần Hanh was awarded the prestigious title Hero of the People's Armed Forces (Anh hùng lực lượng vũ trang nhân dân). Further, he was bestowed various medals and decorations such as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade Military Exploit Order (Huân chương quân công), the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade Medal of Glorious Soldier (Huân chương Chiến sỹ vẻ vang) or the Badge of Hồ Chí Minh (Huy hiệu Hồ Chí Minh).