Pièrre Vũ Ngọc Nhạ (1928-2002) is an intelligence officer of the People's Army of Vietnam. He carried out espionage activities during the Vietnam War under the cover of a high-rank officer of many South Vietnam governments. He was the core member of the A.22 espionage group during the late 1960s before his arrest by CIA in 1969.
Nhạ and his colleagues managed to retrieved many important documents about the strategic plans and intentions of United States and Saigon government for the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, including the Strategic Hamlet Program, the Stanley-Taylor plan, the Plan for Rural Pacification, the Phoenix Plan, the plan for introducing U.S. troops into Vietnam.
Vũ Ngọc Nhạ was known under the nickname "Ông cố vấn" (Mr. Advisor) due to his advisory role for Ngô Đình Diệm and Nguyễn Văn Thiệu. He also had other names including Vũ Ngọc Nhã, Hoàng Đức Nhã, Vũ Đình Long (or Hai Long), Lê Quang Kép, Preacher Hai, Preacher Four (because he was a Catholic preacher who finished four grades of religious training).
Vũ Ngọc Nhạ is the main character of the historical novel Ông Cố vấn (Mr. Advisor) written by Hữu Mai, which was adapted in to a television series with the same name.
Childhood Vũ Ngọc Nhạ was born as Vũ Xuân Nhã on March 30, 1928, at his paternal homeland in Vũ Hội, district Vũ Thư, Thái Bình province,TIỂU SỬ TÓM TẮT 119 DANH NHÂN, NHÀ LÃNH ĐẠO CÁCH MẠNG, ANH HÙNG LỰC LƯỢNG VŨ TRANG, ĐỊA DANH, SỰ KIỆN LỊCH SỬ ĐỀ NGHỊ ĐẶT TÊN CHO CÁC ĐƯỜNG TRÊN ĐỊA BÀN THÀNH PHỐ GIA NGHĨA (ĐỢT 2 – 2020) however he spent much of his childhood in the maternal homeland of the Phát Diệm Parish in Ninh Bình. At the age of 15, Vũ Ngọc Nhạ went to Huế to attend the Thuận Hoá Highschool. He then made contacts with Việt Minh and was joined the Communist Party of Vietnam on June 20, 1947.Thiếu tướng Vũ Ngọc Nhạ, một huyền thoại tình báo cách mạng
Vũ Ngọc Nhạ participated in Viet Minh's resistance war against French invasion of Vietnam in 1946. After the Battle of Hà Nội, he retreated to Thái Bình and took part in Viet Minh's PR missions at the Catholic population in Thái Bình.Bộ tứ tình báo huyền thoại của Việt Nam: “Ông cố vấn” (3) He was appointed as Secretary of Party's Committee and then Party's Town Committee Member of Thái Bình in 1951, to revitalize Viet Minh's forces under intense French military activities in that area. Nhạ participated in a successful attack against a French prison facility, released thousands of prisoners there. In 1952, Vũ Ngọc Nhạ (under the alias Vũ Ngọc Kép), as a representative of Thái Bình province, participated at the "Conference of Guerilla Warfare in North Vietnam", held at Việt Bắc. During that conference, president Hồ Chí Minh gave Vũ Ngọc Nhạ the task of gathering information and data of United States plans and intentions in Vietnam. In 1953, via the recommendation of Đỗ Mười, Vũ Ngọc Nhạ was recruited by Trần Quốc Hương as a trainer for intelligence agents working inside the Catholic population.
Gaining the trust of Ngô Đình Diệm and Catholic clergy Vũ Ngọc Nhạ was amongst many North Vietnamese intelligence agents sent to South Vietnam for intelligence activities after the 1954 Geneva Accords, under the cover of a devout Catholic adherent who were upset with Viet Minh's "discrimination" against his family and religion and them "defected" to participate in Self-Defence Militia of Phát Diệm, which were under the leadership of anti-communist Bishop Lê Hữu Từ and priest Hoàng Quỳnh. He went to the South together with the Catholic migrants in 1955, using a new identity Vũ Đình Long. The data presented in his resume were mostly the truth, including the fact that he joined the Communist Party. The only false information was "upset" with Viet Minh and his real reason for "defection".
