WikipediaExtracts:Dương Văn Minh
Extracted from Wikipedia --
General Dương Văn Minh (Vietnamese: [jɨəŋ van miŋ̟] ; 16 February 1916 – 6 August 2001), popularly known as Big Minh, was a South Vietnamese politician and a senior general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and a politician during the presidency of Ngô Đình Diệm. In 1963, he became chief of a military junta after leading a coup in which Diệm was assassinated. Minh lasted only three months before being toppled by Nguyễn Khánh, but assumed power again as the fourth and last President of South Vietnam in April 1975, two days before surrendering to North Vietnamese forces. He earned his nickname "Big Minh", because he was approximately 1.83 m (6 ft) tall and weighed 90 kg (198 lb).
Born in Tiền Giang province in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam, Minh joined the French Army at the start of World War II, and was captured and tortured by the Imperial Japanese, who invaded and seized French Indochina. After his release, he joined the French-backed Vietnamese National Army (VNA) and was imprisoned by the communist-dominated Viet Minh before breaking out. In 1955, after Vietnam was partitioned and the State of Vietnam controlled the southern half under Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm, Minh led the VNA in decisively defeating the Bình Xuyên paramilitary crime syndicate in street combat and dismantling the Hòa Hảo religious tradition's private army. This made him popular with the people and Diệm, but the latter later put him in a powerless position, regarding him as a threat.
Đúng 11h30p trưa ngày 30/4/1975, Tổng thống Việt Nam Cộng hòa Dương Văn Minh đọc lời tuyên bố đầu hàng tại Đài phát thanh Sài GònDương Văn Minh: "Tôi, đại tướng Dương Văn Minh, Tổng thống chính quyền Sài Gòn, kêu gọi Quân lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa hạ vũ khí đầu hàng không điều kiện quân Giải phóng Miền Nam Việt Nam. Tôi tuyên bố chính quyền Sài Gòn từ trung ương đến địa phương phải giải tán hoàn toàn. Từ trung ương đến địa phương trao lại cho Chính phủ Cách mạng Lâm thời Miền Nam Việt Nam”.
