Phạm Ngọc Thảo
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Phạm Ngọc Thảo, also known as Albert Thảo, was a Vietnamese military officer and spy. He was a sleeper agent of the Việt Minh who infiltrated the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and also became a majo
Ngô Đình Nhu (right), appointed Thảo to supervise the Strategic Hamlet Program, unaware he was a communist agent intent on sabotage. (with US VP LBJ in 1961)
The body of Diệm, who was killed en route to military headquarters.
Air Force chief Nguyễn Cao Kỳ thwarted Thảo's attempted coup in 1965. Thảo was sentenced to death in absentia by a military tribunal under Ky.
1965 South Vietnamese coup
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On February 19, 1965, some units of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam commanded by General Lâm Văn Phát and Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo launched a coup against General Nguyễn Khánh, the head of South Vie
Maxwell Taylor, the US Ambassador to South Vietnam, was an opponent of Khánh and encouraged the other South Vietnamese officers to launch a coup.
Thi (left) and Thiệu (right) during the 1960s. Thi helped stop the coup and overthrow Khánh, while Thiệu was regarded as a potential leader of a coup against Khánh.
Tan Son Nhut Air Base, pictured here in 1962, was the headquarters of both the US and South Vietnamese military and a key target in any coup.
William Westmoreland, the US commander in Vietnam, tried to organize some forces to stop the coup and overthrow the incumbent Khánh.