View source for Nguyễn Ngọc Loan

{{short description|Vietnamese police chief (1930–1998)}}
{{family name hatnote|Nguyen|Loan|lang=Vietnamese}}
{{use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Nguyễn Ngọc Loan
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1930|12|11}}
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1998|7|14|1930|12|11}}
| birth_place   = [[Huế]], [[French Indochina]]
| death_place   = [[Burke, Virginia]], U.S.
| image         = GenNguyenNgocLoan.jpg
| image_size    = 250px
| caption       = 
| nickname      = 
| allegiance    = {{ubl|[[State of Vietnam|Vietnam]] (1951–1955)|[[South Vietnam]] (1955–1975)}}
| alma_mater    = [[Huế University]]
| rank          = [[Major general]]
| branch        = {{ubl|[[Vietnamese National Army]]|[[Republic of Vietnam Air Force]]|{{nowrap|[[Republic of Vietnam National Police]]}}}}
| serviceyears  = 1951–1975
| battles       = {{tree list}}
* [[Vietnam War]]
** [[Tet Offensive]]
** [[Fall of Saigon]]
{{tree list/end}}
}}

'''Nguyễn Ngọc Loan''' ({{IPA|vi|ŋʷǐənˀ ŋâwkp lʷāːn|lang}}; 11 December 1930{{spaced ndash}}14 July 1998) was a [[South Vietnam]]ese general and chief of the South Vietnamese National Police.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In an instant, Vietnam execution photo framed a view of war |url=https://www.ap.org/media-center/ap-in-the-news/2018/in-an-instant-vietnam-execution-photo-framed-a-view-of-war/ |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=The Associated Press |language=en-US}}</ref>

Loan gained international attention when he [[Summary execution|summarily executed]] a handcuffed [[prisoner of war]] named [[Nguyễn Văn Lém]] on February 1, 1968, in [[Ho Chi Minh City|Saigon]], Vietnam during the [[Tet Offensive]].<ref name=ABC>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/photos/iconic-images-vietnam-20658104/image-20658508|title=Stunning AP Images of Vietnam War from Stunning Images of Vietnam War|website=ABC News|language=en|access-date=2018-07-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705003845/https://abcnews.go.com/US/photos/iconic-images-vietnam-20658104/image-20658508|archive-date=5 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2009632258/|title=[Vietcong prisoner, Nguyễn Văn Lém, being executed by police chief General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan in Saigon]|work=The Library of Congress|access-date=2018-07-04|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705033028/https://www.loc.gov/item/2009632258/|archive-date=5 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Nguyễn Văn Lém was a [[Viet Cong]] (VC) member.<ref name=ABC/> [[South Vietnam|South Vietnamese]] Vice President [[Nguyễn Cao Kỳ]] stated that Lém was "a very high ranking" political official, but had not been a member of the Viet Cong military.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{Cite news |last=Jr |first=Robert Mcg Thomas |date=1998-07-16 |title=Nguyen Ngoc Loan, 67, Dies; Executed Viet Cong Prisoner |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/16/world/nguyen-ngoc-loan-67-dies-executed-viet-cong-prisoner.html |access-date=2024-05-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The event was witnessed and recorded by Võ Sửu, a cameraman for [[National Broadcasting Company|NBC]], and [[Eddie Adams (photographer)|Eddie Adams]], an [[Associated Press]] photographer. The photo and film became two famous images in contemporary American journalism.

Despite the determination of the [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]] that Loan committed war crimes, owing to which he was liable for deportation back to Vietnam, the then US President, [[Jimmy Carter]], intervened personally to halt the deportation proceedings.