Vũ Ngọc Nhạ was instructed by Trần Quốc Hương to build a good relationship with Bishop Lê Hữu Từ because Bishop Lê was well-known both in the Vietnamese Catholic population and in the Vatican. Moreover, since Hoàng Quỳnh has good relationship with Bishop Lê, and Vũ Ngọc Nhạ's membership of Phát Diệm Militia was certificated by priest Hoàng Quỳnh, Trần Quốc Hương also instructed Nhạ to reinforce relationship with Hoàng Quỳnh. Good relationships with both Lê and Hoàng was very beneficial for Vũ Ngọc Nhạ's espionage missions later. Furthermore, Vũ Ngọc Nhạ discovered the discords and conflicts between Ngô Đình Diệm's regime and Catholic dignitaries - including bishop Lê - although Ngô Đình Diệm and his brothers were also devout Catholics. Vietnamese Catholic clergy was under the great French influence, while Ngô Đình Diệm was supported by the United States, therefore distrust persisted between the two sides despite Diệm's desire to gain the support from the Catholic population. Therefore, acting as the intermediary envoy might help Vũ Ngọc Nhạ in gaining the trust and credibility from both Diệm and Catholic clergy.TRẦN QUỐC HƯƠNG Người Chỉ Huy Tình Báo. Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hải, Nhà xuất bản Văn Hóa - Văn Nghệ, 2020
However Vũ Ngọc Nhạ was suspected by South Vietnam counter-espionage agency as a North Vietnamese spy and was arrested at the end of 1958. He was jailed at Toà Khâm, Huế, together with many other suspected North Vietnamese intelligence agents, including his mentor Trần Quốc Hương. He quickly exploited that situation to established communication with his colleagues to prepare for counter-measures. Moreover, Huế leader Ngô Đình Cẩn allowed Catholic prisoners to attend Sunday church rituals. Vũ Ngọc Nhạ used that chance to make contact with Ngô Đình Cẩn and the Catholic clergy, including Bishop Lê. Knowing Vũ Ngọc Nhạ's relationship with Lê Hữu Từ and Hoàng Quỳnh, both sides decided to accept Nhạ's role as intermediary envoy. Moreover, during the imprisonment, Vũ Ngọc Nhạ's essay "The dangers threaten our [South Vietnam] regime" attracted the interest of Ngô family. Nhạ intentionally stated that he consulted the ideas of bishop Lê and other Catholic figures, tacitly implied his relationship with the people that Ngô family had to reconcile with. Furthermore, Nhạ's correct prediction of the 1960 South Vietnamese coup attempt increased his prestige in the eyes of Ngô brothers. Thanks to careful preparation and the assistance of Hoàng Quỳnh, Vũ Ngọc Nhạ was cleared of all charges but was still unofficially imprisoned until 1961.
Vũ Ngọc Nhạ, using his envoy role and good relationship with Catholic dignitaries, managed to gain the trust of Ngô brothers. Ngô Đình Diệm treated Nhạ as his family and considered him as one of the "five dragons" of Ngô regime. Trần Lệ Xuân suspected Nhạ at first but gave up eventually. Close relationships with South Vietnam leadership and important politicians associated with them allowed Vũ Ngọc Nhạ to gather important data and information for his espionage missionsNgười hóa thân trong lòng địch and had considerable influence on politics. He began to have the nickname of "Mr. Advisor".
At the end of 1963, Ngô Đình Nhu tasked Vũ Ngọc Nhạ with the mission of meeting with and gaining support from Catholic population. As a result, Vũ Ngọc Nhạ did not get caught into the 1963 South Vietnamese coup which ended with the collapse of Ngô Đình Diệm regime together with most of its key members. According to Nhạ, if he had get caught in the coup, he would have met the same tragic fate as Ngô Đình Diệm and Ngô Đình Nhu.
