Ly Tong Ba

Ly Tong Ba was an Armor officer of the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN), who rose from company to division commander, and spent 12 years in Communist camps after the war. He emigrated to the United States.

As a captain, he commanded the first ARVN mechanized infantry company of M113 armored personnel carriers in 1962. During the 1966 Buddhist crisis,

John Paul Vann, who had cursed him as not aggressive enough at Ap Bac, recognized him as an honest and competent officer, who had risen to colonel without political influence. He commanded the 23rd Division in 1972, which successfully defended Kontum. Ba received a battlefield commission to brigadier general

Commanding the 25th Division at the end of the war, He put up one of the last fights at Cu Chi, 12 miles outside Saigon. He spent 12 years in a Communist re-education camp after his surrender.