Ly Tong

Lý Tống (born Le Van Tong; September 1, 1948) is a Vietnamese American anti-communist activist.

In 1965 at the age of 16, he served in the Republic of Vietnam Air Force. He was assigned to South Vietnam's "Black Eagle" Fighter Squadron.[1]

In 1984 Ly was granted asylum to the United States and he received a letter from then President Ronald Reagan for his struggle to attain freedom from captivity in Vietnam.[2]

He earned a master's degree in Political Science at the University of New Orleans and has written a novel in Vietnamese.

He became good friends with former South Vietnamese Air Force Colonel An Vo. He also played a large role in the Vietnamese community in New Orleans.

In the 1990s he decided to take up anti-communist activities, and in 1992, he hijacked a Vietnam Airlines airliner. Ly Tong's copilot claimed that he was forced to fly over Ho Chi Minh City so that Ly Tong could drop thousands of leaflets calling for insurrection against the communist government of Vietnam.[3]

He parachuted and jumped from the plane, but he landed in a swamp and was apprehended by Vietnamese soldiers and sentenced to 20 years. [4]

In 1998 the Vietnamese government released him as part of an amnesty program along with other democracy activists. [5]

Colonel An Vo from New Orleans is said to have gone back to help him become free.

On January 1, 2000, he flew over Havana, Cuba, and dropped leaflets encouraging the Cuban people to rise up and revolt against the government of Fidel Castro. [6]

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