1968, The Tet offensive in Vietnam. Eddie Adams captures one of the most iconic pictures of the war.
I recall first coming across this picture probably in 1969-70. It was horrifying and almost incomprehensible. Even at age ten I struggled with the two thoughts that this was a horrifying extrajudicial execution without due process but also that there was likely more to the story. My initial assumption was that the execution was in retaliation for a street fight in which some of the executor's men had been killed, possibly assassinated. It was perhaps one of my first more formally framed moral dilemmas or puzzles. How do you resolve the balance of wrongs? You can understand why a bad action might occur but still not condone the action itself.
It was some years later that I discovered that what I thought was a still picture was actually part of a film. What struck me then, having seen the video, was the difference in impact. The video gave more context though still not the complete story by any means. You would think with more context, it would be more powerful. But no; the film had far less impact than the single still picture.
Then, perhaps twenty years ago, I discovered more of the backstory.
At the height of the 1968 Tet Offensive, while prisoners were being rounded up in Saigon, General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan casually strolls over to a young man and shoots him in the temple.This image is more achingly tragic in some ways but has much less the visual impact of the execution. This is what preceded and instigated the extra-judicial execution.
The photo, taken with one-in-a-million perfect timing as the bullet entered the man’s head, won Eddie Adams the Pulitzer Prize and has been reproduced countless times as an example of the brutality of war, and especially of the American war effort in Vietnam.
However, what most people at the time, and even now, don’t know about the events leading up to the “Saigon Execution” photo paint a somewhat different picture from what the public got at first glance….
On the morning of the “Saigon Execution” photo, Nguyễn Văn Lém’s death squad had just killed 34 people – seven police officers, two or three Americans, and several police officers’ family members, all bound at the wrists and shot in the head over a pit – and they may have been looking for Loan himself.
The story is messier, more representative of the complexities of the human system.
But now there is a postscript.
General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan escaped the collapse of South Vietnam, came to the USA and opened a pizza restaurant. He died in 1991.
The most amazing postscript is from the news announced a month or two ago of the Navy's promotion of Captain Huan Nguyen to Rear Admiral. From Navy promotes Huan Nguyen to be first Vietnamese-American admiral by Mike Glenn.
Huan Nguyen has gone from war refugee to admiral in the U.S. Navy.An amazing, remarkable and inspiring story of Huan Nguyen and this wonderful country.
In 1975, along with his uncle — a former colonel in South Vietnam’s Air Force — Adm. Nguyen fled his homeland to seek a better life in America. His parents and siblings had all been killed by the Viet Cong. He remembers seeing sailors and Marines building shelters and serving hot food to the weary refugees when they finally arrived on Guam.
“I thought how lucky I am to be in a place like America. Those sailors inspired me to later serve int he United States Navy,” he said in a statement.
Last week, the Navy officially promoted him to rear admiral — the first Vietnamese-born officer to achieve flag rank.
“America is the beacon of hope for all of us. There is no other place where a person can go for such opportunity,” Adm. Nguyen said.
Adm. Nguyen, 60, was born in Hue to an armor officer in South Vietnam’s army. He was shot several times in the same Viet Cong attack that left his parents and five brothers and sisters dead at their home near Saigon. He survived the attack, which included a bullet that pierced his skull, Navy officials said.
A U.S. Air Force colonel later sponsored Adm. Nguyen and his moved, along with his uncle’s family, to Oklahoma. He attended Oklahoma State University, where he graduated in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. In 1993, Adm. Nguyen received a direct commission into the Navy’s engineering duty officer program. He has held a variety of engineering-related positions, including combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But that's not all. That penultimate paragraph is true is far as it goes. The missing link is the circumstances of the referenced Viet Cong attack during which Huan Nguyen was wounded as a child.
From Admiral Huan Nguyen's Historical Day by Brock Townsend.
Via Mary Nguyen "Rear Admiral Huan Nguyen is surviving son of Colonel Tuan Nguyen whose family was murdered during Tet 1968. His family's murderer was later executed by General Loan Nguyen. This incident was captured by Pulitzer prize winning photographer Eddie Adam.Finally, from Rear Admiral Huan Nguyen's Historical Day from Little Saigon Inside.
[snip]
As the news spread about the nomination of Navy Captain Huấn Từ Nguyễn to be rear admiral, some astute studiers of the Vietnam War could not help but notice the captain's history.
At 14, Nguyen arrived in Guam as refugee right after the Fall of Saigon in 1975.
Seven years before, he was badly injured during the attack by the communist rebels during the surprise Tet Offensive. Some of the rebels pretended to be civilians and infiltrated key areas in Saigon. Nguyen's family was captured at their home in the early morning of the fight. The rebels targeted his family because his dad, Lt. Colonel Tuan Nguyen, was the head of an armored division protecting the city. His parents along with his 6 siblings and his 80 years old grandma were executed.
