GARDEN GROVE, Calif. -- Khanh Nguyen, a South Vietnamese general who briefly gained control of the government in a coup and went on to lead a "government in exile" in California, has died.

Nguyen died Jan. 11 at a San Jose hospital after struggling with diabetes-related health problems, said Chanh Nguyen Huu, who succeeded Nguyen as head of the Garden Grove, Calif.-based Government of Free Vietnam in Exile. He was 86.

In November 1960, Nguyen helped thwart a coup against the U.S.-backed President Ngo Dinh Diem when he mistook the rebels for Viet Cong soldiers and rushed to the president's defense.

Nguyen himself briefly took control of the government in a Jan. 30, 1964, coup, but left Vietnam the following year after being forced out of power by other generals amid growing tension with U.S. military officials. He lived and worked in France for several years before settling in California with his wife and four children in 1977.

-- AP

On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Gregg Sarra and Tess Ferguson talk about the girls lacrosse season, plus hear the inspirational story of Carle Place's Vincenzo Pisani, plays of the week and more. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara

Sarra Sounds off, Ep. 32: Girls lax, Pisani's inspiration and more On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Gregg Sarra and Tess Ferguson talk about the girls lacrosse season, plus hear the inspirational story of Carle Place's Vincenzo Pisani, plays of the week and more.

On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Gregg Sarra and Tess Ferguson talk about the girls lacrosse season, plus hear the inspirational story of Carle Place's Vincenzo Pisani, plays of the week and more. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara

Sarra Sounds off, Ep. 32: Girls lax, Pisani's inspiration and more On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Gregg Sarra and Tess Ferguson talk about the girls lacrosse season, plus hear the inspirational story of Carle Place's Vincenzo Pisani, plays of the week and more.

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