Ton That Dinh
Encyclopedia
Major General Tôn Thất Đính (born 1926) is a retired officer who served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
(ARVN). He is best known as one of the key figures in the November 1963 coup
that deposed and resulted in the assassination
of Ngo Dinh Diem
, the first president of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).
A favourite of the ruling Ngô family, Đính received rapid promotions ahead of officers who were regarded as being more capable. He converted to Roman Catholicism to curry favour with Diem, and headed the military wing of the Cần Lao Party
, a secret Catholic organisation that maintained the Ngôs' grip on power. At the age of 32, Đính became the youngest ever ARVN general and the commander of the II Corps
, but he was regarded as a dangerous, egotistical and impetuous figure with a weakness for alcohol and partying.
In 1962, Đính was appointed commander of the III Corps
, which oversaw the region surrounding the capital Saigon. He was given the post because Diệm regarded him as one of his most loyal officers. This position meant that Đính would be a critical factor in the success or failure of any coup. In late 1963, with Diem becoming increasingly unpopular, Đính's colleagues recruited him into a coup by playing on his ego. They convinced him to ask Diem for a cabinet post, knowing that the president was adamantly opposed to military officers serving as ministers and would chastise him. Diem promptly rebuffed Đính, who became upset and was lured into the plot. Diem and his brother and chief advisor Ngo Dinh Nhu
were aware of a coup plot, but did not know of Đính's involvement. Nhu planned a fake coup of his own in an attempt to trap his opponents and generate positive publicity for his family's regime. He put Đính in charge of the fake coup, and the general promptly redeployed loyal units outside Saigon and rebel forces near the capital. On November 1, the rebels' actual coup proceeded, and the Ngo brothers were deposed and executed.
After the coup, Đính became one of the 12 members of the Military Revolutionary Council (MRC), serving as the Interior Minister. However, the MRC lasted only three months before being ousted in a bloodless coup
by General Nguyen Khanh
. Đính and his colleagues were put under house arrest by Khanh and falsely accused of promoting a neutralist plot. The subsequent military trial collapsed. The generals were convicted of "lax morality" but were eventually allowed to resume their military service, albeit in meaningless desk jobs. Following Khanh's exile by another group of generals, Đính was appointed to command the I Corps
in 1966 in order to put down the Buddhist Uprising
, but Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky
disapproved of his reconciliatory policies. Ky launched a successful surprise attack against Đính. Đính fled, but was later captured and briefly imprisoned by Ky. After being released, Đính worked in the media sector and was elected to the Senate in 1967. He served in the upper house until the fall of Saigon
in April 1975, when he fled the communist victory.
A native of central Vietnam, Đính enlisted in the Vietnamese National Army
(VNA) of the French-backed State of Vietnam
at Phu Bai in 1949 and trained as a paratrooper
in France
. He became a protege of Ngo Dinh Can
, the younger brother of Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem
. Can, who unofficially controlled the region of central Vietnam near Huế
, was impressed by what he considered to be an abundance of courage on the part of Đính. Within six years of enlisting in the military, Đính had risen to the rank of colonel and was made the inaugural commander of the newly formed 32nd Division
based in Da Nang
in the centre of the country on January 1, 1955. Đính led the unit until November 1956, during which time it was renamed the 2nd Division.
Diem deposed head of state Bao Dai
in a fraudulent referendum in 1955 and proclaimed himself president of the newly created Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam). The VNA thus became the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
(ARVN). Born into a nominally Buddhist family, Đính had converted to Catholicism in the hope of advancing his career. The change of religion was widely perceived to be a factor in his rapid promotion above more capable officers. A devout member of the Catholic minority, Diem dedicated the country to the Virgin Mary and gave more legal rights to Catholics. Đính proudly described himself as "fearless and arrogant" and Diem's adopted son—the president was a lifelong bachelor. In August 1957, Đính was appointed the commander of the 1st Division
based in Huế
, the old imperial capital and Can's base. Đính served there for a year, until he became a one-star general and received a wider-reaching command in August 1958, making him the youngest ever ARVN general. Đính's favour among the Ngos saw him appointed in 1958 to head the military wing of the Can Lao Party
, the secret organisation of Vietnamese Catholics loyal to the Ngos that maintained family's grip on power.
Despite the high regard that the Ngos accorded him, Đính had a poor reputation among his colleagues. Regarded by his peers as ambitious, vain and impulsive, Đính was known mainly for his drunken presence in Saigon's nightclubs, and the Central Intelligence Agency
labelled him a "basic opportunist". He was known for always wearing a paratrooper's uniform with a red beret at a steep angle, and being accompanied by a tall, uncommunicative Cambodian bodyguard. Senior Australian Army
officer Ted Serong
, who worked with Đính, called him "a young punk with a gun—and dangerous".
, which oversaw the central highlands region
mainly inhabited by indigenous tribes. He was based in the mountainous town of Pleiku
and oversaw the surrounding region and the lowlands to the north of the capital of Saigon. This put him in control of the 5th
, 22nd
and 23rd Divisions
, one third of the divisions in the country. At the time, the CIA had been training Montagnard tribesmen under the Village Defense Program (later to become the Civilian Irregular Defense Group
) with the stated intention of resisting communist infiltration, but Đính regarded it was an attempt to divide and conquer
and undermine him. He estimated that 18,000 tribesmen had been armed, and said to Ngo Dinh Nhu
—one of Diem's younger brothers and his chief adviser—that "the Americans have put an army at my back". CIA agent Lucien Conein
admitted years afterwards that Đính's claim was correct; Nhu and Diem had no previous idea of what the Americans had been doing. Đính also wrote to Diem complaining that his units were being weakened by the policy of promoting officers for political reasons, despite being a beneficiary of the non-merit-based policy.
The reorganisation of the corps boundaries in December 1962 created a fourth region. The entire region surrounding the capital Saigon came under the purview of the III Corps
, whereas the previous arrangement saw two corps controlling the regions to the north and south of the capital. As a key supporter of Diem, Đính was named commander of the III Corps, because the Ngos trusted him to defend them in the face of any coup attempts. Under the III Corps were the 5th and the 25th Divisions
. In August 1963, Nhu, who controlled the special forces
and secret police, allowed Đính to have a hand in planning raids against Buddhist dissidents who had been organising at the Xa Loi Pagoda
, Saigon's largest. The raids involved the deployment of the 5th Division, based in the town of Bien Hoa
on Saigon's northern outskirts, into the capital. Although the execution of the raids—which left hundreds dead—was primarily the responsibility of Colonel Le Quang Tung
, the special forces head, Đính privately claimed responsibility, stating to a journalist, "I have defeated Henry Cabot Lodge
[the US ambassador to South Vietnam]. He came here to stage a coup d'etat, but I, Ton That Dinh, have conquered him and saved the country." In the aftermath of the raids, Foreign Minister Vu Van Mau resigned in protest, shaved his head like a monk and sought to leave on a pilgrimage to India
; Nhu ordered Đính to jail him. At the urging of another general, Đính put Mau under house arrest instead.
