Nguyễn Hữu An

Nguyễn Hữu An
Born	October 1, 1926 Truong Yen Commune, Gia Vien District (Hoa Lu), Ninh Binh Province
Died	April 9, 1995 (aged 68) Hanoi
Allegiance	Vietnam
Service/branch	Vietnam People's Army
Years of service	1945–1995
Rank	Colonel General
Unit	Battalion 251 Regiment 174 Division 1 308th Division 2nd Corps
Commands held	Vietnam People's Army
Battles/wars	First Indochina War Vietnam War
Awards	Independence Order Military Exploits Orders Liberation Military Exploits Order Victory Order

Nguyễn Hữu An (October 1, 1926 – April 9, 1995) was a general in the Vietnamese People's Army. Nguyễn was portrayed by actor Đơn Dương in the 2002 film We Were Soldiers.

Overview

Nguyễn Hữu An was born in the Truong Yen Commune of the Hoa Lư District, Ninh Binh, Vietnam. He joined the People's Army of Vietnam in September 1945.

First Indochina War

In the First Indochina War, An took part in several decisive battles. He participated in the battles of Bong Lau Pass and Lung Phay in 1949. The following year he took part in the Border Campaign, he was commander of 251st Battalion, a battalion of 174th Regiment (CAA Bac Lang) at the Battle of Dong Khe. He successively held titles of battalion commander, regiment deputy commander participating in actions at Binh Lieu, Vĩnh Phúc, and Moc Chau. In the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, he commanded 174th Regiment of the 316th Division, and three times attacked Hill A1 (Éliane 2). On 7 May 1954 his regiment finally overcame French defences on A1 and this marked one of the final actions in the battle.

Vietnam War

In the Vietnam War, An commanded North Vietnamese forces in the Battle of Ia Drang. In 1974 he was promoted to Major General.

In the 1975 Spring Offensive, Major General Nguyen Huu An was Commander of 2nd Corps (Huong Giang). 2nd Corps, under his command, successively captured Quảng Trị and Huế; and in combination with armed forces of Military Region No.5 defeated nearly 100,000 regular troops of the ARVN within just 3 days at Da Nang. He then commanded the entire corps to march along nearly 1000 km to engage in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign after having destroyed the ARVN defensive line in Phan Rang.

In the last decisive fight to capture Saigon, 2nd Corps was one of five wings to surround Saigon, and planted the National Liberation Front's flag onto top of the Independence Palace at 11:30 on 30 April 1975.

Postwar career

After the end of the Vietnam War, An continued serving in the Vietnamese military. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant General in 1980. Six years later, he was promoted to Senior General. He held key posts in military such as Assistant Inspector General of the Vietnam People's Army, Deputy Chief concurrently Chief of Staff and Acting Commander of Military Region No.2 (1984–1987), Director of Army Academy (1988–1991), and Director of Academy of National Defense (1991–1995). He died in 1995.

He was called the "General of Battles" by the famed General Vo Nguyen Giap.

Awards

The Communist Party of Vietnam and State of Vietnam awarded him with:

• Independence Order of First-Class
• Two Military Exploits Orders of First-Class
• Military Exploits Order of Third-Class
• Liberation Military Exploits Order of Third-Class
• Two Exploits Orders of First and Second-Class
• Victory Order of Second-Class

Book references

Vietnamese

• Đường tới Điện Biên Phủ (Đại tướng Võ Nguyên Giáp) - Nhà xuất bản Quân đội nhân dân
• Chiến trường mới (Thượng tướng Nguyễn Hữu An) - Nhà xuất bản Quân đội nhân dân
• Lịch sử kháng chiến chống Mỹ cứu nước 1954 - 1975 (Viện lịch sử quân sự Việt Nam) - Nhà xuất bản Chính trị quốc gia
• Điện Biên Phủ qua những trang hồi ức (Nhiều tác giả) - Nhà xuất bản Quân đội nhân dân
• Ký ức Tây Nguyên (Thượng tướng Đặng Vũ Hiệp) - Nhà xuất bản Quân đội nhân dân
• Tổng hành dinh trong mùa xuân toàn thắng (Đại tướng Võ Nguyên Giáp) - Nhà xuất bản Chính trị quốc gia
• Nguyễn Hữu An - Vị tướng trận mạc (Hội Khoa học Lịch sử Việt nam) - Trung tâm UNESCO bảo tồn và phát triển văn hóa dân tộc Việt nam