Nguyen Van Lem Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Nguyen Van Lem is the real name of Captain Bay Lop (d. Saigon 1 February 1968). He was the commander of a Viet Cong (South Vietnamese Communist Party Army, Viet Minh) assassination and revenge platoon. He was the sole survivor of his unit at the time of his capture. He was captured by Republic of Viet Nam National Police after a fierce battle. His unit was cornered near the ditch where Capt. Lop and his men had just finished executing the wives, children and relatives of South Vietnamese police officers. Thirty-four bound and murdered civilians were found in one ditch. Captain Bay Lop was proud of having done this and boastful of his commitment to the Communists' goals and successfully completing his orders to liquidate all persons on his assignment lists.
Boastful and confident, that is, until he was brought before South Vietnamese General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, who summarily executed Captain Bay Lop on a Saigon roadside on the second day of the Tet Offensive sneak attack (which attack broke a truce and occurred on a national religious holiday), February 1, 1968, in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention (aka Laws of Armed Conflict) regarding "Armed Partisans", "civilian combatants", and "crimes against non-combatants".
of the summary execution of Captain Bay Lop taken by AP photographer Eddie Adams (1969 Pulitzer Prize) galvanized anti-war sympathizers to action.
External Links
- Footage of Nguyen Van Lem's execution. Warning: Very graphic material.
- Voice autobiography of execution by Photographer Eddie Admas
- General Nguyen Ngoc Loan's Obituary from The New York Times, July 16, 1998
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