== Early life ==
Nguyễn Ngọc Loan was born 11 December 1930<ref>[http://bgkq.net/hoiky/loan4.htm Thiếu tướng Nguyễn Ngọc Loan]  {{in lang|vi}} {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050406180908/http://bgkq.net/hoiky/loan4.htm |date=6 April 2005 }}</ref> to a middle-class family in [[Huế]] and was one of eleven children. He studied pharmacy and graduated near the top of his class at [[Huế University]]<ref name="nytimes.com"/> before joining the [[Vietnamese National Army]] in 1951. He soon studied at an officer training school, where he befriended classmate [[Nguyễn Cao Kỳ]].<ref name=WaPo>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1998/07/16/nguyen-ngoc-loan-dies-at-67/6d360dcf-b95b-451d-ae82-1ecff1607151/|title=NGUYEN NGOC LOAN DIES AT 67|last=Barnes|first=Bart|date=1998-07-16|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2018-07-06|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707010222/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1998/07/16/nguyen-ngoc-loan-dies-at-67/6d360dcf-b95b-451d-ae82-1ecff1607151/|archive-date=7 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Loan received pilot training in [[Morocco]] before returning to Vietnam in 1955, serving with the [[Republic of Vietnam Air Force]] (RVNAF) for the next decade.<ref name=Moise>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4VG4AQAAQBAJ&q=nguyen|title=The A to Z of the Vietnam War|last=Moise|first=Edwin E.|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2005|isbn=9781461719038|pages=283–284|access-date=4 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222113408/https://books.google.com/books?id=4VG4AQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&vq=nguyen&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=nguyen&f=false|archive-date=22 December 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Loan received additional training in the United States at some time during this period, enabling him to speak English fluently by the time he became prominent during the late 1960s. Loan's career followed Ky's, and when Ky became commander of the RVNAF, Loan served as chief of staff.<ref name=Robbins>{{cite book|last=Robbins|first=James|title=This time we win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive|publisher=Encounter Books|year=2012|isbn=9781594036385}}</ref>{{rp|95}} During the February 1965 [[Operation Flaming Dart]] airstrikes targeting [[North Vietnam]] Loan flew as Ky's wingman.<ref name=Moise/>

==Career==
In June 1965, when Ky became premier of South Vietnam, he promoted Loan to colonel and appointed him director of the [[Military Security Service]]. This was followed within a few months by an appointment to director of the [[Central Intelligence Office]], giving Loan simultaneous control of both military intelligence and security. He was further made director general of the [[Republic of Vietnam National Police]] in April 1966.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qh5lffww-KsC&q=loan|title=The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History|last1=Tucker|first1=Spencer C.|last2=Anh|first2=Ho Dieu|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2011|isbn=9781851099610|edition=2nd|location=Santa Barbara, California|pages=829–830|access-date=4 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222113409/https://books.google.com/books?id=qh5lffww-KsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=loan&f=false|archive-date=22 December 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Having these positions enabled Loan to wield immense power, and he supervised the suppression of the early 1966 [[Buddhist Uprising|uprising]] of Ky's rival General [[Nguyễn Chánh Thi]] and dissident [[Buddhism|Buddhists]].<ref name=WaPo/> When Ky agreed to become vice president for President [[Nguyễn Văn Thiệu]] in 1967, the former relied on the assistance Loan provided for him in order to retain power.<ref name=Moise/>

Loan was a staunch South Vietnamese nationalist, refusing to give Americans special treatment in his jurisdiction. For example, in December 1966 he rejected the arrest of [[Saigon]] mayor Van Van Cua by American military police and insisted that only South Vietnamese authorities could arrest and detain South Vietnamese citizens. He also insisted that U.S. civilians, including journalists, were subject to South Vietnamese jurisdiction while in Saigon. Loan's uncompromising stand caused him to be regarded as a troublemaker by the [[Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson]]. Loan was also skeptical of the U.S. [[CIA]]-backed [[Phoenix Program]] to attack and neutralize the clandestine VC infrastructure.<ref name=Robbins/>{{rp|100}}

Loan's men were also involved with the arrest of two VC operatives on 15 August 1967 who had been engaged with attempting peace negotiations with U.S. officials without the participation of the South Vietnamese in an initiative code-named ''Buttercup''. His opposition to such surreptitious dealing, and his opposition to releasing one of the communist negotiators, reportedly angered the Americans, and forced them to keep both him and the South Vietnamese better informed of diplomatic dealings involving their country.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d383|title=383. Telegram From the Ambassador to Vietnam (Bunker) to the President's Special Assistant (Rostow), Secretary of State Rusk, Secretary of Defense McNamara, and Director of Central Intelligence Helms|publisher=Office of the Historian Department of State|date=4 November 1967|accessdate=26 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v05/d429|title=429. Telegram From the Ambassador to Vietnam (Bunker) to the President's Special Assistant (Rostow), Secretary of State Rusk, Secretary of Defense McNamara, and Director of Central Intelligence Helms|publisher=Office of the Historian Department of State|date=6 December 1967|accessdate=26 September 2021}}</ref><ref name=Robbins/>{{rp|101}}

