Editing Nguyễn Văn Lém

[[File:Execution of Nguyen Van Lem.jpg|thumb|Văn Lém (right) before being executed.]]
'''Nguyễn Văn Lém''' (c. 1932 - 1 February 1968) was a [[Viet Cong|Viet Cong]] [[death squad]] leader who was summarily executed during the [[Tet Offensive]]. The photo of his execution has become one of the most infamous photos of the [[Vietnam War]], with most people being unaware of the full story. 

==Biography==
Lém was a VC captain with the call sign "Bảy Lốp". He participated in the Tet Offensive of 1968, a massive assault on South Vietnam by the Viet Ciong during the Tet Holiday. Lém was the leader of a VC "kill team" which participated in the assault on Saigon, hunting down National Police members or their families. The team had killed at least 34 people - seven police officers, three Americans and 24 police officer's family members. Most of these victims were captured, bound with wire and shot over mass graves so their bodies would fall in. 

Lém, wearing civilian clothes, was apprehended by a South Vietnamese patrol lead by General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan just after the murders of Colonel Nguyễn Tuan, his wife, their six children and his 80-year-old mother, whose throats he had personally slit. As he was not wearing a uniform or fighting in a battle and had obviously just committed a serious [[war crimes|war crime]], Lém was legally a terrorist rather than a combatant and so had no protection under the Geneva Convention. As Lém was brought before General Loan, photographer Eddie Adams, thinking he was just going to interrogate Lém, decided to take a photo. By coincidence he took the photo as Loan pulled the trigger and shot Lém in the head, killing him. 

The photo of the summary execution was seen around the world without full context, and became a symbol of the anti-war movement. To this day it is one of the most infamous photos of the Vietnam War.
[[Category:List]]
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[[Category:Modern Villains]]
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