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cooperated too closely with their
American advisers. Charging that Americans like Hunnicutt had little respect for the Vietnamese and were trying to take over the army by demanding control over all important appointments, Chinh stated that he was currently punishing one subordinate (later identified as the province chief of Long An) because "he only forwards reports to advisors"; "fails to keep his immediate commanders informed"; and, "having first let the means subjugate his mind... has put himself in the hands of the provider of those means" -namely, the Americans. He went on to lecture his subordinates on the need to avoid being subverted by American wealth and power, as well as on the importance of keeping their self-respect and their loyalty to their own superiors. Chinh's accusations were quickly picked up, first by the Vietnamese and then by the American press, causing a sensation in Washington and forcing MACV to take a closer look at the matter. Several days later deputy-COMUSMACV Lieutenant general
261:
dynamic officer," pushed Chinh, Chinh's subordinates and his own advisers to greater efforts and the performance of the 25th slowly began to improve." From April to
September, relations between Hunnicutt and Chinh were apparently cordial. The American adviser was frank with his counterpart, proposed many operational and personnel changes, and passed on his judgments to Mueller when Chinh failed to act. For example, when Hunnicutt recommended the removal of the Cu Chi district chief for blatant graft and corruption, Chinh unofficially acknowledged the situation but explained that his personal friendship with the accused prevented him from acting. Hunnicutt, however, reported both the case and Chinh's views to Mueller, who promptly informed General
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Westmoreland believed Chinh's explanation, but felt that his regret was sincere and that
Hunnicutt "may have been a little too aggressive in his approach to this supersensitive, complex ridden, apprehensive, unsure, and relatively weak division commander." Heintges considered Chinh's excuse plausible enough for public relations purposes, allowing him to rescind the statements on the pretext that outsiders had misunderstood them. In closing the case, Heintges termed it an isolated incident. Hunnicutt rotated at the end of his normal tour, the recipient of the Legion of Merit for his outstanding performance as senior adviser and Chinh, after publicly recanting his words, now appeared more amicable toward his new adviser.
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failed to improve. Shortly thereafter, Hunnicutt pulled his advisory team from the division's reconnaissance company following several incidents of
Vietnamese drunkenness and misbehavior, and he also accused several battalion commanders of avoiding engagements with enemy units and falsifying their operational reports. Hunnicutt informed Chinh that the US could not afford to support operations that were not pursued aggressively and achieved so little. He also believed that Chinh was cognizant of his critical monthly evaluation (SAME) reports, but unaware that MACV routinely passed on much of the information directly to the South Vietnamese
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241:. Kỳ had given him strict orders not to commit any more than one battalion of each regiment to combat at anyone time. Chinh thus had his hands full providing static security for those provinces under his authority and keeping an eye on the political situation in Saigon. Some of his most critical military operations consisted of merely opening the main roads from time to time so that produce could be brought into the capital and supplies and other goods taken out to the towns and military bases within his jurisdiction. Defeating the enemy was not his first priority.
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273:(JGS). Tired of Hunnicutt's constant badgering and humiliated by his complaints, Chinh decided to sever his relationship with him. On 28 September he sent a memorandum to Khang, accusing Hunnicutt of submitting "sneaky reports on his division, threatening to pull advisors from units and of being insulting to the 46th and 50th Regiments." He demanded that the III Corps commander remove Hunnicutt as senior adviser within twenty-four hours. The same day Chinh left his headquarters at
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credit for his interest in the civil matters of his division tactical area and seemed pleased by his new appointment. According to Komer, Chinh was always "a better pacificer than a
Division Commander," and the new post would hopefully keep him out of mischief. The new President Thiệu was equally pleased to be able to replace Chinh, an old rival, with a supporter, General Nguyen Xuan Thinh. Westmoreland, noting that Thinh had been relieved as commander of the
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noted that the recent arrival of U.S. combat troops in the area was "already causing some increase in the morale of the 25th ARVN Div," but the unit was still "the weakest division in the ARVN, " barely "hanging on by its teeth in Hậu Nghĩa
Province." Westmoreland was well aware that Chinh's close ties with members of the Kỳ Junta made his replacement difficult.
