Nguyen Van Thieu

S. Neighbors had little contact with him or knowledge of him aside from seeing him walking his dog. Although not yet a Catholic (he would convert later in life after getting married) Thiệu attended Pellerin a French-run Catholic school in Huế the imperial seat of the Nguyễn Dynasty.

Thiệu initially joined the communist-dominated Việt Minh of Hồ Chí Minh but quit after a year and joined the Vietnamese National Army (VNA) of the French-backed State of Vietnam. Diệm was captured and executed and Thiệu made a general. Thiệu gave contradictory orders to Trưởng to stand and fight or withdraw and consolidate leading to mass panic and collapse in the north of the country.