Khương Hữu Bá

In this Vietnamese name, the family name is Khương, but is often simplified to Khuong in English-language text. According to Vietnamese custom, this person should properly be referred to by the given name Bá.
Khương Bá Hữu
Born 1930
Vĩnh Long, VietNam
Allegiance South Vietnam State of Vietnam, Republic of Vietnam
Service/branch Republic of Vietnam Navy
Rank Navy Captain - Functional Vice-Admiral, Rear-Admiral, Admiral, and Fleet Admiral
Commands held HQ VN 404
Fourth Naval Command Zone Supreme Commander
Battles/wars Vietnam War
Awards Bão Quốc Huy Chương, đệ IV đẵng
South Vietnam Naval Command Medal, 1st class
Medal of Honor, 1st class

Khương Hữu Bá (born 1930) was a South Vietnamese naval officer in the Republic of Vietnam Navy.He is a direct descendant of a well established and aristocrat family Khương Hữu ̣(refer to Khuong-huu family website for additional family information). He is married to Mrs. Khương Trần Ngọc Lê (sister of prominent Attorney at Law and Minister Tran Ngoc Lieng ).

Education

He completed the French Preparatory School Lasan Taberd and earned the French Baccalaureate Diploma with "Prix Excellence" recognition. He attended and graduated from the French established Merchant Marine & French Naval Academy (in Nha Trang, Viet Nam), and the following Post-Graduate schools: U.S. General Line at Monterey, U.S. Naval War College (post graduate studies), and Supreme Defense War College.

Military service

Under the command of Captain Khương, the HQ VN 404 was the very first Vietnamese Navy ship (with an entire Vietnamese crew) to have crossed the Pacific Ocean from the US back to South Vietnam, unescorted.

Having served in several “command-at-sea” positions, Khương was one of the most highly decorated commanding officers in the South Vietnamese Navy to have earned Bão Quốc Huy Chương, đệ IV đẵng (an equivalent to the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor), the South Vietnam Naval Command Medal, 1st class, and Medal of Honor, 1st class.

Khương held the following high ranking "Flag Commanding Officer" positions in the South Vietnamese Navy:

These positions report directly to the Chief of Naval Operations, Defense Minister, and Prime Minister, and are normally under the command of flag officers (Fleet Admiral). US Navy Flag Officers Rear Admiral Charles F Rauch and US Navy Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. (later was US Chief of Naval Operations "CNO") served as Khương's American Navy Advivers between 1968 - 1972. The Captain of the famous Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise that was responsible to drop over 5 million tons of Bomb in North VietNam - Navy Captain Hayvard (as seen in picture below greeted Khương as he visited the US 7th Fleet in 1970) was also Khuong's Adviver.

Photos

Bá Hữu Khương Navy Photos

-- With "US. To-Be" Chief of Navy Operations-CNO Thomas B. Hayward on US 7th Fleet Aircraft Carrier; With Defense Minister during Nany Officer Graduation Ceremony; With South Korean Bach-Ma Army Division Commanding Generals --

Life in exile

After the defeat of South Vietnam by North Vietnam in 1975, Khương commanded a South Vietnamese Naval Fleet and fled South Vietnam. He then went to the United States, (he led and returned a significant number of Navy Ships back to US. at the Philippines) and settled in Chicago where he worked as an Office Manager for a jewelry business until his retirement. Khương resides in the United States with his wife Trần Ngọc Lê - sister of prominent lawyer Tran Ngoc Lieng, 4 children and 7 Grand children.

References

    External links

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.