Nguyẽ̂n, Cao Kỳ.

Nguyen Cao Ky fought with the French forces that opposed the Vietnamese Liberation Movement. When Vietnam was partitioned in 1954, he joined the Vietnamese Air Force and became commander after the 1963 overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem. In 1971 he failed to win an election against incumbent President Thieu, so he returned to the Air Force. He escaped from Vietnam in 1975 and settled in the United States. Colonel George Budway was Commander of the Tan Son Nhut Air Base in South Vietnam from April, 1965 until May, 1966 when he formed a friendship with Nguyen Cao Ky, Defense Minister and future leader of South Vietnam. Colonel Budway and journalist Charles J. V. Murphy collaborated with Nguyen Cao Ky in conducting a number of interviews. Murphy planned to write a book on Nguyen Cao Ky during 1967-1968, but he abadnoned the project. Murphy and Budway maintained a correspondence between 1967 and 1984.