During this period, Đính told a dinner guest that he had the pleasure of dining with a great national hero. When the guest asked Đính where the hero was, Đính said "it is me" and claimed to have defeated the Americans. Đính's ego had been played upon by the Ngo brothers, who had themselves reiterated this point and paid him a large cash bonus after the pagoda raids. In the heady times after the attacks, Đính had a "somewhat incoherent" debate with his American advisor, claiming that "he was without doubt the greatest general officer in the ARVN, the saviour of Saigon ... and soon he would be the top military man in the country".
In a press conference after the raids, Đính claimed to have saved South Vietnam from Buddhists, communists and "foreign adventurers", a euphemism for the United States. After being questioned sharply, Đính quickly became angry. Ray Herndon of United Press International
asked him to name the country that he was referring to, but Đính dodged the question. Herndon lampooned him by saying that a national hero should be able to identify the national enemy, and asked him to call Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu
, the First Lady
known for her anti-American comments, to get help in identifying the hostile country in question. After several reporters derisively laughed at his comments, Đính angrily stormed out of the conference.
, were plotting a coup against Diem because of the Buddhist crisis
, and attempted to play on Đính's ego to convince him to join them. They knew that without Đính's assistance, a coup would be difficult as his forces dominated the region surrounding the capital.
In a series of meetings, the other generals assured Đính that he was a national hero worthy of political authority, and claimed that Nhu had not realised how important he was in the future of the country. Đính's colleagues even bribed his soothsayer
to predict his elevation to political power. The other generals told him that the people were dissatisfied with Diem's cabinet and that Vietnam needed dynamic young officers in politics, and that their presence would reverse the declining morale in the ARVN. They advised Đính to ask Diem to promote him to Interior Minister, Duong Van Minh
to Defence Minister, and Tran Van Minh
to Education Minister. The other generals hoped that Diem would reject Đính and wound his pride.
As a result, Đính and his fellow generals met Diem at the palace, where Đính asked the president to promote him to the post of Interior Minister. Diem bluntly chastised Đính in front of his colleagues, and ordered him out of Saigon to the central highlands resort town of Da Lat to rest. Đính felt humiliated and embarrassed, having promised his colleagues that he would be successful. The Ngo brothers had been alarmed by Đính's request, and put him under surveillance. Đính found out, further straining his relationship with the palace. Đính then agreed to join the coup, although with his ambitious nature, the other officers were skeptical and planned to have him assassinated if he tried to switch sides. Without Đính's troops, the coup would not have been possible.
With Đính and the Ngo family's increasing focus on the political usage of the army, the military situation in the III Corps deteriorated badly in the second half of 1963, as personnel were redeployed into the cities. In August, he moved a unit away from Ben Tuong, which had been portrayed as a model settlement in the Strategic Hamlet Program
that was supposed to isolate peasants into fortified villages to keep the Vietcong out. While the unit was in Saigon cracking down on the Buddhists, the communists overran Ben Tuong. A year earlier, the American media contingent had been invited to the opening ceremony of the settlement, which was supposed to be the flagship of the hamlet program. As Đính spent most of October in the capital plotting instead of inspecting the countryside, the communists began to systematically dismantle the strategic hamlets.
As part of the generals' plot, Đính sent Colonel Nguyen Huu Co
, his deputy corps commander, to My Tho to talk to the 7th Division commander, Colonel Bui Dinh Dam
, and two regimental commanders, the armoured unit commander, both subordinate to Dam, and the My Tho province chief. Exhorting them to join the coup, he stated that all the generals were in the plot except the strongly loyalist Huynh Van Cao
, and that Đính would soon join. According to one account, Đính had intended that loyalists would report Co's activities to Diem and Nhu so that it would give him an opportunity to orchestrate a stunt to ingratiate himself with the palace.
Nhu's agents soon reported Co’s activities to the palace. When the Ngo brothers confronted Đính with what had happened in My Tho, Đính feigned astonishment at his deputy's behaviour. He began crying and said "This is my fault, because you have suspected me. I have not really gone to work for the last 15 days but have stayed at home because I was sad. But I am not against you. I was sad because I thought I was discredited with you. So Nguyen Huu Co profited from my absence to make trouble." Dinh claimed to know nothing of Co's activities and raised his voice, vowing to have his deputy killed. Nhu opposed this and stated that he wanted keep Co alive to catch the plotters, and tried to use Đính to this end.
Nhu ordered Đính and Tung, both of whom took their orders directly from the palace instead of the ARVN command, to plan a fake coup against the government. One objective was to trick dissidents into joining the false uprising so that they could be identified and eliminated. Another aim of the public relations stunt was to give a false impression of the strength of the regime.
Codenamed Operation Bravo
, the first stage of the scheme would involve some of Đính and Tung's loyalist soldiers, disguised as insurgents led by apparently renegade junior officers, faking a coup and vandalising the capital. Tung would then announce the formation of a "revolutionary government" consisting of opposition activists who had not consented to joining the new administration, while Diem and Nhu would pretend to be on the run.
During the orchestrated chaos of the first coup, the disguised loyalists would riot and in the ensuing mayhem, kill the leading coup plotters, such as Generals Minh, Don, Le Van Kim
and junior officers that were helping them. The loyalists and some of Nhu's underworld connections would also kill some figures who were assisting the conspirators, such as the titular but relatively powerless Vice President Nguyen Ngoc Tho
, CIA agent Lucien Conein
, who was on assignment in Vietnam as a military adviser, and Ambassador Lodge. These would then be blamed on "neutralist and pro-communist elements". A fake "counter-coup" was to follow, whereupon Tung's special forces, having left Saigon on the pretext of fighting communists, as well as Đính's regulars, would triumphantly re-enter Saigon to reaffirm the Diem regime. Nhu would then exploit the scare to round up dissidents.
Đính was put in charge of the fake coup and was allowed the additional control of the 7th Division based in My Tho, which was previously assigned to Diem loyalist Cao, who commanded the IV Corps
in the Mekong Delta
. The reassignment of the 7th Division gave Đính and his III Corps complete encirclement of Saigon, and would prevent Cao from storming the capital to save Diem as he had done during the 1960 coup attempt
.
Nhu and Tung, however, were unaware that Đính was part of the real coup plot. Đính told Tung that the fake coup needed to employ an overwhelming amount of force. He said that tanks were required "because armour is dangerous". In an attempt to outwit Tung, Đính said that fresh troops were needed, opining, "If we move reserves into the city, the Americans will be angry. They'll complain that we're not fighting the war. So we must camouflage our plan by sending the special forces out to the country. That will deceive them."
The loyalists were unaware that Đính's real intention was to engulf Saigon with his rebel divisions and lock Tung's men in the countryside where they could not defend the president. Tung and the palace agreed to send all four Saigon-based special forces companies out of the capital on October 29.