Loan was an accomplished pilot—he commanded an airstrike on VC forces at [[Bù Đốp]] in 1967, soon before he was promoted to permanent brigadier general rank. The Americans were displeased at his promotion, and Loan submitted his resignation soon thereafter. The South Vietnamese cabinet subsequently rejected Loan's resignation.<ref name=Robbins/>{{rp|99}}

===Execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém===
{{main|Saigon Execution}}
[[File:Saigon Execution.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Saigon Execution]]'' photograph of Loan summarily executing Nguyễn Văn Lém.]]
[[Nguyễn Văn Lém]] (also known as Bảy Lốp)<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0410/faas.html|title=The Saigon Execution|last=Faas|first=Horst|date=October 2004|website=The Digital Journalist|access-date=4 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429031229/http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0410/faas.html|archive-date=29 April 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/iconic-vietnam-war-photos-be-exhibited-vietnam-first-time-342299|title=Iconic Vietnam War Photos to be Exhibited in Vietnam for First Time|date=2015-06-11|work=Newsweek|access-date=2018-07-04|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705004022/http://www.newsweek.com/iconic-vietnam-war-photos-be-exhibited-vietnam-first-time-342299|archive-date=5 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> was a Vietcong captain.<ref name=ABC/> On 1 February 1968, during the [[Tet Offensive]], he was captured in a building in the [[Chợ Lớn, Ho Chi Minh City|Cho Lon]] quarter of Saigon, near the [[Ấn Quang Pagoda|Ấn Quang pagoda]].<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":1" /> Lém wore civilian clothing at the time of his capture.<ref name=":4" /> Handcuffed, he was brought to Loan, who then [[Summary execution|summarily executed]] him on the street using his sidearm, a [[.38 Special]] [[Smith & Wesson Bodyguard]] Model 49 revolver.<ref>Buckley, Tom. "Portrait of an Aging Despot", ''Harper's'' magazine, April 1972, page 69</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DqwLVaPdDgoC&q=cholon|title=Great News Photos and the Stories Behind Them|last=Faber|first=John|publisher=Dover Publications|year=1978|isbn=9780486236674|location=New York|page=136|access-date=4 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626184705/http://books.google.com/books?id=DqwLVaPdDgoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=cholon&f=false|archive-date=26 June 2014|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>  A reporter for ''[[The New York Times]]'' later wrote that this likely violated the [[Geneva Conventions]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Astor |first1=Maggie |title=A Photo That Changed the Course of the Vietnam War |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/01/world/asia/vietnam-execution-photo.html |access-date=10 June 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1 February 2018}}</ref>

A story emerged during the 1980s that Lém had just murdered a police major, a subordinate and close friend of General Loan, and the major's whole family. The photographer Eddie Adams believed and repeated this story. "It turns out that the Viet Cong lieutenant who was killed in the picture had murdered a police major--one of General Loan's best friends--his whole family, wife, kids, the same guy.  So these are things we didn't know at the time."<ref>Eddie Adams oral history in Kim Willenson, Ed., ''The Bad War'' (1987), pp. 186-187.</ref> "I didn't have a picture of that Viet Cong blowing away the family."<ref>Al Santoli, ed., ''To Bear Any Burden'' (1985).</ref> In 2008, a new version appeared, in which Lém had murdered the family of Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Tuấn, who was not a subordinate of General Loan but an officer of the armored forces of the ARVN.<ref>Bai An Tran, "After 40 Years of the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War - Half of the Truth Deciphered," VietCatholic News, February 7, 2008, http://www.vietcatholic.net/News/Html/52113.htm read 1/27/2018.</ref> [[Max Hastings]], writing in 2018, said that some of the allegations made against Lém were true. Only one of Lt. Col. Tuan's children, [[Huan Nguyen]], survived the attack and later became the first [[Vietnamese American]] promoted to [[rear admiral]] in the [[United States Navy]]. Hastings also wrote that American historian Edwin Moise "is convinced that the entire story of Lém murdering the Tuân family is a post-war invention." Hastings concluded that "the truth will never be known."<ref>{{cite book|last=Hastings|first=Max|title=Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975|publisher=Harper|year=2018|isbn=9780062405661|page=467}}</ref>

