Nguyen Kim Sam was born in 1930 in the district of Nam Dan in the province of Nghe An. She was responsible for a youth brigade (doi thieu nien) and was a member of the standing bureau of her commune’s women’s association. She was also a teacher in binh dan hoc vu classes, a leader of her commune’s reconnaissance committee (ban trinh sat xa), as well as a secretary for the Association of mothers of soldiers (Hoi me chien si).