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In August, the relationship between
Hunnicutt and Chinh grew steadily worse. Frustrated over the performance of the division, Hunnicutt began to exert more pressure, recommending several of Chinh's major commanders for relief and threatening to withdraw the field advisers from units whose performance
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to relieve Chinh, Westmoreland upbraided him for bypassing the U.S. military chain of command. Referring to the affair with
Hunnicutt in 1966, Westmoreland blamed the American press for Chinh's long tenure, asserting that critical news stories about Chinh had made it impossible for Kỳ to act without
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flew to Đức Hòa to talk with Chinh. Heintges reported that Chinh appeared contrite and apologetic, worrying about the ruckus he had stirred and blaming irresponsible translators and careless news reporters for misconstruing his words and taking them out of their proper context. Neither
Heintges nor
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scheduled for
September. He promised that replacements would be found for Chinh and Thuần and possibly Giai. Finally, in December, perhaps to appease Westmoreland, Viên decided to "remove" Chinh by promoting him to the post of III Corps deputy commander. His American advisers had given Chinh some
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Upon Hunnicutt's scheduled departure two months later, Chinh made the dispute public through a special "order of the day" to his troops and a slightly more detailed letter to his commanders. Both communications criticized Hunnicutt and those Vietnamese officers in his command who, Chinh felt, had
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viewed Chinh's leadership of the 25th Infantry Division as uninspired. The corps senior adviser had requested Chinh's immediate relief, but Westmoreland chose not to press the matter, hoping that combined operations with American forces "will be able to develop the unit." Several months later he
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deputy senior adviser, ordered him to put some life in the unit and somehow get it moving. At the time, Chinh had delegated control of many of his battalions to the province and district chiefs and had made little effort to supervise their activities. Hunnicutt, later described as a "competent,
297:, Thuần (5th Division) and Chinh (25th Division), flatly incompetent. The senior South Vietnamese military junta generals had repeatedly agreed on the need to replace them, but, for political reasons, had taken no action. When
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that Chinh "has no equal in the matter of training leadership.", if so, Chinh had turned over a new leaf, or, more likely, American evaluations were once again becoming too optimistic.
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186:. Following the failure of the coup he was arrested and eventually put on trial in July 1963 and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. However following the successful
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345:, the MACV training director as of June 1971 described Chinh as "a dynamic prime-mover in the training business" and noted the judgment of COMUSMACV General
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finally provided Westmoreland with a list of about forty "corrupt, incompetent or old and tired" senior officers that he intended to discharge after the
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in 1965 because of his poor performance, was not enthusiastic about the choice, but he could only hope that he would do better than his predecessor.
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333:. It was suggested that Thiệu arranged the transfer so that Chinh would not be commanding troops in the Saigon area while III Corps commander
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265:, the new III Corps commander. Khang took immediate action and relieved the offending officer, severely embarrassing Chinh in the process.
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On 9 May 1966 Colonel Cecil F. Hunnicutt became senior adviser to the 25th Division. His immediate superior, Colonel Arndt Mueller, the
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battalions, appeared unable to come to grips with the local VC, or otherwise interfere with their activities. American advisers at
225:(MACV) and in the field were puzzled and angry, blaming Chinh's lack of aggressiveness. Unbeknownst to the Americans, however,
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had instructed Chinh to orient the bulk of his unit south as an anticoup force, perhaps as a counter to the neighboring ARVN
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forces operated in both Hau Hậu Nghĩa and Long An, close to the capital, but the 25th, although reinforced by four
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operating west and northwest of Saigon. The division guarded Highway 4, the major rice supply route to the
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In April 1970 Chinh became Central Training Command director, replacing General
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In 1967 MACV assessed that the three ARVN divisions surrounding Saigon, the
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The U.S. Army in Vietnam Advice and Support: The Final Years, 1965–1973
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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26 October 1955 – 30 April 1975 (Army of the Republic of Vietnam)
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in November 1963 he was released and reinstated in the ARVN.
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Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support
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Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures
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123:1951 – 25 October 1955 (Vietnamese National Army)
305:tried to enlist the aid of Secretary of Defense
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213:(with a total of fourteen districts). Strong
8:
1321:South Vietnamese military ranks and insignia
156:(1 February 1931 – 17 November 2014) was a
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679:
671:
540:Administrative Service Medal, Second Class
29:
18:
1350:Vietnamese emigrants to the United States
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1345:Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals
849:Civilian Irregular Defense Group program
643:. U.S. Army Center of Military History.
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337:was away commanding ARVN forces in the
237:, a close friend of Kỳ's rival General
201:, and protected the roads and towns of
319:South Vietnamese presidential election
310:appearing to be an American puppet."
175:In November 1960 Chinh supported the
7:
313:In August 1967 JGS Chairman General
223:Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
16:South Vietnamese general (1931–2014)
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165:Army of the Republic of Vietnam
111:Army of the Republic of Vietnam
516:Air Service Medal, First Class
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532:Chuong My Medal, Second Class
193:In 1964 Chinh commanded the
400:Distinguished Service Order
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709:Military of South Vietnam
379:National Order of Vietnam
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634:Clarke, Jeffrey (1998).
