Nguy?n V?n Lém (Vietnamese: [????n? v?n l??m]; 1931 or 1932 - 1 February 1968), referred to as Captain B?y L?p or Ew Tu, was a member of the Viet Cong, responsible for killing the wife and six children of a South Vietnamese military officer Lieutenant Colonel Nguy?n Tuan. Lém was later captured and summarily executed in Saigon by Brigadier General Nguy?n Ng?c Loan during the Tet Offensive. The execution was captured on film by photojournalist Eddie Adams. The execution was explained at the time as being the consequence of Lém's admitted guerrilla activity and war crimes, and otherwise due to a general "wartime mentality".
Video Execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém
Background
South Vietnamese sources said that Lém commanded a Viet Cong insurgent team, which, on February 1, 1968, the second day of the Tet Offensive, had targeted South Vietnamese National Police officers, or in their place, the police officers' families. Corroborating this, Lém was captured at the site of a mass grave that included the bodies of at least seven police family members. Photographer Adams confirmed the South Vietnamese account, although he was only present for the execution. Lém's widow confirmed that her husband was a member of the Viet Cong and she did not see him after the Tet Offensive began.
Around 4:30 A.M., Lém led a sabotage unit to attack the Armor Camp in Gò V?p. After communist troops took control of the base, Lém arrested Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tuan with his family and forced him to show them how to drive tanks. When Lieutenant Colonel Tuan refused to cooperate, Lém killed Tuan, his wife and six children and his 80-year-old mother by cutting their throats. There was only one survivor, a seriously injured 10-year-old boy.
Lém was captured amid fierce street fighting near a mass grave with 34 civilian bodies. Lém admitted that he was proud to carry out his unit leader's order to kill these people.
Lém was brought to Brigadier General Nguy?n Ng?c Loan, Chief of the Republic of Vietnam National Police on Lý Thái T? street (10.765°N 106.68°E / 10.765; 106.68). General Loan summarily executed Lém using his (Loan's) sidearm, a .38 Special Smith & Wesson Bodyguard revolver, in front of AP photographer Eddie Adams and NBC News television cameraman Vo Suu. The photograph and footage were broadcast worldwide, galvanizing the anti-war movement; Adams won a 1969 Pulitzer Prize for his photograph.
Military lawyers have not agreed whether Loan's action violated the Geneva Conventions for treatment of prisoners of war. As he appeared in the photo and footage, "Lem was in his shorts and shirt", and was not marked by any identifiable marker showing that he was a legal combatant; nor was he, it is alleged, fighting enemy soldiers at the time, where POW status was granted independently of the laws of war; it was limited to Viet Cong seized during military operations.
Maps Execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém
See also
- Phan Th? Kim Phúc - Napalmed child running down street.
- Thích Qu?ng ??c - A Vietnamese monk whose self-immolation was caught on photography.
References
External links
- Account of the execution and photograph spoken by the photographer Eddie Adams.
- The Saigon Execution, a thorough account by an AP photo editor including research after the war.
- Execution of Nguy?n V?n Lém (WARNING: Graphic)
- Vietnam War - Execution of Nguy?n V?n Lém, Video | Check123
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