Interviewed by [[Oriana Fallaci]] in May 1968 for her book ''Nothing, and So be it'', he stated that he was aware of the indignation he caused and that he understood Fallaci's opinion when she regarded him as a cold-blooded killer. He said that he killed Lém because he felt enraged that the VC were wearing civilian clothes.<ref name="Fallaci">{{cite book |last=Fallaci|first=Oriana|date= 1972|title=Nothing, and So be it|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kZFuAAAAMAAJ&q=civilian+respect|publisher= Doubleday|page=285 |author-link=Oriana Fallaci}}</ref> Speaking to Fallaci, he said: "He wasn't wearing a uniform and I can't respect a man who shoots without wearing a uniform. Because it's too easy: you kill and you're not recognized. I respect a North Vietnamese because he's dressed as a soldier, like myself, and so he takes the same risks as I do. But a Vietcong in civilian clothes - I was filled with rage."<ref name=Fallaci/> Loan has also recounted, "If you hesitate, if you didn't do your duty, the men won't follow you".<ref name="nytimes.com"/>

The execution was captured as a photo by [[Associated Press]] photographer Eddie Adams and on video by [[NBC News]] television cameraman Võ Sửu.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/16/world/nguyen-ngoc-loan-67-dies-executed-viet-cong-prisoner.html|title=Nguyen Ngoc Loan, 67, Dies; Executed Viet Cong Prisoner|date=16 July 1998|work=[[New York Times]]|access-date=5 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420041251/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/16/world/nguyen-ngoc-loan-67-dies-executed-viet-cong-prisoner.html|archive-date=20 April 2009|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> After the execution, Loan told Adams: "They killed many of our people and many of yours."<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2009/03/24/102112403/the-vietnam-war-through-eddie-adams-lens|title=The Vietnam War, Through Eddie Adams' Lens|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-07-04|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704093510/https://www.npr.org/2009/03/24/102112403/the-vietnam-war-through-eddie-adams-lens|archive-date=4 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Võ Sửu reported that after the shooting Loan went to a reporter and said <nowiki>''</nowiki>These guys kill a lot of our people, and I think [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] will forgive me.<nowiki>''</nowiki><ref name=NYT/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/world/ap-book-excerpt-the-tet-offensives-first-36-hours/691833459|title=AP BOOK EXCERPT: The Tet Offensive's first 36 hours|last=EndPlay|date=2018-01-31|work=WSBTV|access-date=2018-07-07|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707062311/https://www.wsbtv.com/news/world/ap-book-excerpt-the-tet-offensives-first-36-hours/691833459|archive-date=7 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The photograph and footage were broadcast worldwide, allegedly increasing anti-war sentiment.<ref name=":1" /> [[Eddie Adams (photographer)|Eddie Adams]]' photo won him the 1969 [[Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/274|title=Pulitzer Prize Winners|website=www.pulitzer.org|language=en|access-date=2018-07-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705092301/http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/274|archive-date=5 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Adams later stated he regretted he was unable to get a picture "of that Viet Cong [Lém] blowing away the [Tuan] family".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hastings |first1=Max |title=Vietnam |date=2018 |publisher=Collins|page=403}}</ref>

===Subsequent career===
A few months after the execution picture was taken, Loan was wounded seriously near Saigon by machine gun fire to his right leg. Again, his picture was published by the world press, this time as Australian war correspondent Pat Burgess carried him back to his lines.<ref name=":4"/>

On 8 June 1968 President Thiệu replaced Loan as Director of National Police with [[Trần Văn Hai]].<ref name=Robbins/>{{rp|284}}
In late June he went to Australia for medical treatment, returning to Vietnam later that year. In May 1969 he and his family flew to the US where he received medical treatment at [[Walter Reed Army Medical Center]] and remained in Alexandria, Virginia until December 1969 when they returned to Vietnam. Soon after his arrival in the US Adams was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his photo and this brought attention to Loan. [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Stephen M. Young]] denounced Loan in the Senate calling him a "brutal murderer".<ref name=Robbins/>{{rp|285}}

In August 1970 he was appointed to a Defense Ministry job that involved long-range planning but lacked actual power.<ref name=Moise/> Loan helped construct hospitals for war wounded and was a frequent visitor to children's hospitals and orphanages. His leg wound continued to trouble him and it was amputated in September 1974.<ref name=Robbins/>{{rp|285–6}}

