Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes Nguyen Van Lem

Nguyen Van Lem was the real name of Captain Bay Lop (d. Saigon 1 February 1968), a member of the Viet Cong who was summarily executed in Saigon during the Tet Offensive. The execution was captured on film by photojournalist Eddie Adams, and the momentous image became a symbol of highly escalated and often indiscriminate hostility to anti-war protestors. The execution was explained at the time as being the consequence of Lem's suspected guerrilla activity and war crimes, and otherwise due to a general "wartime mentality." Image File history File links Nguyen. ... Image File history File links Nguyen. ... General Nguyen Ngoc Loan General Nguyen Ngoc Loan (1931 – July 14, 1998) was the Republic of Vietnams Chief of Police. ... Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thành Chí Minh) is the largest city in Vietnam, located near the delta of the Mekong River. ... February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... A Viet Cong soldier, heavily guarded, awaits interrogation following capture in the attacks on Saigon during the festive Tet holiday period of 1968. ... Summary execution of Viet Cong agent. ... Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thành Chí Minh) is the largest city in Vietnam, located near the delta of the Mekong River. ... // The plan The evolving situation led North Vietnam to abandon its belief that it would foment a revolution. ... Sports photojournalists at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that creates images in order to tell a news story. ... General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing Viet Cong Captain Nguyen Van Lem: Eddie Adams Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Eddie Adams (June 12th, 1933 – September 19th, 2004) was an American photographer. ... Guerrilla War redirects here. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international (criminal) law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ...

On the second day of Tet, amid fierce street fighting, Lem was captured and brought to Brigadier General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, then Chief of the Republic of Viet Nam National Police. Using his personal sidearm, General Loan summarily executed Lem in front of AP photographer Eddie Adams and NBC television cameraman Vo Suu. The photograph and footage were broadcast worldwide, galvanizing the anti-war movement; Adams won a 1969 Pulitzer Prize for his photograph. General Nguyen Ngoc Loan General Nguyen Ngoc Loan (1931 – July 14, 1998) was the Republic of Vietnams Chief of Police. ... National motto: ??? Official language Vietnamese Capital Saigon Last President Duong Van Minh Last Prime Minister Vu Van Mau Area  - Total  - % water 173,809km² N/A population  - Total  - Density 19,370,000 (1973 est. ... Associated Press logo The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing Viet Cong Captain Nguyen Van Lem: Eddie Adams Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Eddie Adams (June 12th, 1933 – September 19th, 2004) was an American photographer. ... NBC, the National Broadcasting Company, is an American television and radio network based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... Anti war protest in Melbourne, Australia, 2003 Anti_war is a name that is widely adopted by any social movement or person that seeks to end or oppose a future or current war. ... The gold medal awarded for Public Service in Journalism The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical compositions. ...

South Vietnamese sources said that Lem commanded a Viet Cong assassination and revenge platoon, which on that day had targeted South Vietnamese National Police officers, or in their stead, the police officers' families; these sources said that Lem was captured near the site of a ditch holding as many as thirty-four bound and shot bodies of police and their relatives, some of whom were the families of General Loan's deputy and close friend. (In some accounts, the deputy was a victim as well; in others, the number of murdered relatives were as few as six.) Photographer Adams confirmed the South Vietnamese account, although he was only present for the execution. Lem's widow confirmed that her husband was a member of the Viet Cong and she did not see him after the Tet Offensive began. Shortly after the execution, a South Vietnamese official who had not been present said that Lem was only a political operative. A Viet Cong soldier, heavily guarded, awaits interrogation following capture in the attacks on Saigon during the festive Tet holiday period of 1968. ... Jack Ruby murdered the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in a very public manner. ...

Though military lawyers have yet to definitively decide whether Loan's action violated the Geneva Conventions for treatment of prisoners of war (Lem had not been wearing a uniform nor fighting enemy soldiers in the alleged commission of war crimes), the rights of POW status were accorded to Viet Cong only if seized during military operations. Those designated as guerrillas were subject only to the laws of the South Vietnamese government, which was often less willing to protect the human rights of its enemy when compared to the United States. Development of the Geneva Conventions from 1864 to 1949 The Geneva Conventions consist of four treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland that set the standards for international law for humanitarian concerns. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ...

External links

• Voice autobiography of execution by Photographer Eddie Adams
• General Nguyen Ngoc Loan's Obituary from The New York Times, July 16, 1998
• The Saigon Execution - thorough account by AP photo editor including research after the war