Not trusting Co, Diem put the Catholic loyalist Colonel Lam Van Phat
in command of the 7th Division on October 31. According to tradition, Phat had to pay the corps commander a courtesy visit before assuming control. Dinh refused to see Phat and told him to come back on Friday at 14:00, by which time the coup had already been scheduled to start. In the meantime, Đính had Don sign a counter-order transferring command of the 7th Division to Co. The next day Co took the division’s incumbent officers prisoner and used the unit to block loyalists from storming the capital from the south.
On November 1, 1963, the coup went ahead, with Cao’s troops isolated in the far south, and Tung’s forces outside Saigon, unable to rescue Diem from the rebel encirclement. Tung was called to the Joint General Staff (JGS) headquarters at Tan Son Nhut Air Base
under the pretense of a routine meeting, and was seized and executed. Attempts by Diem and Nhu to make contact with Đính were blocked by other generals, who claimed that Đính was elsewhere. This led the Ngo brothers to think that Đính had been captured, still unaware that he had rebelled. The following morning, Đính was allowed to have the final word with Diem before the brothers were arrested, allowing him to prove his loyalty to the rebel cause. Đính subsequently shouted obscenities at the Ngo brothers. Đính alleged that Nhu’s contacts with the communists and threats to make a peace deal with North Vietnam
had motivated the coup. When Diem and Nhu were killed by the arresting officers against the orders of the generals, Đính claimed that he "couldn't sleep that night".
Đính boasted to the media that he and his troops were responsible for the successful seizure of the broadcasting studios, the police headquarters, Tan Son Nhut, and the release of hundreds of political prisoners such as monks and students. He also claimed that he led the successful siege on Gia Long Palace, although the 5th Division of Colonel Nguyen Van Thieu
had actually carried it out.
Đính saved the life of Colonel Cao Văn Viên
, the commander of the Airborne Brigade
, who was a Diệm loyalist. Viên’s fate had been discussed during the planning phase. Đính, who played mahjong
with Viên’s wife, convinced Minh to spare the paratroop commander, saying that Viên would not oppose the coup. At the JGS meeting, Viên, who had not known of the plot, removed his insignia and resigned, and was arrested for refusing to join the coup. Viên was allowed to return to his command a month later, and later became the chief of JGS for eight years.
, who had been the titular Vice President under Diệm. Dinh was initially made Interior Minister, although Tho was said to have been personally opposed to the appointment. Eventually Minh, the head of the military junta, struck a compromise whereby Đính was made Security Minister and Administrative Affairs, which partially covered the Interior Ministry. He was the 2nd Deputy Chairman of the MRC behing Minh and Don.
However, tension persisted as Tho's civilian government was plagued by infighting. According to Tho's assistant Nguyen Ngoc Huy, the presence of Don and Đính in both the civilian cabinet and the MRC paralysed the governance process. Đính and Don were subordinate to Tho in the civilian government, but as members of the MRC they were superior to him. When Tho gave a cabinet order with which the generals disagreed, they went into the MRC and give a counter-order. Đính and the new national police chief, General Mai Huu Xuan
, were accused of arresting people en masse, before releasing them in return for bribes and pledges of loyalty. The junta performed indecisively and was heavily criticised, especially Minh, who was viewed as being too apathetic towards his country's situation. During the MRC's tenure, South Vietnam suffered more and more losses against the Vietcong.
’s bans on such activities. He reportedly kissed the bar dancers and ordered champagne for all present. Đính’s brash behavior continued to cause public relations problems for the junta. In an interview with the Washington Post and The New York Times
, he claimed that he took a leading role in the coup because “we would have lost the war under Diem” and saying that he participated “not for personal ambition, but for the population, the people and to get rid of Nhu”. He claimed to be the “specialist” who “gave the orders in only thirty minutes”, keeping the plans “all in his head”. In an exclusive interview with Herndon, he said “You are the one who started it all, who drove me into making the coup. You are the hero of the revolution.” This was a reference to Herndon’s sarcastic reference to Đính as a "great national hero" after the general took credit for the pagoda raids. He also courted controversy with anti-American remarks, stating "On August 21, I was governor of Saigon and loyal to Diem; on November 1, I was governor of Saigon and fighting Diem; maybe in the future I‘’ll be governor of Saigon and fighting against the Americans."
Đính and the leading generals in the MRC also had a secret plan to end the communist insurgency, which called itself the National Liberation Front (NLF) and claimed to be independent of the government of North Vietnam. They claimed that most of them were first and foremost southern nationalists opposed to foreign military intervention and US involvement and support of Diem. The generals agreed with this viewpoint and thought that an agreement to end the war within South Vietnam was possible. The government also rebuffed American proposals to bomb North Vietnam on the grounds that such actions would cede the moral high ground, which they claimed on the basis of fighting in a purely defensive manner. However, the plans to bring the NLF into the mainstream were never implemented to any degree before the government was deposed.
During his time on the MRC, Đính persistently raised eyebrows with his volatile behaviour, and the Americans and his colleagues found him difficult to control. General Paul Harkins, the head of the US military presence in Vietnam, advised Đính to relinquish his control of the III Corps on the grounds that he was already serving as the Interior Minister and that a corps needed a full-time leader, but Đính refused. As the III Corps surrounded the capital, the most economically productive region in South Vietnam, it also had the most scope for corruption and graft. Đính told US Embassy officials that he was preparing to "accommodate himself to a neutralist solution for Vietnam". This perturbed the Americans and was interpreted as a threat to not cooperate with the anti-communist struggle if his power was wound back. US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
criticised the arrangement, and in early January 1964, Đính was relieved by General Tran Thien Khiem
. Khiem had been the head of the armed forces until being demoted after the coup against Diem, and he set about overthrowing the MRC.
—who was disgruntled at not receiving a high position after Diem's removal—deposed the MRC with the support of Khiem on January 30, 1964, without firing a shot. Khanh used the coup to exact retribution against Generals Don, Đính, Xuan and Le Van Kim
. Khanh had them arrested, claiming that they were part of a neutralist plot with the French government of President Charles de Gaulle
to make a peace deal with North Vietnam that would not end communism. Khanh noted that they had all served in the French-backed VNA prior to 1955, although he did as well. He also accused the four generals of discussing such a plan with some visiting politicians from de Gaulle’s party during a dinner, although Đính and his accused colleagues denied that the meeting was anything more than social. The generals were flown to My Khe beach, near Da Nang
.
Khanh presided over their trial of Đính and his colleagues on May 28, 1964. The generals were interrogated for five and a half hours, mostly about details of their coup against Diem, rather than the original charge of promoting neutralism. As all of the officers were involved in Diem's overthrow, the hearings did not reveal any new information. The court deliberated for over nine hours, and when it reconvened for the verdict, Khanh stated, "We ask that once you begin to serve again in the army, you do not take revenge on anybody". The tribunal then "congratulated" the generals, but found that they were of "lax morality" and unqualified to command due to a "lack of a clear political concept". They were chastised for being "inadequately aware of their heavy responsibility" and of letting "their subordinates take advantage of their positions". Đính's quartet were allowed to remain in Da Lat under surveillance.