== Later life ==
In 1975, during the [[fall of Saigon]], Loan approached the [[Embassy of the United States, Saigon|US Embassy]] for evacuation, but was refused, and he and his family escaped aboard an RVNAF airplane and eventually reached the US.<ref name=Robbins/>{{rp|286}} There he moved to [[Dale City, Virginia]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20Materials/Indochina%201975%20to/Indochina%201991.pdf|title=Saigon's Killer Cop in U.S.|date=April 29, 1976|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|access-date=July 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710133530/http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20Materials/Indochina%201975%20to/Indochina%201991.pdf|archive-date=10 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> He then opened a restaurant named "Les Trois Continents" in the Washington, D.C. suburb of [[Burke, Virginia]] at Rolling Valley Mall.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sw5QAAAAIBAJ&pg=6590%2C6163065|title=Ex-Viet cop: I want to live a quiet life|last=Tiede|first=Tom|date=26 March 1998|newspaper=Ludington Daily News|access-date=22 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Covert Capital: Landscapes of Denial and the Making of U.S. Empire in the Suburbs of Northern Virginia|last=Friedman|first=Andrew|date=2013|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520956681|pages=196–219|chapter=Nguyen Ngoc Loan's Pizza Parlor|access-date=22 August 2014|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CASX-fT0_2cC&q=Les+Trois+Continents+Nguyen+loan&pg=PA196}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/383895827/?terms=%22nguyen%2Bngoc%2Bloan%22%2Band%2B%22adams%22|title=Followup|date=29 November 1976|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=5 July 2018|page=16|url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920131041/https://www.newspapers.com/image/383895827/?terms=%22nguyen%2Bngoc%2Bloan%22%2Band%2B%22adams%22|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The restaurant served [[pizza]], [[hamburger]]s, and [[Vietnamese cuisine]], but was described as more of a pizzeria. Local critics were unimpressed with the quality of the food.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/11/07/from-saigon-to-burke-there-is-no-way-out/6f0fdb58-2031-4d29-a073-0e96d0ff596f/|title=From Saigon to Burke, There is No Way Out|last=Cohen|first=Richard|date=1978-11-07|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2018-07-10|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710133119/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/11/07/from-saigon-to-burke-there-is-no-way-out/6f0fdb58-2031-4d29-a073-0e96d0ff596f/|archive-date=10 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/57070094/|title=Famous Vietnam Photograph Figure Running Restaurant BURKE, Va. (AP)|date=April 29, 1976|work=The Kane Republican|access-date=2018-07-10|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710132853/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/57070094/|archive-date=10 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Loan also worked as a [[secretary]] in a Washington company at this time. When interviewed, Loan stated "All we want to do is to forget and to be left alone".<ref name=":9"/>

Adams later apologized in person to Loan and his family for the damage his photograph did to his reputation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2018/05/world/1968-cnnphotos/|title=1968: The year in pictures|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=2018-07-07|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522024615/https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2018/05/world/1968-cnnphotos/|archive-date=22 May 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

[[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] member [[Elizabeth Holtzman]] forwarded a list of Vietnamese officials who may have committed war crimes (including Loan) to [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]] (INS). House of Representatives member [[Harold S. Sawyer]] later requested the Library of Congress investigate Loan.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://classic.esquire.com/the-villain-of-vietnam/|title=The Villain of Vietnam - Esquire Classic|last=Buckley|first=Tom|date=June 1979|work=Esquire|access-date=2018-07-07|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222113412/https://classic.esquire.com/the-villain-of-vietnam/|archive-date=22 December 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=":8"/> In 1978, the INS contended that Loan had committed a war crime, following a report by the [[Library of Congress]] which concluded that the summary execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém had been illegal by Vietnamese law,<ref name=":8">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/11/03/us-acts-to-deport-saigon-official-who-killed-bound-prisoner-in-1968/036da5ef-641b-4e3d-8de2-17771ce7d6ec/|title=U.S. Acts to Deport Saigon Official Who Killed Bound Prisoner in 1968|author=Christopher Dickey|date=November 3, 1978|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=July 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703221121/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/11/03/us-acts-to-deport-saigon-official-who-killed-bound-prisoner-in-1968/036da5ef-641b-4e3d-8de2-17771ce7d6ec/|archive-date=3 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> in an attempt to revoke his permanent resident status to ensure that he could not become a United States citizen.<ref name=":0" /> They approached Adams to testify against Loan, but Adams instead testified in his favor and Loan was allowed to stay.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42864421|title = Eddie Adams' iconic Vietnam War photo: What happened next|work = BBC News|date = 29 January 2018}}</ref> The deportation was halted by the intervention of United States President [[Jimmy Carter]], who stated that "such historical revisionism was folly".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/302104567/?terms=%22nguyen%2Bngoc%2Bloan%22|title=Carter bids to halt Viet general's deportation|date=6 December 1978|work=The Miami News|page=9C|url-access=subscription |via=[[Newspapers.com]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914160545/https://www.newspapers.com/image/302104567/?terms=%22nguyen%2Bngoc%2Bloan%22|archive-date=14 September 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/98687845/?terms=%22nguyen%2Bngoc%2Bloan%22|title=Viet executioner won't be deported|date=2 December 1978|work=Detroit Free Press|access-date=5 July 2018|agency=New York Times Service|page=2A|url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914160543/https://www.newspapers.com/image/98687845/?terms=%22nguyen%2Bngoc%2Bloan%22|archive-date=14 September 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Loan visited the [[Vietnam Veterans Memorial]] and praised it.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1985/04/19/vietnamwhere-are-they-now/3225bb54-c7b2-4efd-a246-878a85ce82f0/|title=Vietnam:Where Are They Now?|date=1985-04-19|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2018-07-10|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710163735/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1985/04/19/vietnamwhere-are-they-now/3225bb54-c7b2-4efd-a246-878a85ce82f0/|archive-date=10 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 1991, Loan closed his restaurant and retired after a decrease of business caused by increased publicity about his past.<ref name=NYT/> Adams recalled that on his last visit to the pizza parlor soon before it closed, he had seen written on a toilet wall, "We know who you are, you fucker".<ref name=NYT/><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1998/07/17/a-life-taken-out-of-context-in-a-split-second/|title=A life taken out of context in a split second|last=White|first=Linda|date=17 July 1998|work=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=5 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706022137/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-07-17/news/1998198007_1_viet-cong-prisoner-photographer-loan|archive-date=6 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>Adams, in the documentary ''An Unlikely Weapon'' (2009), directed by Susan Morgan Cooper</ref>

