WHITTIER, Calif. — Friends and family of Nguyen Cao Ky gathered in Southern California on Sunday to pay their last respects to the former South Vietnamese prime minister.
About 350 mourners filled the Rose Hill Memorial in Whittier, two weeks after Ky died in Malaysia at age 80 from complications linked to a lung infection. His ashes were flown to the U.S.
At the time of his death, he was in Malaysia to set up a scholarship for young people to study in the United States.
Ky was commander of South Vietnam’s air force in 1965 when he was chosen by his fellow military officers to lead the country as prime minister. He led his country during two of the most tumultuous years of the Vietnam War and was able to end a disruptive cycle of coups and countercoups.