The four generals were barred from commanding troops and offices were prepared so they could participate in "research and planning". Worried that the idle group would plot against him, Khanh made some preliminary arrangements to send them to the US for military study, but this fell through. When Khanh was himself deposed in 1965, he handed over dossiers proving that Đính and the other generals were innocent and that his charges were dishonest, before going into exile. Robert Shaplen said that "the case ... continued to be one of Khanh's biggest embarrassments".
During the period of house arrest, Khanh briefly released Đính and Kim when the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races
, known by its French acronym of FULRO, launched an uprising in the central highlands calling for autonomy for indigenous people. Dinh and Kim were sent to Ban Me Thuot in an attempt to end the standoff in September 1964, but after negotiations stalled, they conferred with Khanh and decided to order ARVN troops to crush the rebellion, which was done successfully.
With the rise to power of Nguyen Cao Ky
—head of the Vietnam Air Force
—following Khanh's departure, Dinh returned to a command role in the army. In April 1966, he was appointed to lead the I Corps
, based in central Vietnam. Dinh was the third commander of the corps within five weeks. This upheaval came about after the dismissal of General Nguyen Chanh Thi
due to his sympathies towards Buddhist activists and because Ky viewed him as a personal threat. In response, Buddhist protesters brought the region to a standstill with anti-American and anti-war demonstrations, some of which descended into rioting. The protests were supported by groups of rebel I Corps soldiers and the mayor of Da Nang
, Nguyen Van Man, who had been appointed by Thi. These anti-Ky groups formed a coalition known as the Struggle Movement. Thi’s replacement, General Nguyen Van Chuan
, refused to confront the dissidents or shut them down. He was content to let them protest as long as there was no insurrection.
Prime Minister Ky disapproved of Chuan’s approach and replaced Chuan with Dinh. Prime Minister Ky felt that Dinh's aggressive attitude following the Xa Loi Pagoda raids in 1963 indicated a willingness to suppress Buddhist dissidents. Moreover, Dinh was a native of central Vietnam and would have been popular with those who thought along parochial lines. Dinh arrived in Huế on April 15 and, after a week, announced that he had restored Saigon's authority over the region. He proclaimed that he had regained control of the radio stations in Da Nang and Huế from the dissidents, and that he had convinced the mayor of Da Nang to stay loyal to Saigon. Dinh announced a deal whereby the Buddhists would have regular air time in return for relinquishing control of the radio station. This move was interpreted in different ways. Some felt that Dinh was attempting to gain favour with the Buddhists in anticipation of Ky's fall from power, while Frances FitzGerald felt it was the only sensible government action during the crisis. On April 19, clashes erupted in Quang Ngai between the Buddhists and the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang
(VNQDD, Vietnamese Nationalist Party), who supported the continuation of the anti-communist war, prompting Dinh to forcibly restrain the two groups.
Soon after, Ky made a surprise attack to assert government control over central Vietnam. He flew out to Da Nang with his own units, without consulting the Americans or officials in I Corps. At this time, Dinh was pursuing a policy of reconciliation and negotiation with the dissident I Corps units, and making contact with the Struggle Movement. Ky decided to attack Da Nang and sent his forces to overrun Dinh's headquarters on May 15, forcing the latter to abandon his post and flee to the headquarters of US General Lewis Walt. Fearing that Ky’s forces would kill him, Dinh asked Walt for help and was flown to Huế, where the pro-Thi and pro-Buddhist elements were still in control. Dinh was then formally replaced by General Huynh Van Cao
. Walt’s assistance to Dinh provoked a reaction from General William Westmoreland
, the commander of US forces in Vietnam. Walt and Westmoreland were often in conflict, and the latter responded to his subordinate’s evacuation of Dinh by imploring Ky to attack Huế.
Ky's surprise attack led to conflict between the ARVN rebels and loyalists, with the American ground forces caught in the middle, effectively creating a civil war within a civil war. Ky eventually quelled the rebellion and briefly jailed Dinh, who claimed that he was incarcerated because he refused to back up Ky’s account of the conflict with the Buddhists, which he regarded as false.
Dinh left the army and won election to the newly created Senate in 1967, serving there until the fall of Saigon
in 1975, when he fled to the United States. In February 1968, while serving in the Senate, Dinh started a newspaper called the Cong Luan. He also served as the head of the Vietnamese Publishers Association. In 1998, Dinh claimed that he felt remorse for the deposal and execution of the Ngo brothers, and claimed that he was opposed to their policy of religious discrimination against Buddhists, which had fomented national disunity and the eventual communist victory.
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
(ARVN). He is best known as one of the key figures in the November 1963 coup
1963 South Vietnamese coup
In November 1963, President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam was deposed by a group of Army of the Republic of Vietnam officers who disagreed with his handling of the Buddhist crisis and, in general, his increasing oppression of national groups in the name of fighting the communist Vietcong.The...
that deposed and resulted in the assassination
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem
The arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, then president of South Vietnam, marked the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup d’état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963...
of Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
, the first president of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).
A favourite of the ruling Ngô family, Đính received rapid promotions ahead of officers who were regarded as being more capable. He converted to Roman Catholicism to curry favour with Diem, and headed the military wing of the Cần Lao Party
Can Lao Party
The Cần lao Nhân vị Cách Mạng Ðảng, or Personalist Labor Revolutionary Party, was a secret party formed to support the Ngô Đình Diệm regime in South Vietnam, and largely operated by his brother, Ngô Đình Nhu...
, a secret Catholic organisation that maintained the Ngôs' grip on power. At the age of 32, Đính became the youngest ever ARVN general and the commander of the II Corps
II Corps (South Vietnam)
The II Corps was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975. It was one of four corps in the ARVN, and it oversaw the region of the central highlands region, north of the capital Saigon...
, but he was regarded as a dangerous, egotistical and impetuous figure with a weakness for alcohol and partying.
In 1962, Đính was appointed commander of the III Corps
III Corps (South Vietnam)
III Corps was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975...
, which oversaw the region surrounding the capital Saigon. He was given the post because Diệm regarded him as one of his most loyal officers. This position meant that Đính would be a critical factor in the success or failure of any coup. In late 1963, with Diem becoming increasingly unpopular, Đính's colleagues recruited him into a coup by playing on his ego. They convinced him to ask Diem for a cabinet post, knowing that the president was adamantly opposed to military officers serving as ministers and would chastise him. Diem promptly rebuffed Đính, who became upset and was lured into the plot. Diem and his brother and chief advisor Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngô Ðình Nhu was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Ðình Diệm. Nhu was widely regarded as the architect of the Ngô family's nepotistic and autocratic rule over South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963...
were aware of a coup plot, but did not know of Đính's involvement. Nhu planned a fake coup of his own in an attempt to trap his opponents and generate positive publicity for his family's regime. He put Đính in charge of the fake coup, and the general promptly redeployed loyal units outside Saigon and rebel forces near the capital. On November 1, the rebels' actual coup proceeded, and the Ngo brothers were deposed and executed.
