branch death_place death_date birth_place allegiance birth_date nickname rank article_title name
afrvn infantry , -lrb- lục quân quân-lực vnch -rrb- nice , france 31 may 2009 saigon , french indochina south vietnam state of vietnam , republic of vietnam 19 august 1923 little minh 23px lieutenant general -lrb- trung tướng -rrb- trần văn minh
 trần văn minh
trần văn minh

lieutenant general sylvain trần văn minh -lrb- born 19 august 1923 , saigon , french indochina -- died 31 may 2009 , nice , france -rrb- was a vietnamese diplomat and a general of the army of the republic of vietnam .
he was sometimes known as `` little minh '' to distinguish him from the much larger -lrb- physically -rrb- dương văn minh .
in 1942 , he passed the entry exam for the st cyr/st maxient military academy organized in tong , indochina .
from 1943-45 , lieutenant minh served with the 9th r.i.c. .
during this period , he participated in operations in central and north vietnam , most notably in cha pa. .
after the japanese coup of 9 march 1945 , he accompanied general alessandri 's troops in the retreat to china .
in 1946 , he was part of the french troops that retook dien bien phu .
from there , he eventually made his way to saigon , travelling on the mekong river through luang prabang and vientiane .
deployed to the 22nd r.i.c. -lrb- 1946 -- 47 -rrb- , he was in charge of protecting military convoys between saigon and dalat .
minh was named directeur des etudes -lrb- chánh sở nghiên cứu -- director of intelligence -rrb- for the governor of north vietnam , nghiêm xuân thiện .
1950 found him in paris studying at the war academy -lrb- École de guerre à paris -rrb- .
upon his return to vietnam , he worked at the newly formed state of vietnam 's ministry of defense .
two years later , he served on the chief of staff .
during this time , he worked with general de lattre de tassigny in the `` vietnamization '' of the corps expéditionnaire français .
after participating in operation atlante , he was promoted to commander of the south sector .
in 1955 , colonel minh was one of the french delegates at the geneva convention .
after the accords were signed , he returned home to take command of the first military region in south vietnam .
late 1955 , he was promoted to général de brigade -lrb- major general -rrb- .
a year later , the 33-year old minh was promoted to général de division -lrb- lieutenant general -rrb- .
from 1957-59 , he served as commandant of the da lat military academy .
in 1960 , president ngô Đình diệm named him inspector general the national defense , a post he held until 1963 .
in 1964 -- 65 , he was the chief of general staff and in 1965 , minister of defense .
the last position he held was ambassador of the republic of vietnam to tunis , tunisia from 1971 until 30 april 1975 , when saigon fell .
