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 an aerial combat on April 3, 1965. Early life 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. Early career 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. 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. 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. Meeting American planes in aerial combat On April 3, 1965, Lan participated in the first battle of Vietnam People's Air Force, where an attack aircraft of