He was the only one in his family survived the brutality.
Rear Adm. Huan Nguyen, age 60, will serve as the Deputy Commander for Cyber Engineering at the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) on the Washington Navy Yard. NAVSEA commander, Vice Adm. Tom Moore, served as the presiding officer.A picture may be worth a thousand words but sometimes amazing stories need more than one picture. In this instance, perhaps three.
“Today we will welcome the first Vietnamese-born U.S. Navy officer to achieve flag rank, and that is a significant event,” said Moore.
Nguyen after being promoted addressed the audience. “It is a great honor to attain the rank of admiral. I am tremendously humbled to become the first Vietnamese American to wear the flag’s rank in the U.S. Navy. The honor actually belongs to the Vietnamese American community, which instilled in us a sense of patriotism, duty, honor, courage and commitment to our adopted country, the United States of America,” said Nguyen. “This is our America. A country built on service, kindness and generosity…opportunity…the freedom to hope and dream. These values are what inspired me to serve. And what a great honor and privilege it is to serve our Navy…to serve our country…to support and defend our Constitution.”
Nguyen was born in Hue Vietnam, the son of an armor officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. During the 1968 Tet Offensive, Nguyen’s mother and father, along with his five brothers and sister were killed by Viet Cong Communist guerillas in their family home outside Saigon. Nine-year-old Nguyen was shot in the arm and thigh, with another bullet piercing his skull. He stayed with his mother for two hours, until she bled out and died. Amazingly, Nguyen survived and escaped after dark.
Nguyen was taken in by his uncle, a Colonel in the Republic of Vietnam Air Force. In 1975, at age 16, they fled Vietnam, seeking refuge in the United States following the fall of Saigon.
Transported through Guam, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel took care of Nguyen and his family. The U.S. 7th Fleet helped to evacuate thousands of Vietnamese refugees and transport them to safety in Guam. Seeing the U.S. Navy take care of his family would later inspire Nguyen to serve in the Navy.
“I was one of those refugees, apprehensive about an uncertain future, yet feeling extremely grateful that I was here at all. The images that I remember vividly when I arrived at Camp Asan, Guam, now Asan Beach Park, were of American sailors and Marines toiling in the hot sun, setting up tents and chow hall, distributing water and hot food, helping and caring for the people with dignity and respect. I thought to myself how lucky I am to be in a place like America. Those sailors inspired me to later serve in the United States Navy,” said Nguyen.
Later that year, U.S. Air Force Colonel Ed Veiluva and his wife Dorothy sponsored his uncle’s family, allowing them to officially come to the United States as political refugees. Nguyen moved with his uncle’s family to Midwest City, Oklahoma, just outside of Tinker Air Force Base.
Nguyen graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma State University in 1981. He holds Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University, Engineering (Manufacturing Concentration) from Purdue University, and Information Technology with Highest Distinction from Carnegie Mellon University. He received a Navy direct commission through the Reserve Engineering Duty Officer program in 1993.
“America is the beacon of hope for all of us. There is no other place in the world where a person can go for such opportunity,” said Nguyen.
Click to enlarge.
Over 300 people, mostly family members, friends, naval officers and supporters came and attended the ceremony held at Navy Memorial in Washington DC.
Along his side to celebrate his promotion were his wife, Huong Nguyen, his three children, his uncle (former Vietnamese Air Force Colonel Tu Nguyen) and aunt who raised him, his father-in-law (with black cane), Khoa Xuan Le, a former faculty at John Hopkins University and founder of SEARAC, a refugee and immigrant action center advocating for South East Asians.
Backstory
Story
Glory
In the received story, Viet Cong freedom fighter Nguyễn Văn Lém is extrajudicially executed by General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan.
In the full story, there is both a different interpretation, many more heroes, and a wonderful denouement.
Nguyễn Văn Lém shifts from freedom fighter to cruel mass murderer. Nguyễn Ngọc Loan becomes the enraged equalizer for the victims. Huan Nguyen becomes the phoenix, rising from almost incomprehensible tragedy to great achievement.
And the way is lined with heroes. His uncle Colonel Tu Nguyen who took in Huan as his sole surviving nephew, fled with him after the fall of Vietnam, raised him in America. U.S. Air Force Colonel Ed Veiluva and his wife Dorothy who sponsored them as refugees in America. The American sailors and Marines toiling in the hot sun, setting up tents and chow hall, distributing water and hot food, helping and caring for the people in the Guam refugee camp with dignity and respect who inspired Huan Nguyen. And many others unnamed along the way.
There are more stories in that iconic Eddie Adams photo than are seen on the surface.
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