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147:Central Training Command
106:Vietnamese National Army
879:Combined Action Program
421:Hazardous Service Medal
506:Military Service Medal
496:Vietnam Campaign Medal
353:Awards and decorations
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1192:Nguyễn Phước Vĩnh Lộc
377:Grand Officer of the
331:Nguyễn Phước Vĩnh Lộc
233:commanded by General
120:Years of service
389:Military Merit Medal
343:Stanley L. McClellan
341:. Brigadier general
250:William Westmoreland
474:Civil Actions Medal
463:Staff Service Medal
271:Joint General Staff
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874:Presidential Guard
485:Good Conduct Medal
339:Cambodian Campaign
158:Lieutenant general
134:Lieutenant general
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1237:Nguyễn Viết Thanh
1197:Nguyễn Trọng Luật
888:ARVN Sub-branches
211:Long An provinces
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150:
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1287:Trần Thiện Khiêm
1282:Trần Thanh Phong
1267:Phan Trọng Chinh
1242:Nguyễn Vĩnh Nghi
1222:Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
1202:Nguyễn Văn Chuân
1162:Nguyễn Đức Thắng
1157:Nguyễn Chánh Thi
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347:Creighton Abrams
283:John A. Heintges
275:Đức Hòa district
239:Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
162:South Vietnamese
154:Phan Trọng Chinh
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83:State of Vietnam
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67:17 November 2014
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23:Phan Trọng Chinh
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1257:Phạm Quốc Thuần
1227:Nguyễn Văn Toàn
1217:Nguyễn Văn Minh
1212:Nguyễn Văn Mạnh
1207:Nguyễn Văn Hiếu
1187:Nguyễn Khoa Nam
1177:Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh
1167:Nguyễn Hợp Đoàn
1107:Lê Nguyên Khang
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411:Gallantry Cross
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254:
251:
247:
244:By late 1965
242:
240:
236:
232:
228:
227:Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
224:
220:
216:
212:
208:
204:
200:
196:
195:25th Division
191:
189:
185:
184:Ngo Dinh Diem
182:
178:
170:
168:
166:
163:
159:
155:
145:
144:25th Division
142:
138:
135:
132:
128:
122:
118:
112:
109:
107:
104:
103:
101:
95:
89:
88:South Vietnam
86:
84:
81:
80:
78:
74:
66:
62:
59:
55:
43:
39:
32:
27:
20:
1297:Trần Văn Hai
1292:Trần Văn Đôn
1266:
1262:Phạm Văn Phú
1182:Nguyễn Khánh
1137:Mai Hữu Xuân
1112:Lê Nguyên Vỹ
1097:Lâm Văn Phát
1057:Dư Quốc Đống
1032:Cao Văn Viên
994:January 1964
972:and mutinies
956:Tan Son Nhut
636:
328:
315:Cao Văn Viên
312:
303:Robert Komer
288:
279:
267:
255:
243:
231:5th Division
199:Mekong Delta
192:
174:
153:
152:
69:(2014-11-17)
1355:2014 deaths
1340:1931 births
1307:Vũ Văn Giai
1127:Lữ Mộng Lan
1117:Lê Văn Hưng
1102:Lê Minh Đảo
431:Wound Medal
1334:Categories
1132:Lý Tòng Bá
1122:Lê Văn Kim
1047:Đỗ Cao Trí
869:Junk Force
600:References
335:Đỗ Cao Trí
295:Đỗ Kế Giai
76:Allegiance
47:1931-02-01
941:Phan Rang
936:Nha Trang
921:Binh Thuy
909:Air bases
839:Air Force
755:Divisions
301:Director
258:III Corps
246:COMUSMACV
207:Hậu Nghĩa
181:President
1025:officers
926:Cam Ranh
916:Bien Hoa
832:Branches
823:Airborne
582: :
556: :
369: :
248:General
215:Vietcong
203:Tây Ninh
179:against
167:(ARVN).
140:Commands
97:Service/
54:Bắc Ninh
1023:Notable
961:Tuy Hoa
946:Phù Cát
931:Da Nang
900:Rangers
160:of the
1142:Ngô Du
1052:Đỗ Mậu
951:Pleiku
818:Marine
647:
577:
554:France
551:
364:
219:Ranger
99:branch
716:Corps
641:(PDF)
398:Army
1014:1966
1009:1965
989:1963
984:1962
979:1960
854:Navy
844:Army
645:ISBN
291:18th
209:and
188:coup
130:Rank
64:Died
41:Born
738:CMD
733:III
580:USA
1336::
813:25
808:23
803:22
798:21
793:18
745:IV
728:II
608:^
205:,
56:,
788:9
783:7
778:5
773:3
768:2
763:1
723:I
694:e
687:t
680:v
664:.
653:.
49:)
45:(
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