Đỗ Mậu
South Vietnamese commander
Died when: 83 years 225 days (1003 months)Star Sign: Virgo
Major General Ð? M?u (1 January 1917 – 11 April 2002) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) best known for his roles as a recruiting strategist in both the 1963 coup that toppled President Ngô Ðình Di?m and the 1964 coup led by General Nguy?n Khánh that deposed the junta of General Duong Van Minh.
He was born in Qu?ng Bình Province. Having abandoned the Communist-led Vi?t Minh resistance to join the Vietnamese National Army, the predecessor of the ARVN, Mau rose to be head of military security under Di?m.
At that time a colonel with no troops to command, M?u was nevertheless an important member of the conspiracy due to his liaisons with a wide number of officers, which allowed him to recruit widely for coup participants.
He initially tried to organize a coup group himself with Colonel Ph?m Ng?c Th?o, an undetected communist agent bent on maximising infighting, and disillusioned intelligence director Tr?n Kim Tuy?n mainly consisting of mid-level officers.
Later this group was integrated into the main plot led by a group of generals; M?u had helped to liaise between some of these generals.
He also concocted false data to convince Di?m to send the ARVN Special Forces—mainly used to defend Di?m and his family from coups in Saigon—into the countryside to battle a non-existent large-scale communist attack.
The coup was successful and Di?m was captured and executed. After the coup, M?u was promoted to major general and made one of 12 members of the ruling junta.
Fearing his political skills, the leading generals tried to sideline him and placed him in the non-influential post of Information Minister, where he censored newspapers.
M?u responded by plotting his own coup, joining forces with Nguy?n Khánh, Duong Van Ð?c and Tr?n Thi?n Khiêm, Nguy?n Chánh Thi and .
Three months after Di?m was deposed, the next coup was successful without needing a battle. M?u was then made one of three deputy prime ministers, overseeing social and cultural affairs.
Disillusioned with Khánh's tendency toward military dictatorship, and isolated by the young generals, M?u retired from the military for good in 1964.
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South Vietnamese commander
South Vietnamese commander
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