Poor Nguyen Cao Ky.
For a brief period, 1965 to 1967, the air force general (a rank earned by participating in a coup) was the Prime Minister and de facto head of state of South Vietnam.
But then he lost the intricate backroom maneuvering to President Nguyen Van Thieu, and life has been all downhill since.
During the Tet Offensive of 1968, a number of Nguyen Cao Ky‘s military allies were killed in a friendly-fire bombing. Some blamed Thieu, who obviously denied it. Either way, Ky’s wings were clipped.
Throughout the Vietnam War, Ky was accused of various forms of corruption, smuggling, drug-running and generally syphoning off of American aid into personal wealth and foreign bank accounts.
He also infamously said that Hitler was his hero.
In 1975, as communist forces approached Saigon, he again uttered infamous words, exhorting South Vietnam’s military that “I will fight by your side to my last drop of blood” and then minutes later boarded a helicopter to fly himself and his family out of the country.
In the U.S., Ky was accused by investigative columnist Jack Anderson of being the leader of Vietnamese gangs in California and Texas. He nonetheless remains widely admired by other former South Vietnamese officers living in the U.S.
In 1990, when communist regimes all over Eastern Europe were dropping like flies, Ky jumped on the bandwagon and attempted to position himself as the leader of anti-communism. Or, as the eminent Vietnam expert Douglas Pike called it, “emperor of Vietnamese abroad.”
That didn’t work. The Communist Party of Vietnam remains entrenched in power.
In 2004, Ky became the highest-ranking former South Vietnamese official to return to the country. He announced his decision to live in Vietnam permanently and began a new, lucrative career as a broker bringing investors to the impoverished country.
Now, the buzz is alive with Ky’s name again. A picture (above) of Nguyen Cao Ky attending the funeral of Vo Van Kiet, a former Viet Cong fighter and later prime minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, was published on the BBC Vietnamese service’s web site and is now making its round on the email listservs, prompting renewed denouncement of the man who once held rock-star status among the exiled Vietnamese military types.
Tien Huynh,
The problem with your faulty logic is that you ASSUME other Viets are not daring to live the life that they chose, and somehow NCK is being couregaous by saying or staking out an unpopular position. The line between courage and lack of conviction is pretty thin here. NCK is anything but courageous.
NCK’s personal and political defeat is a fact, whether he accepts it or not. Just by saying things that are different from the community at large does not mean that you are brave or principled. In his case, NCK betrayed the millions of Viets who once believed and followed him. That’s the emotional pain and suffering NCK is causing with his fellow Viets. Nothing courageous about that!
The act of being brave consists of two components:
- To protect or to save someone or something from danger.
- The price to pay for that act, sometimes it’s the ultimate price.
In general, the public praise the bravery acts and condemn the cowardice acts:
- The firemen ran into a burning building trying to save the structures and the people.
- A Vietnamese man jumped into the river trying to save a Latino boy.
- A soldier covered the exploding grenade with his body in order to save his fellow soldiers.
- A soldier(NCK) submitted to his enemy so that he could live in luxury and great wealth.
* Brave person is just a coward person in desperation *
Hero :
A person ventures forth from the commonplace of daily routine into a world of danger and turbulence: powerful forces are there encountered and conquered. Realization of truth is achieved.
The hero then comes back from this extra-ordinary adventure with the new power of knowledge to bestow boons on his fellow men.
Moses came back from the Mount.
Christ came back from the Cross.
Buddha came back form the Garden.
Rephrased :
* A brave person is just a coward in desperation *
Recent comments on this blog have brought my attention to a particular writer “PUBLIUS”.
I am at awe with his eloquence and temperament, regardless of his predisposition.
Thanking to inputs from Peace Only, N V, Country First, and others, I would like to qualify the term courage I opined about Mr. Ky’s courage. During the war, his action was just a gung-ho bravado. As he ages now, he has the courage to suppress his ego and dares to live in accordance with his belief. And of course, he is still way above many other hypocrites.
NCK’s recent political reversal appears to be very consistent with his eccentric and opportunistic traits.
He is a consummate politician “without a cause”, just like most politicians.
He is retired from politics, he is re-building his legacy for posterity.
Re-phrased :
NCK’s recent political reversal appears to be very consistent with his eccentric and opportunistic traits.
He is a consummate politician “without a cause”, just like most politicians.
He is NOT retired from politics, nck is re-building his legacy for posterity.
Re-phrased, again :
NCK’s recent political reversal appears to be very consistent with his eccentric and opportunistic traits.
He is a consummate politician “without a cause”, just like most politicians.
He is NOT retired from politics, he is re-building his legacy for posterity.
Not only NCK is a coward, he also lack of moral value by ” messing ” with one of his ex soldier’s wife.
* While Nguyen Cao Ky and Nguyen Van Thieu each had chosen different political paths after 1975 , both postures reflected similar view point of pro-communist regime.
* Nguyen Van Thieu’s deliberate silence spoke LOUDLY of his tacit support for the regime. It is more understandable that he still had large number of relatives in Vietnam, Tri Thuy (Ninh Thuan) & Saigon.
* Being a much shrewder politician, his silence had served to booster his neutrality ( benign apathy ) for the regime while maintaining his standing with former SVN veteran groups.
As I said : it is better to maintain the suspicion of being a communist supporter ( Nguyen Van Thieu) , than to open his mouth and prove it ( Nguyen Cao Ky )
Tien Huynh,
Again, the problem with your supposition about Nguyen Cao Ky having a belief system lacks support. NCK has changed his political beliefs and his ways of doing things so many times that one is left to wonder whether he believes in anything, other than what’s good for him and him only.
Assuming that you are right and that he’s not a hypocrite, NCK is more like a political chameleon who changes his color as the situation dictates. Either way, NCK is no courageous leader.
Nguyen Van Thieu’s Resignation speech 1975:
“Losing a President Thiệu, the military still has a three-star General Thiệu. The people still have a soldier, Nguyễn Văn Thiệu. I pledge to fight side by side with my brothers, the soldiers”.
He flew to Taiwan with his family right after.
A tradition of (dis) honor.
Country First,
Thank you! I really appreciate your encouragement.
Public,
If opportunity arises in the future, would you kindly share with us your thoughts on the next election cycle ?
Publius,
If opportunity arises in the future, would you kindly share with us your thoughts on the next election cycle ?
Country First,
I would be happy to do so. I try to limit my cyber discussion due to offline obligations but once in a while, certain pressing issues like the recent arrest of Le Cong Dinh force me to break my silence. If such an opportunity arises and time allows, I look forward to join you.
I say Nguyen Cao Ky, his ex-wife Dang Tuyet Mai & his daughter Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen are puppets of Viet Cong !!!
They are animals, they are beasts just like Hitler, they are communists without conscience of what they are doing. They fucked up a lot in their life. I bet you none of them are happy even though they are filthy rich right now. They are stupid, ignorant, damned fools. One of these days, communists in Saigon will eat them alive. All three of them!!!
The thought of Nguyen Cao Ky was our leader made me want to vomit. Because of people like him that we lost the war. WHAT A COWARD!
How can Nguyen Cao Ky say that Hitler was his hero? Was he tired of living? Ky is a traitor and just a coward because he can’t surrender with honor. I feel bad for his daughter Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen, because she’s a very nice person (I’ve met her) and she has to live with disgrace about her father’s actions.
NGUYEN CAO KY IS A TRAITOR KISSING ASS VIET CONG. STOLE SOMEONE WIFE, BACK HOME TO FIND THE PLACES FOR HIS DAUGHTER AND HIS EX TO DO BUSINESS. THAT IS.
His wives and daughter are plastic dolls.