== Death ==
Nguyễn Ngọc Loan died of [[cancer]] on 14 July 1998,<ref name="nytimes.com"/> aged 67, in Burke, Virginia.<ref name=NYT/> After his death, Adams praised him: "The guy was a hero. America should be crying. I just hate to see him go this way, without people knowing anything about him."<ref name="adams">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988783,00.html|title=Eulogy: General Nguyen Ngoc Loan|last=Adams|first=Eddie|date=27 July 1998|magazine=Time|url-access=subscription |access-date=23 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030022039/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988783,00.html|archive-date=30 October 2008|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/general-in-famed-viet-photo-dead/|title=General In Famed Viet Photo Dead|access-date=2018-07-06|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707062337/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/general-in-famed-viet-photo-dead/|archive-date=7 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Adams wrote a eulogy to Loan in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'':{{blockquote|The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths. What the photograph didn't say was, "What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers?".<ref name="adams" /><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,139659,00.html|title=Eulogy|last=Adams|first=Eddie|date=2001-06-24|magazine=Time|access-date=2018-07-07|language=en-US|issn=0040-781X|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180602104218/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,139659,00.html|archive-date=2 June 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>}}

==Personal life==
Loan was married to Chinh Mai, with whom he raised five children.<ref name=NYT/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |last1=Colby |first1=William E. |author-link1=William Colby |title=Brigadier General Nguyen Ngoc Loan |url=https://kabarluwuraya.com/brigadier-general-nguyen-ngoc-loan/ |website=CIA Electronic Reading Room |publisher=U.S. Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=October 12, 2020 |date=January 26, 1968}}
* {{cite news |title=Feb. 1, 1968: A grisly moment from the Vietnam War |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/feb-a-grisly-moment-from-the-vietnam-war/collection_32755a22-bfc6-52a5-a81f-4b1644974b12.htm |access-date=October 12, 2020 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=February 1, 2018 |language=en}} Collection of photos of the Lém execution.
*The exact location of this event happened on the west section of "Lý Thái Tổ" street, right  [https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=10.76785,106.672735&spn=0.003684,0.005032 in the center of this satellite map], and looking East as shown in the execution picture.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Ngoc Loan}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:1998 deaths]]
[[Category:Vietnamese amputees]]
[[Category:Vietnamese murderers]]
[[Category:Generals of South Vietnam]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Virginia]]
[[Category:Chiefs of police]]
[[Category:People notable for being the subject of a specific photograph]]
[[Category:Vietnam War photographs]]
[[Category:Vietnamese anti-communists]]
[[Category:Vietnamese emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:People from Burke, Virginia]]
[[Category:People from Huế]]
[[Category:War criminals]]