MAJOR GENERAL NGUYEN NGOC LOAN

(RAAP—024)

Major General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan was a South Vietnamese military officer and the chief of the South Vietnamese National Police. He gained international notoriety for his role in a controversial incident during the Vietnam War. On February 1, 1968, during the Tet Offensive, Loan executed Nguyễn Văn Lém, a handcuffed prisoner of war, in Saigon.

Nguyễn Văn Lém was captured at the scene of a mass grave where over thirty civilians had been buried. Amid heavy fighting in Saigon, Loan shot Lém in the head with a Smith & Wesson Model 49 Bodyguard revolver shortly after the prisoner was presented to him. This execution was widely reported and photographed, drawing global attention to the brutal realities of the conflict.

Shown in the photo below, Nguyễn Ngọc Loan and his wife pose for a photo at their pizza restaurant “Los Trois Continents” at the Rolling Valley Mall in Virginia. He closed the restaurant in 1991 after his previous actions in South Vietnam became well-known.