Lê Nguyên Khang


Lieutenant General Lê Nguyên Khang was a Marine Commander of the South Vietnamese Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps. Commander of III Corps 9 June 1966. He was awarded the Silver Star for valor June 27 - 29, 1967 by the President of the United States, and was described by General Wallace M. Greene, Jr., CMC USMC, "as one of the finest field commanders in Asia."

Early life

Lê was born in Sơn Tây, Hanoi, South Vietnam on 11 June 1931.

Military career

In 1965 Khang served as commander of the Marines which together with the Airborne formed the South Vietnamese general reserve and had a significant political role to play in Saigon. Khang was allied with Air Vice Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, while General Dư Quốc Đống commanding the Airborne was an ally of Kỳ's rival General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu. The general reserve troops represented the real muscle of the Saigon-based Directory members and also constituted a balance of power between the rival officer cliques.
In 1972 Thiệu finally moved both Đống and Khang out of their Divisions, transferring Đống to command the Capital Military District and Khang to a nebulous "special assistant" post under General Cao Văn Viên on the Joint General Staff. Of the two, Americans considered Khang the better commander, but his past alliance with Kỳ proved a major liability.

Assignments

According to Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps sources, Lê died in Orange County, Virginia, USA on 12November 1996. However, according to noted Vietnam war historian, Spencer C. Tucker, the place of death was Hope, California.