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu's presidency and the A.22 espionage group After the 1963 coup, Vũ Ngọc Nhạ could only work in the Catholic population in Bình An parish led by Hoàng Quỳnh. However, due to Hoàng's great prestige, and also due Nhạ's own talent and knowledge, the new government resumed contact with Vũ Ngọc Nhạ for his advice. Vũ Ngọc Nhạ quickly make use of the "Golden Triangle" (Vatican's Apostolic Delegate, Saigon government and American Chaplain O'Connor) to intensify his espionage activities. He later built a relationship with Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, another Catholic figure. Similar to the Ngô family, Thiệu needed Nhạ as an intermediary envoy to gather support from the Catholic faction. Nhạ also detected that Thiệu had the support of the United States for the position of President and Thiệu also had good relationship with certain Catholic dignitaries. Nhạ became the representative for Catholic electorates who supported the presidency of Thiệu, and became Thiệu's "Mr. Advisor" after Thiệu was elected. Thiệu personally recognized the great influence of Nhạ on South Vietnam politics and on Thiệu himself, he told Nhạ: "If you want to depose me, please inform me beforehand so that I won't meet a shameful death as Ngô Đình Diệm brothers.".
Nhạ quickly made use of his position to build a huge espionage network inside the Saigon government named A.22, nominally led by Nguyễn Văn Lê (Tư Lê) and Nhạ himself was the deputy leader, directly supervised the network. Notable members of A.22 included Nguyễn Xuân Hoè, Vũ Hữu Ruật, Huỳnh Văn Trọng, Lê Hữu Thuý, Nguyễn Xuân Đồng... A member of A.22 network, Huỳnh Văn Trọng (a former South Vietnam Minister during the 1950s) managed to become the President's Assistant, once led a Saigon delegation to America and made use of such chances to perform his espionage activities.
Nhạ and the A.22 network took part in the 1968 Tet Offensive. He warned the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam of U.S. intention to curtail the annual Tết ceasefire. During the battle, Nhạ was tasked to assist the NLF in the planned assault to Independence Palace, he opened the presidential wine cellar so that the palace guards would become drunk. However, as the planned attacks was abandoned and the attack's highest target, Thiệu, was on his Tết vacation in Mỹ Tho. Assuming that the wine was distributed to improve morale, Thiệu commended Nhạ when he returned to the palace a few days later. He awarded Nhạ with a sword and an authority to manage the cabinet meetings in the case of Thiệu's absence.Bass, Thomas A., The Spy Who Loved Us: The Vietnam War and Pham Xuan An's Dangerous Game, p. 237. 2009.Ford, Captain Ro, Tet 1968: Understanding the Surprise, p. 143. 1995.
In the wake of unsuccessful military attempts, the United States started to decrease their involvement in the Vietnam War and took a more serious stance in negiotations with Hanoi. However, the U.S. planned to execute the Accelerated Pacification Program and other related moves in order to gain an advantage in the bargain. Tasked with the investigation of United States intentions, Nhạ then asked Thiệu to send a diplomatic delegation led by Nhạ's colleagues Huỳnh Văn Trọng to the United States. Under the guise of preparing for the incoming diplomatic mission, Trọng went to the U.S. Ambassador to take the documents of 1968-1969 Pacification Plan, 1968 Phoenix Program and other related documents for Nhạ. Trọng's delegation later managed to secure U.S. aid for the Saigon government, which pleased Thiệu. Thiệu then reward Nhạ with the pen that Thiệu used to sign the documents for U.S. aid contracts.
The reports of South Vietnam Police Department admitted that no espionage group had ever been as successful as A.22. The tricks employed by A.22 was admitted to be "marvellous" and "excellent", and the data and information retrieved by A.22 "enable Hanoi to have well-confirmed facts to make the policies for the war."
In 1969, the A.22 group planned to create a South Vietnam "government" whose vital members were A.22 agents. However A.22's plan could not be materialized due to CIA's intervention.
The case of Huỳnh Văn Trọng and forty-two espionage agents