Vu Ngoc Nha

Pièrre Vũ Ngọc Nhạ (1928-2002) is an intelligence officer of the People's Army of Vietnam. He carried out espionage activities during the Vietnam War under the cover of a high-rank officer of many South Vietnam governments. He was the core member of the A.22 espionage group during the late 1960s before his arrest by CIA in 1969.

Nhạ and his colleagues managed to retrieved many important documents about the strategic plans and intentions of United States and Saigon government for the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, including the Strategic Hamlet Program, the Stanley-Taylor plan, the Plan for Rural Pacification, the Phoenix Plan, the plan for introducing U.S. troops into Vietnam. however he spent much of his childhood in the maternal homeland of the Phát Diệm Parish in Ninh Bình. At the age of 15, Vũ Ngọc Nhạ went to Huế to attend the Thuận Hoá Highschool. He then made contacts with Việt Minh and was joined the Communist Party of Vietnam on June 20, 1947.

Vũ Ngọc Nhạ participated in Viet Minh's resistance war against French invasion of Vietnam in 1946. After the Battle of Hà Nội, he retreated to Thái Bình and took part in Viet Minh's PR missions at the Catholic population in Thái Bình. He was appointed as Secretary of Party's Committee and then Party's Town Committee Member of Thái Bình in 1951, to revitalize Viet Minh's forces under intense French military activities in that area. Nhạ participated in a successful attack against a French prison facility, released thousands of prisoners there. In 1952, Vũ Ngọc Nhạ (under the alias Vũ Ngọc Kép), as a representative of Thái Bình province, participated at the "Conference of Guerilla Warfare in North Vietnam", held at Việt Bắc. During that conference, president Hồ Chí Minh gave Vũ Ngọc Nhạ the task of gathering information and data of United States plans and intentions in Vietnam.

However Vũ Ngọc Nhạ was suspected by South Vietnam counter-espionage agency as a North Vietnamese spy and was arrested at the end of 1958. He was jailed at Toà Khâm, Huế, together with many other suspected North Vietnamese intelligence agents, including his mentor Trần Quốc Hương. He quickly exploited that situation to established communication with his colleagues to prepare for counter-measures. Moreover, Huế leader Ngô Đình Cẩn allowed Catholic prisoners to attend Sunday church rituals. Vũ Ngọc Nhạ used that chance to make contact with Ngô Đình Cẩn and the Catholic clergy, including Bishop Lê. Knowing Vũ Ngọc Nhạ's relationship with Lê Hữu Từ and Hoàng Quỳnh, both sides decided to accept Nhạ's role as intermediary envoy. Nhạ intentionally stated that he consulted the ideas of bishop Lê and other Catholic figures, tacitly implied his relationship with the people that Ngô family had to reconcile with. Furthermore, Nhạ's correct prediction of the 1960 South Vietnamese coup attempt increased his prestige in the eyes of Ngô brothers. and had considerable influence on politics. He began to have the nickname of "Mr. Advisor".

At the end of 1963, Ngô Đình Nhu tasked Vũ Ngọc Nhạ with the mission of meeting with and gaining support from Catholic population. As a result, Vũ Ngọc Nhạ did not get caught into the 1963 South Vietnamese coup which ended with the collapse of Ngô Đình Diệm regime together with most of its key members. According to Nhạ, if he had get caught in the coup, he would have met the same tragic fate as Ngô Đình Diệm and Ngô Đình Nhu. It was said that during the imprisonment of Nhạ at Côn Đảo, Thiệu replace Côn Đảo's governor with one of Thiệu's close assistant so that Nhạ can be treated well in prison.

Before being sent to Côn Đảo, Lê Hữu Thuý and Nhạ were jailed at the CIA's facility at 3A, Bạch Đằng Street, a facility infamous for brutal interrogation. Both were imprisoned in a 2m2 room each with abrupt changes in temperature, frequent interrogations using Polygraph, and other tortures. Both Thuý and Nhạ suffered from deteriotating health and severe illnesses during the imprisonment. Lê Hữu Thuý's situation was especially critical as he occasionally vomited blood and mucus. Later Nhạ, using his personal relationship with some medical staff in the prison, managed to smuggle some medicines and food to mitigate Thuý's condition.

Activities in 1969-1975 During his imprisonment, Nhạ continued to make contact, via letters or direct meeting, with many celebrities and dignitaries from South Vietnam and America. He was praised as the benefactor of the Pope in a praying mass on June 23, 1971, and was award with the Pope's blessing, a certification of merit, and an award medal. The awards were sent directly to Nhạ in prison by a Vatican ambassador on June 25.

Nhạ's ability to impersonate a pro-Saigon, anti-communist figure sometimes surprised his own comrades. Mai Chí Thọ commented: "His behavior, voice, personality was the same as a reactionary priest. [...] A comrade of us who was able to impersonate our enemy to the level that even we could not detect, that was such a miracle of intelligence ability, that even I myself had never imagined before." His impersonation also caused him and his family to be wrongly condemned as a "traitors of the nation". Such misunderstandings were only solved after the war when Nhạ's real role became well known.

Nhạ was praised for the ability to use "moral" methods for his espionage tasks. Hữu Mai, author of the historical novel of Vũ Ngọc Nhạ's activities, commented that while many intelligence agents usually resort to fraud, coercion and tricks to get the information, Nhạ did things in a "human" way. He behaved like a moral priest, converted other people, including enemies, by morality and generosity. His deep knowledge and understanding in many aspects gained the admiration and respect of his enemies and many of these enemies came to him for advice.