After the coup, Đính became one of the 12 members of the Military Revolutionary Council (MRC), serving as the Interior Minister. However, the MRC lasted only three months before being ousted in a bloodless coup
1964 South Vietnamese coup
Before dawn on January 30, 1964, General Nguyen Khanh ousted the military junta led by General Duong Van Minh from the leadership of South Vietnam without firing a shot. It came less than three months after Minh's junta had themselves come to power in a bloody coup against then President Ngo Dinh...
by General Nguyen Khanh
Nguyen Khanh
Nguyễn Khánh is a former general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who variously served as Head of State and Prime minister of South Vietnam while at the head of a military junta from January 1964 until February 1965. He was involved in or against many coup attempts, failed and successful,...
. Đính and his colleagues were put under house arrest by Khanh and falsely accused of promoting a neutralist plot. The subsequent military trial collapsed. The generals were convicted of "lax morality" but were eventually allowed to resume their military service, albeit in meaningless desk jobs. Following Khanh's exile by another group of generals, Đính was appointed to command the I Corps
I Corps (South Vietnam)
The I Corps Tactical Zone was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975. It was one of four corps which the ARVN oversaw. This was the northernmost region of South Vietnam, bordering North Vietnam...
in 1966 in order to put down the Buddhist Uprising
Buddhist Uprising
The Buddhist Uprising of 1966 was a period of civil and military unrest in South Vietnam, largely focused in the I Corps area in the north of the country in central Vietnam...
, but Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky
Nguyen Cao Ky
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ served as the chief of the Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South Vietnam in a military junta from 1965 to 1967...
disapproved of his reconciliatory policies. Ky launched a successful surprise attack against Đính. Đính fled, but was later captured and briefly imprisoned by Ky. After being released, Đính worked in the media sector and was elected to the Senate in 1967. He served in the upper house until the fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
in April 1975, when he fled the communist victory.
Early years
Vietnamese National Army
On March 8, 1949, after the Elysee accords, the State of Vietnam was recognized by France as an independent country ruled by Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại. The Vietnamese National Army or Vietnam National Army was the State of Vietnam's military force created shortly after that. It was commanded by...
(VNA) of the French-backed State of Vietnam
State of Vietnam
The State of Vietnam was a state that claimed authority over all of Vietnam during the First Indochina War, and replaced the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam . The provisional government was a brief transitional administration between colonial Cochinchina and an independent state...
at Phu Bai in 1949 and trained as a paratrooper
Paratrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He became a protege of Ngo Dinh Can
Ngo Dinh Can
Ngô Đình Cẩn was a younger brother and confidant of South Vietnam’s first president, Ngo Dinh Diem, and an important member of the Diem government. Diem put Cẩn in charge of central Vietnam, stretching from Phan Thiết in the south to the border at the 17th parallel, with Cẩn ruling the region as...
, the younger brother of Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
. Can, who unofficially controlled the region of central Vietnam near Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
, was impressed by what he considered to be an abundance of courage on the part of Đính. Within six years of enlisting in the military, Đính had risen to the rank of colonel and was made the inaugural commander of the newly formed 32nd Division
2nd Division (South Vietnam)
The 2nd Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam —the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975—was part of the I Corps that oversaw the northernmost region of South Vietnam, the centre of Vietnam....
based in Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
in the centre of the country on January 1, 1955. Đính led the unit until November 1956, during which time it was renamed the 2nd Division.
Diem deposed head of state Bao Dai
Bao Dai
Bảo Đại , born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy , was the 13th and last ruler of the Nguyễn dynasty. From 1926 to 1945, he was king of Annam under French ‘protection’. During this period, Annam was a protectorate within French Indochina, covering the central two-thirds of the present-day Vietnam...
in a fraudulent referendum in 1955 and proclaimed himself president of the newly created Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam). The VNA thus became the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
(ARVN). Born into a nominally Buddhist family, Đính had converted to Catholicism in the hope of advancing his career. The change of religion was widely perceived to be a factor in his rapid promotion above more capable officers. A devout member of the Catholic minority, Diem dedicated the country to the Virgin Mary and gave more legal rights to Catholics. Đính proudly described himself as "fearless and arrogant" and Diem's adopted son—the president was a lifelong bachelor. In August 1957, Đính was appointed the commander of the 1st Division
1st Division (South Vietnam)
The 1st Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam —the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975—was part of the I Corps that oversaw the northernmost region of South Vietnam, the centre of Vietnam....
based in Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
, the old imperial capital and Can's base. Đính served there for a year, until he became a one-star general and received a wider-reaching command in August 1958, making him the youngest ever ARVN general. Đính's favour among the Ngos saw him appointed in 1958 to head the military wing of the Can Lao Party
Can Lao Party
The Cần lao Nhân vị Cách Mạng Ðảng, or Personalist Labor Revolutionary Party, was a secret party formed to support the Ngô Đình Diệm regime in South Vietnam, and largely operated by his brother, Ngô Đình Nhu...
, the secret organisation of Vietnamese Catholics loyal to the Ngos that maintained family's grip on power.
Despite the high regard that the Ngos accorded him, Đính had a poor reputation among his colleagues. Regarded by his peers as ambitious, vain and impulsive, Đính was known mainly for his drunken presence in Saigon's nightclubs, and the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
labelled him a "basic opportunist". He was known for always wearing a paratrooper's uniform with a red beret at a steep angle, and being accompanied by a tall, uncommunicative Cambodian bodyguard. Senior Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
officer Ted Serong
Ted Serong
Brigadier Francis Philip "Ted" Serong DSO, OBE was a senior officer of the Australian Army, most notable for his contributions to counter-insurgency and jungle warfare tactics, and as commander of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam from 1962 until 1965.-Early life:The path that took Serong...
, who worked with Đính, called him "a young punk with a gun—and dangerous".
Xa Loi Pagoda raids
In August 1958, Đính was made the commander of the II CorpsII Corps (South Vietnam)
The II Corps was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975. It was one of four corps in the ARVN, and it oversaw the region of the central highlands region, north of the capital Saigon...
