Nguyen Van Thieu: A Personal Assessment
Re “Thieu: Divisive Even in Death,” Oct. 1:
When I was in the fifth grade, I had a chance to meet Nguyen Van Thieu when he visited his alma mater, the Boys Elementary School of Phan-Rang, in the fall of 1967.
I also was one of the flag-waving mob who greeted him during his hometown visit shortly after the Paris Peace Treaty was signed.
As a kid, I thought Thieu was a decent leader, given certain circumstances during his tenure. I had later learned that the former president of South Vietnam was too nave to count on the promise of President Nixon to fend off the south from the invasion by the north after the Peace Treaty.
Since Nixon could not keep his presidency, Thieu’s sovereignty, and that of South Vietnam, predictably and tragically, were lost.
Duc Dinh Le
Westminster
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