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General John Ruggles Military Assistance Advisory Group Vietnam photographs, C0332, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.
Donated by John and Marilyn Ruggles in September 2020. Additional materials donated by Marilyn Ruggles in February/March and June 2021.
Processed by Elizabeth Beckman in January 2021. EAD markup by Elizabeth Beckman in January 2021. Additional processing completed and finding aid updated by Meghan Glasbrenner in September 2024.
Prior to its direct military involvement in the conflict between North and South Vietnam beginning the mid-1960s, the United States sent military advisors to assist the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) as part of its broader foreign policy of containing communism around the world. The US government first sent a Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG)to Vietnam (then known as Indochina) to assist the French in maintaining colonial rule against the Viet Minh in the early 1950s. Once the French left Vietnam, US MAAG-Vietnam continued to advise the new South Vietnamese military. MAAG Vietnam was succeeded by Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) in 1964 (Gale, "U.S. Military Advisory Effort in Vietnam: Military Assistance Advisory Group, Vietnam, 1950-1964").
Major General John F. Ruggles (1908-1999), a graduate of West Point and a career military officer who served with the 22nd Infantry Regiment in Europe during the Second World War, was the Deputy Chief of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) in Vietnam from 1959-1961 (1-22infantry.org, "John F. Ruggles").
Content Warning: Some photographs show a deceased Vietnamese Ranger taken immediately after a violent attack which some may find upsetting to view.
Photographs, including two photo albums, pertaining to the career of General John Ruggles in Vietnam circa 1960-1962. The first scrapbook commemorates General Ruggles' farewell visit to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam's II Corps headquarters in Pleiku, Vietnam and contains photos of Ruggles interacting with Vietnamese officers and soldiers. The second scrapbook, presented to General Ruggles by Colonel Dang-Van-Son, the Commanding Officer of the Vietnam NCO Academy at Nha Trang, largely contains photos of Vietnamese Non-Commissioned Officers in training, as well as a visit by General Ruggles.
The remaining photographs show General Ruggles interacting with Vietnamese officers and soldiers as well as photos of Vietnamese civilians, MAAG officers, and South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and Lieutenant General Samuel Williams. Many photographs have handwritten inscriptions on the back, some on attached sticky notes. The collection also includes a single letter written to Ruggles, a certificate, and a list of Vietnamese contacts.
The Special Collections Research Center also holds the
The collection is arranged by format.
1-22infantry.org, "John Frank Ruggles," https://1-22infantry.org/commanders/rugglespers.htm, accessed January 14, 2021.
Gale, "U.S. Military Advisory Effort in Vietnam: Military Assistance Advisory Group, Vietnam, 1950-1964", Archives Unbound, https://www.gale.com/binaries/content/assets/gale-us-en/primary-sources/archives-unbound/primary-sources_archives-unbound_u.s.-military-advisory-effort-in-vietnam_military-assistance-advisory-group-vietnam-1950-1964.pdf (accessed January 14, 2021).
Content Warning: Some photographs show a deceased Vietnamese Ranger taken immediately after a violent attack which some may find upsetting to view.
Content Warning: One photograph shows a deceased Vietnamese Ranger taken immediately after a violent attack which some may find upsetting to view.
Certificate is in Vietnamese