, which oversaw the central highlands region
Tây Nguyên
Tây Nguyên, translated as Western Highlands and sometimes also called Central Highlands, is one of the regions of Vietnam. It contains the provinces of Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Lâm Đồng....
mainly inhabited by indigenous tribes. He was based in the mountainous town of Pleiku
Pleiku
Pleiku is a town in central Vietnam, located in that nation's central highland region. It is the capital of the Gia Lai Province; it is inhabited primarily by the Bahnar and Jarai ethnic groups, sometimes known as the Montagnards or Degar....
and oversaw the surrounding region and the lowlands to the north of the capital of Saigon. This put him in control of the 5th
5th Division (South Vietnam)
The Fifth Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam —the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975—was part of the III Corps that oversaw the region of the country surrounding the capital, Saigon....
, 22nd
22nd Division (South Vietnam)
The 22nd Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam —the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975—was part of the II Corps that oversaw the region of the central highlands north of the capital Saigon....
and 23rd Divisions
23rd Division (South Vietnam)
The 23rd Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam —the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975—was part of the II Corps that oversaw the region of the central highlands north of the capital Saigon....
, one third of the divisions in the country. At the time, the CIA had been training Montagnard tribesmen under the Village Defense Program (later to become the Civilian Irregular Defense Group
Civilian Irregular Defense Group
Civilian Irregular Defense Group program was a program developed by the U.S. government in the Vietnam War to develop South Vietnamese irregular military units from minority populations.-Purpose:...
) with the stated intention of resisting communist infiltration, but Đính regarded it was an attempt to divide and conquer
Divide and rule
In politics and sociology, divide and rule is a combination of political, military and economic strategy of gaining and maintaining power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy...
and undermine him. He estimated that 18,000 tribesmen had been armed, and said to Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngô Ðình Nhu was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Ðình Diệm. Nhu was widely regarded as the architect of the Ngô family's nepotistic and autocratic rule over South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963...
—one of Diem's younger brothers and his chief adviser—that "the Americans have put an army at my back". CIA agent Lucien Conein
Lucien Conein
Lt. Col. Lucien Emile Conein was a noted U.S. Army officer and Office of Strategic Services / Central Intelligence Agency operative...
admitted years afterwards that Đính's claim was correct; Nhu and Diem had no previous idea of what the Americans had been doing. Đính also wrote to Diem complaining that his units were being weakened by the policy of promoting officers for political reasons, despite being a beneficiary of the non-merit-based policy.
The reorganisation of the corps boundaries in December 1962 created a fourth region. The entire region surrounding the capital Saigon came under the purview of the III Corps
III Corps (South Vietnam)
III Corps was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975...
, whereas the previous arrangement saw two corps controlling the regions to the north and south of the capital. As a key supporter of Diem, Đính was named commander of the III Corps, because the Ngos trusted him to defend them in the face of any coup attempts. Under the III Corps were the 5th and the 25th Divisions
25th Division (South Vietnam)
The 25th Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam —the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975—was part of the III Corps that oversaw the region of the country surrounding the capital, Saigon. It was based at Cu Chi to the west of the city centre....
. In August 1963, Nhu, who controlled the special forces
Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces were the elite military units of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . Following the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam in October 1955, the Special Forces were formed at Nha Trang in February 1956...
and secret police, allowed Đính to have a hand in planning raids against Buddhist dissidents who had been organising at the Xa Loi Pagoda
Xa Loi Pagoda
The Xá Lợi Pagoda is the largest pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was built in 1956 and was the headquarters of Buddhism in South Vietnam. The pagoda is located at 89 Bà Huyện Thanh Quan Street in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City and lies on a plot of 2500 square metres...
, Saigon's largest. The raids involved the deployment of the 5th Division, based in the town of Bien Hoa
Bien Hoa
Biên Hòa is a city in Dong Nai province, Vietnam, about east of Ho Chi Minh City , to which Bien Hoa is linked by Vietnam Highway 1.- Demographics :In 1989 the estimated population was over 300,000. In 2005, the population wss 541,495...
on Saigon's northern outskirts, into the capital. Although the execution of the raids—which left hundreds dead—was primarily the responsibility of Colonel Le Quang Tung
Le Quang Tung
Colonel Lê Quang Tung was the commander of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces under the command of Ngo Dinh Nhu, the brother of South Vietnam's president, Ngo Dinh Diem. A former servant of the Ngô family, Tung's military background was in security and counterespionage...
, the special forces head, Đính privately claimed responsibility, stating to a journalist, "I have defeated Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. was a Republican United States Senator from Massachusetts and a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, South Vietnam, West Germany, and the Holy See . He was the Republican nominee for Vice President in the 1960 Presidential election.-Early life:Lodge was born in Nahant,...
[the US ambassador to South Vietnam]. He came here to stage a coup d'etat, but I, Ton That Dinh, have conquered him and saved the country." In the aftermath of the raids, Foreign Minister Vu Van Mau resigned in protest, shaved his head like a monk and sought to leave on a pilgrimage to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
; Nhu ordered Đính to jail him. At the urging of another general, Đính put Mau under house arrest instead.
During this period, Đính told a dinner guest that he had the pleasure of dining with a great national hero. When the guest asked Đính where the hero was, Đính said "it is me" and claimed to have defeated the Americans. Đính's ego had been played upon by the Ngo brothers, who had themselves reiterated this point and paid him a large cash bonus after the pagoda raids. In the heady times after the attacks, Đính had a "somewhat incoherent" debate with his American advisor, claiming that "he was without doubt the greatest general officer in the ARVN, the saviour of Saigon ... and soon he would be the top military man in the country".
In a press conference after the raids, Đính claimed to have saved South Vietnam from Buddhists, communists and "foreign adventurers", a euphemism for the United States. After being questioned sharply, Đính quickly became angry. Ray Herndon of United Press International
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
asked him to name the country that he was referring to, but Đính dodged the question. Herndon lampooned him by saying that a national hero should be able to identify the national enemy, and asked him to call Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu
Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu
Trần Lệ Xuân , popularly known as Madame Nhu, was considered the first lady of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963. She was the wife of Ngo Dinh Nhu who was the brother and chief adviser to President Ngo Dinh Diem...
, the First Lady
First Lady
First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
known for her anti-American comments, to get help in identifying the hostile country in question. After several reporters derisively laughed at his comments, Đính angrily stormed out of the conference.
Defection and coup
Embarrassed by the events at the press conference, Đính returned to the officers' mess at the Joint General Staff headquarters. His colleagues, led by General Tran Van DonTran Van Don
Trần Văn Đôn was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and one of the principal figures in the coup d'état which deposed Ngô Đình Diệm from the presidency of South Vietnam.-Family:...
, were plotting a coup against Diem because of the Buddhist crisis
Buddhist crisis
The Buddhist crisis was a period of political and religious tension in South Vietnam from May 1963 to November 1963 characterized by a series of repressive acts by the South Vietnamese government and a campaign of civil resistance, led mainly by Buddhist monks....
, and attempted to play on Đính's ego to convince him to join them. They knew that without Đính's assistance, a coup would be difficult as his forces dominated the region surrounding the capital.
