General Nguyen Van Hieu was born in Tientsin, China. He then immigrated with his family to Saigon, Vietnam when the Communists took over Shanghai in 1949.
He attended Aurore University in Shanghai, China.
In 1950, he attended the Vietnamese Military Academy and graduated second in his class in 1951.
In 1963, he graduated from Command and General Staff College, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
His assigments included G3/Joint General Staff,G3/1st Corps,Chief of Staff of 1st Division, Chief of Staff of I Corps, Chief of Staff of II Corps, Commander of 22nd Division, Chief of Staff of II Corps, Commander of 5th Division, Deputy Commander of I Corps, Minister of Anti-Corruption under Vice-President Tran Van Huong, Deputy Commander of III Corps, Commander of Forward HQ III Corps, and MG Deputy Commander of III Corps.
He was assassinated on April 8, 1975 at III Corps Headquaters, Saigon and on April 10, 1975, he was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant General.
