1. Cadet of 3rd Class Tran Hung Dao, National Military Academy of Viet
Nam. Because the 3rd Class was the first one established in Dalat, it was
also called Dalat Inter-Arms Military Academy or Dalat Military Academy.
The 3rd Class started its sessions on October 01, 1950. The inauguration
ceremony of the Dalat Inter-Arms Military Academy took place on November
05, 1950. The Director of the Military Academy was Lieutenant Colonel Gribius.
2. Graduated (salutatorian with the highest final scores; the official
designated valedictorian was cadet Bui Dzinh) on July 01, 1951.
3. In terms of educational background, cadet Hieu had finished his first
year college level majoring in Technology at Aurore University, Shanghai
after obtaining his French Baccalaureat 2, majoring in Math. Two cadets
in 3rd Class had French Baccalaureat 1: Lam Quang Thi and Nguyen Sy Khanh.
General De Lattre De Tassigny, Commander of the French Expeditionary Armed
Forces in Indochina entrusted a recruitment team headed by Lieutenant Colonel Gribius,
a graduate of the French Armor School of Saumur, the task of fanning the
three regions of North, Center and South to select cadets for the 3rd Class
of the Military Academy newly established in Dalat.
In the Center, 18 civilian candidates signed up for the exams. Only 2 candidates
(Vo Dinh and Lu Mong Lan) passed the exams. But then due to the critical
military situation following the bloody battle of Hung Yen, the remaining
16 unqualified candidates were also admitted later to the 3rd Class.
Also in the Center, 44 Vietnamese non-commissioned officers serving in
the French Army were also considered by the recruitment team. Only 18 from
this military group were selected (Bui Dzinh was part of this group).
The 3rd Class session commenced in October 1950 with 4 Brigades. Each Brigade
was composed of 6 Cadets: 2 Northerners, 2 "Centerners" and 2 Southerners.
Therefore, the initial 1st Brigade comprised: Nguyen Van Hieu and Nguyen
Ngoc Oanh (North); Vo Dinh and Lu Mong Lan (Center); Huynh Van Louis and
Duong Marcel (South).
It was only three months later that cadets of the 5th and 6th Brigades
entered the Military Academy, then were subsequently integrated with the
other 4 Brigades.
8. 3rd Class had 11 cadets who went on to become Generals: 5 Lieutenant
Generals (Hoang Xuan Lam, Lu Mong Lan, Lam Quang Thi, Nguyen Van Toan),
2 Major Generals (Nguyen Van Hieu, Lam Quang Tho) and 4 Brigadier Generals
(Vo Dinh, Ly Ba Hy, Nguyen Ngoc Oanh, Nguyen Van Phuoc).
Nguyen Van Tin 09 January 2000 Updated on 10/26/2005