In a series of meetings, the other generals assured Đính that he was a national hero worthy of political authority, and claimed that Nhu had not realised how important he was in the future of the country. Đính's colleagues even bribed his soothsayer
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...
to predict his elevation to political power. The other generals told him that the people were dissatisfied with Diem's cabinet and that Vietnam needed dynamic young officers in politics, and that their presence would reverse the declining morale in the ARVN. They advised Đính to ask Diem to promote him to Interior Minister, Duong Van Minh
Duong Van Minh
Minh was born on 16 February 1916 in Mỹ Tho Province in the Mekong Delta, the son of a wealthy landowner who served in a prominent position in the Finance Ministry of the French colonial administration...
to Defence Minister, and Tran Van Minh
Tran Van Minh
Lieutenant General Sylvain Trần Văn Minh is a Vietnamese diplomat and a general of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was sometimes known as “Little Minh” to distinguish him from the huge Dương Văn Minh.In 1942, he passed the entry exam for the St Cyr/St Maxient Military Academy organized...
to Education Minister. The other generals hoped that Diem would reject Đính and wound his pride.
As a result, Đính and his fellow generals met Diem at the palace, where Đính asked the president to promote him to the post of Interior Minister. Diem bluntly chastised Đính in front of his colleagues, and ordered him out of Saigon to the central highlands resort town of Da Lat to rest. Đính felt humiliated and embarrassed, having promised his colleagues that he would be successful. The Ngo brothers had been alarmed by Đính's request, and put him under surveillance. Đính found out, further straining his relationship with the palace. Đính then agreed to join the coup, although with his ambitious nature, the other officers were skeptical and planned to have him assassinated if he tried to switch sides. Without Đính's troops, the coup would not have been possible.
With Đính and the Ngo family's increasing focus on the political usage of the army, the military situation in the III Corps deteriorated badly in the second half of 1963, as personnel were redeployed into the cities. In August, he moved a unit away from Ben Tuong, which had been portrayed as a model settlement in the Strategic Hamlet Program
Strategic Hamlet Program
The Strategic Hamlet Program was a plan by the governments of South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War to combat the Communist insurgency by means of population transfer.In 1961, U.S...
that was supposed to isolate peasants into fortified villages to keep the Vietcong out. While the unit was in Saigon cracking down on the Buddhists, the communists overran Ben Tuong. A year earlier, the American media contingent had been invited to the opening ceremony of the settlement, which was supposed to be the flagship of the hamlet program. As Đính spent most of October in the capital plotting instead of inspecting the countryside, the communists began to systematically dismantle the strategic hamlets.
Plotting a false coup
By mid-October, Diem and Nhu knew of the coup plans, but did not know that Đính was firmly among them, even though they were wary of him. Nhu then decided to outwit the generals with a counter-plot. The generals heard of this and decided to counteract him. The other generals were still suspicious of Đính, fearing he would betray them. Having found out that Nhu was trying to use him to trap them, and not sure which side he was really on, they promised to make him Interior Minister and offered other rewards if he helped to overthrow the Ngos.As part of the generals' plot, Đính sent Colonel Nguyen Huu Co
Nguyen Huu Co
Lieutenant General Nguyễn Hữu Có served as an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and was prominent in several coups and juntas in the 1960s....
, his deputy corps commander, to My Tho to talk to the 7th Division commander, Colonel Bui Dinh Dam
Bui Dinh Dam
Major General Bùi Đình Đạm was a general of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam .-Military education:* Officers School of Vietnam, Class 1 of Phan Boi Chau* U.S...
, and two regimental commanders, the armoured unit commander, both subordinate to Dam, and the My Tho province chief. Exhorting them to join the coup, he stated that all the generals were in the plot except the strongly loyalist Huynh Van Cao
Huynh Van Cao
Major General Huỳnh Văn Cao was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was born on September 26, 1927.He is married and has ten children and more than 20 grandchildren. In 1950, he graduated from Military school in Huế. He then attended College of Tactics and graduated in Hanoi in...
, and that Đính would soon join. According to one account, Đính had intended that loyalists would report Co's activities to Diem and Nhu so that it would give him an opportunity to orchestrate a stunt to ingratiate himself with the palace.
Nhu's agents soon reported Co’s activities to the palace. When the Ngo brothers confronted Đính with what had happened in My Tho, Đính feigned astonishment at his deputy's behaviour. He began crying and said "This is my fault, because you have suspected me. I have not really gone to work for the last 15 days but have stayed at home because I was sad. But I am not against you. I was sad because I thought I was discredited with you. So Nguyen Huu Co profited from my absence to make trouble." Dinh claimed to know nothing of Co's activities and raised his voice, vowing to have his deputy killed. Nhu opposed this and stated that he wanted keep Co alive to catch the plotters, and tried to use Đính to this end.
Nhu ordered Đính and Tung, both of whom took their orders directly from the palace instead of the ARVN command, to plan a fake coup against the government. One objective was to trick dissidents into joining the false uprising so that they could be identified and eliminated. Another aim of the public relations stunt was to give a false impression of the strength of the regime.
Codenamed Operation Bravo
Operation Bravo
Operation Bravo was the name of a phony coup planned by Ngo Dinh Nhu, the younger brother and chief advisor of President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam. Nhu was aware that there was a plot against the Ngo family, and he intended to have his loyalist forces stage a fake uprising, to induce...
, the first stage of the scheme would involve some of Đính and Tung's loyalist soldiers, disguised as insurgents led by apparently renegade junior officers, faking a coup and vandalising the capital. Tung would then announce the formation of a "revolutionary government" consisting of opposition activists who had not consented to joining the new administration, while Diem and Nhu would pretend to be on the run.
During the orchestrated chaos of the first coup, the disguised loyalists would riot and in the ensuing mayhem, kill the leading coup plotters, such as Generals Minh, Don, Le Van Kim
Le Van Kim
Lieutenant General Lê Văn Kim is a former general of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was the brother in law of General Trần Văn Đôn and together with General Dương Văn Minh, the trio organised the 1963 South Vietnamese coup which toppled President Ngô Đình Diệm and ended in his arrest and...
and junior officers that were helping them. The loyalists and some of Nhu's underworld connections would also kill some figures who were assisting the conspirators, such as the titular but relatively powerless Vice President Nguyen Ngoc Tho
Nguyen Ngoc Tho
Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ is a Vietnamese politician who was the first Prime Minister of South Vietnam, serving from November 1963 to late January 1964. Thơ was appointed to head a civilian cabinet by the military junta of General Dương Văn Minh, which came to power after overthrowing and assassinating Ngô...
, CIA agent Lucien Conein
Lucien Conein
Lt. Col. Lucien Emile Conein was a noted U.S. Army officer and Office of Strategic Services / Central Intelligence Agency operative...
, who was on assignment in Vietnam as a military adviser, and Ambassador Lodge. These would then be blamed on "neutralist and pro-communist elements". A fake "counter-coup" was to follow, whereupon Tung's special forces, having left Saigon on the pretext of fighting communists, as well as Đính's regulars, would triumphantly re-enter Saigon to reaffirm the Diem regime. Nhu would then exploit the scare to round up dissidents.
