Dương Văn Đức

Lieutenant General Dương Văn Đức (Vietnamese pronunciation: [zɨəŋ˧˧ van˧˧ ʔɗɨk̚˧˦]; 1927–2000) was a Vietnamese army officer. He is best known for leading a coup attempt against General Nguyễn Khánh on 14 September 1964. He was a supporter of the Đại Việt Quốc Dân Đảng (DVQDD, Nationalist Party of Greater Vietnam), a Roman Catholic political movement.

Đức joined the French-backed Vietnamese National Army, which became the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) after the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) was established. After becoming a major general in 1956 and commanding the Airborne Brigade, Đức served for a year as ambassador to South Korea. Later, he had problems with President Ngô Đình Diệm and went into exile in France, before returning after the arrest and assassination of Diệm after a November 1963 coup.

Duc was an assistant to Lê Văn Kim, one of generals in the ruling junta, but was recruited into a coup plot by Generals Khánh, Trần Thiện Khiêm and Đỗ Mậu. At the time, France was advocating for South Vietnam to become neutral, and the withdrawal of the United States. Đức used his experience of France to draft fake documents purporting to show the junta of Dương Văn Minh wanting to go along with the French proposal. These were then presented to the Americans to ensure support, and Khánh toppled Minh in January 1964 without a fight.

Đức was rewarded with command of IV Corps, which oversaw the Mekong Delta region, before being relieved in September, along with the commander of III Corps and Interior Minister Lâm Văn Phát. This prompted the pair to launch a coup against Khánh on 13 September. They initially took over the capital without a fight, but Khánh escaped, and after receiving endorsements from the U.S., defeated the plotters. At the military trial that followed, charges were dropped.