The person mentioned is Colonel, Hero of the People's Armed Forces, intelligence officer Pham Ngoc Thao.

Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao was born in 1922 in Long Xuyen, in a Catholic family, intellectual, one of the richest in the South, holding French nationality. His brothers all studied in France, became engineers, doctors, lawyers, he himself also holds French nationality.

However, in September 1945, when France suddenly returned to invade the South, he declared to renounce his French nationality, went to war, began his journey as a soldier, and then became the most outstanding strategic intelligence soldier in the history of the Vietnamese revolution.

In early 1946, he was sent to the North to study the first course at Tran Quoc Tuan Military Academy (Army Officer School I). After graduating, he returned to the South to work in Zones 8 and 9.

At the end of 1947, when he was assigned as Chief of the Southern Secret Service, in a short time, he unified the Southern intelligence forces. In 1949, Pham Ngoc Thao was transferred to become Battalion Commander of the 410th Battalion of the main force of Zone 9, with many great victories, contributing to the expansion of the liberated area.

Intelligence officer Pham Ngoc Thao. (Photo: Archive)

The turning point in Pham Ngoc Thao's revolutionary activities was when he was assigned to protect the Secretary of the Southern Regional Party Committee, Le Duan, from Phu Yen to the Southern battlefield to lead the resistance. Following the instructions of his superiors, he had to infiltrate the high-ranking ranks of the Saigon government.

As a senior officer, he gradually built up trust in the ranks of Ngo Dinh Diem, and was appointed Governor of Kien Hoa Province (now Ben Tre) in 1958. Pham Ngoc Thao was behind many political upheavals in the South in the early 1960s, contributing significantly to the coup that overthrew Ngo Dinh Diem and his brothers on November 1, 1963.

During his years as Kien Hoa province chief, he provided many documents related to enemy operations in the province and military zones, limiting damage. Here, Pham Ngoc Thao also released more than 2,000 political prisoners under the pretext of implementing the President's pro-people policy, creating conditions for them to continue their revolutionary activities.

In 1965, when he was being hunted by the enemy, Pham Ngoc Thao still did not abandon his mission, determined to stay in a place where he could be killed at any time. When he unfortunately fell into the enemy's hands, he was brutally tortured, but his iron will was not shaken.

Even though he was tortured to death, they did not know that he was a strategic intelligence officer and a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Like many other loyal intelligence officers and soldiers, he accepted to silently sacrifice himself for the Fatherland.

After the country's reunification, Pham Ngoc Thao was posthumously awarded the rank of Colonel and recognized as a martyr, posthumously awarded the Second Class Military Exploit Medal, Second Class Victory Medal, First, Second, Third Class Liberation Soldier Medal, and the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces.

Remembering Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao, the late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet was moved: "Brother Pham Ngoc Thao received a special mission, unprecedented in our revolutionary work...".

Libra

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/vi-tinh-bao-huyen-thoai-trong-lich-su-cach-mang-viet-lam-tuong-trong-long-dich-ar940620.html