Peter Khoy Saukam

Peter Khoy Saukam (born Saukam Khoy ; 2 February 1915 – 14 November 2008) was a Cambodian senior military officer and politician who served as Acting President of the Khmer Republic for 12 days in April 1975. He was President of the Senate from 1972 to 1975.

Early life

Born on 2 February 1915, Saukam Khoy enlisted into the Khmer Royal Army in 1940, when he was 25. He achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1953 and subsequently, lieutenant-general. He became President of the Senate of the Khmer Republic in 1972.

Presidency

He took office on 1 April 1975, when a tearful Lon Nol left 'temporarily' with his entire family for Bali in Indonesia after an invitation from his friend, Indonesian President Suharto.

Khoy's time in office was short. He left Phnom Penh together with American Ambassador John Gunther Dean aboard a CH-53 helicopter during the evacuation of American embassy staff and civilians, dubbed Operation Eagle Pull on 12 April, just five days before Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge led by their new organization as Angkar.

Death

Khoy died at the age of 93 in Stockton, California, United States, on 14 November 2008.

Notes

References

• Kenneth Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970-1975, Equinox Publishing (Asia) Pte Ltd, Djakarta 2011.
• Kenneth Conboy, Kenneth Bowra, and Mike Chappell, The War in Cambodia 1970-75, Men-at-arms series 209, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1989.
• Justin Corfield and Laura Summers, Historical Dictionary of Cambodia, Asian/Oceanian Historical Dictionaries No. 43, Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham, Maryland, and Oxford 2003. – https://archive.org/details/historicaldictionaryofcambodia
• Sak Sutsakhan, The Khmer Republic at War and the Final Collapse, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Washington D.C. 1980. – available online at Vietnam.ttu.edu Part 1 PDF, Part 2 (PDF), Part 3 (PDF), Part 4 (PDF).