Phạm Ngọc Lan (12 December 1934 – 14 June 2019) was a general of the People's Army of Vietnam. He was noted for being North Vietnam's first pilot to shoot down an American plane in aerial combat on April 3, 1965.
Phạm was born on December 12, 1934, on a farm in Dien Nam, in Điện Bàn District of Quảng Nam Province. Less than a month after the August Revolution in 1945, the French reoccupied Vietnam's southern region and began to militarily contest the central coastal region.
In December 1948, after persuading his family, Lan applied to work with the police in Đắk Lắk Province at the age of 14. Due to his youth, he was only assigned to cooking tasks and was later transferred to communication work. In January 1949, Lan was writing about security for the Resistance Administrative Committee of Đắk Lắk. In October of that year, he went to do clerical work for the Đắk Lắk Province teams.
He continually volunteered for combat but was turned down because of his small size. In July 1952, at the age of 18, he was officially enlisted as a soldier with the clerical Political Committee Regiment 84 contact zone 5. From January 1953, he was a private soldier, vice squad leader, and squad leader of the University Team 602, Battalion 30, Regiment 96, and University Union 305. From his first battle, the Battle of An Khe Pass, at the age of 19 until the 1954 armistice, Lan participated in 10 battles from Pleiku to Qui Nhơn and along Route 1 from Nha Trang to Quang Nam, capturing six prisoners, including a French soldier.[1]
Late in 1954, Lan was transferred North with his unit. In January 1955, Lan received further education at the School of Culture of the General Command in the Kien An, which aims to train selected officers.
His initial results were not satisfactory, but in only one year he quickly completed 10 years of education with excellent results.[2]
In October 1956, Lan went to China to study at the School of the Air Force No. 3, Yungui Highlands, Yunnan with the rank of platoon leader. In training, Lan was always in the lead group and achieved the highest scores in all the eight subjects.
On April 3, 1965, Lan participated in the first battle of Vietnam People's Air Force, where an attack aircraft of the U.S. Navy was ambushed in the region of the Thanh Hóa Bridge, a lifeline bridge that supplied military forces in the south.
After injuring his spine, Lan returned home when his superiors withdrew him from combat duty, and he was given the task of guiding and training young pilots and was promoted to lieutenant.
In April 1967, Lan was promoted to Regiment Captain and was appointed deputy of Air Force Regiment 921. In 1969, he was appointed Chairman of the Engineering Command of the Air Defence Air Force. In January 1973, he was sent for further study at the Air Force Academy, Gagarin, in the Soviet Union. After returning home in March 1974, he was appointed Head of Work Staff Training Air Force Air Defence and Air Force, and promoted to major.
From 1975, he held the following positions:
Lan was promoted to the rank of major general in June 1992.
Lan retired in August 1999 and returned to live in his own house at 192 Truong Chinh Street, Hanoi.
He died on June 14, 2019, aged 84 in Hanoi.