Đính was put in charge of the fake coup and was allowed the additional control of the 7th Division based in My Tho, which was previously assigned to Diem loyalist Cao, who commanded the IV Corps
IV Corps (South Vietnam)
The IV Corps was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975...
in the Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
. The reassignment of the 7th Division gave Đính and his III Corps complete encirclement of Saigon, and would prevent Cao from storming the capital to save Diem as he had done during the 1960 coup attempt
1960 South Vietnamese coup attempt
On November 11, 1960, a failed coup attempt against President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam was led by Lieutenant Colonel Vuong Van Dong and Colonel Nguyen Chanh Thi of the Airborne Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ....
.
Nhu and Tung, however, were unaware that Đính was part of the real coup plot. Đính told Tung that the fake coup needed to employ an overwhelming amount of force. He said that tanks were required "because armour is dangerous". In an attempt to outwit Tung, Đính said that fresh troops were needed, opining, "If we move reserves into the city, the Americans will be angry. They'll complain that we're not fighting the war. So we must camouflage our plan by sending the special forces out to the country. That will deceive them."
The loyalists were unaware that Đính's real intention was to engulf Saigon with his rebel divisions and lock Tung's men in the countryside where they could not defend the president. Tung and the palace agreed to send all four Saigon-based special forces companies out of the capital on October 29.
Not trusting Co, Diem put the Catholic loyalist Colonel Lam Van Phat
Lam Van Phat
Major General Lâm Văn Phát served as an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . He is best known for leading two coup attempts against General Nguyễn Khánh in September 1964 and February 1965...
in command of the 7th Division on October 31. According to tradition, Phat had to pay the corps commander a courtesy visit before assuming control. Dinh refused to see Phat and told him to come back on Friday at 14:00, by which time the coup had already been scheduled to start. In the meantime, Đính had Don sign a counter-order transferring command of the 7th Division to Co. The next day Co took the division’s incumbent officers prisoner and used the unit to block loyalists from storming the capital from the south.
Diem’s downfall
Tan Son Nhut Air Base
Tan Son Nhut Air Base was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force facility. It is located near the city of Saigon in southern Vietnam. The United States used it as a major base during the Vietnam War , stationing Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine units there...
under the pretense of a routine meeting, and was seized and executed. Attempts by Diem and Nhu to make contact with Đính were blocked by other generals, who claimed that Đính was elsewhere. This led the Ngo brothers to think that Đính had been captured, still unaware that he had rebelled. The following morning, Đính was allowed to have the final word with Diem before the brothers were arrested, allowing him to prove his loyalty to the rebel cause. Đính subsequently shouted obscenities at the Ngo brothers. Đính alleged that Nhu’s contacts with the communists and threats to make a peace deal with North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
had motivated the coup. When Diem and Nhu were killed by the arresting officers against the orders of the generals, Đính claimed that he "couldn't sleep that night".
Đính boasted to the media that he and his troops were responsible for the successful seizure of the broadcasting studios, the police headquarters, Tan Son Nhut, and the release of hundreds of political prisoners such as monks and students. He also claimed that he led the successful siege on Gia Long Palace, although the 5th Division of Colonel Nguyen Van Thieu
Nguyen Van Thieu
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was president of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1975. He was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , became head of a military junta, and then president after winning a fraudulent election...
had actually carried it out.
Đính saved the life of Colonel Cao Văn Viên
Cao Van Vien
Cao Văn Viên was a Vietnamese soldier who served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and rose to the position of Chairman of the South Vietnamese Joint General Staff...
, the commander of the Airborne Brigade
Vietnamese Airborne Division
The Vietnamese Airborne Division was one of the earliest components of the State of Vietnam's military forces . The Vietnamese Airborne Division began as companies organised in 1948, prior to any agreement over armed forces in Vietnam...
, who was a Diệm loyalist. Viên’s fate had been discussed during the planning phase. Đính, who played mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...
with Viên’s wife, convinced Minh to spare the paratroop commander, saying that Viên would not oppose the coup. At the JGS meeting, Viên, who had not known of the plot, removed his insignia and resigned, and was arrested for refusing to join the coup. Viên was allowed to return to his command a month later, and later became the chief of JGS for eight years.
Post-Diệm
Following the coup, a Military Revolutionary Council (MRC) was formed, comprising 12 generals including Đính, each of whom had equal voting power. They appointed a cabinet mainly consisting of civilians led by Prime Minister Nguyen Ngoc ThoNguyen Ngoc Tho
Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ is a Vietnamese politician who was the first Prime Minister of South Vietnam, serving from November 1963 to late January 1964. Thơ was appointed to head a civilian cabinet by the military junta of General Dương Văn Minh, which came to power after overthrowing and assassinating Ngô...
, who had been the titular Vice President under Diệm. Dinh was initially made Interior Minister, although Tho was said to have been personally opposed to the appointment. Eventually Minh, the head of the military junta, struck a compromise whereby Đính was made Security Minister and Administrative Affairs, which partially covered the Interior Ministry. He was the 2nd Deputy Chairman of the MRC behing Minh and Don.
However, tension persisted as Tho's civilian government was plagued by infighting. According to Tho's assistant Nguyen Ngoc Huy, the presence of Don and Đính in both the civilian cabinet and the MRC paralysed the governance process. Đính and Don were subordinate to Tho in the civilian government, but as members of the MRC they were superior to him. When Tho gave a cabinet order with which the generals disagreed, they went into the MRC and give a counter-order. Đính and the new national police chief, General Mai Huu Xuan
Mai Huu Xuan
Major General Mai Hữu Xuân was a general of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and a participant in the November 1963 coup that deposed President Ngô Đình Diệm and ended in his assassination....
, were accused of arresting people en masse, before releasing them in return for bribes and pledges of loyalty. The junta performed indecisively and was heavily criticised, especially Minh, who was viewed as being too apathetic towards his country's situation. During the MRC's tenure, South Vietnam suffered more and more losses against the Vietcong.
Policies
Đính was reported to have celebrated his new positions by making conspicuous appearances at Saigon nightclubs and dancing, having lifted Madame Ngo Dinh NhuMadame Ngo Dinh Nhu
Trần Lệ Xuân , popularly known as Madame Nhu, was considered the first lady of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963. She was the wife of Ngo Dinh Nhu who was the brother and chief adviser to President Ngo Dinh Diem...
’s bans on such activities. He reportedly kissed the bar dancers and ordered champagne for all present. Đính’s brash behavior continued to cause public relations problems for the junta. In an interview with the Washington Post and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, he claimed that he took a leading role in the coup because “we would have lost the war under Diem” and saying that he participated “not for personal ambition, but for the population, the people and to get rid of Nhu”. He claimed to be the “specialist” who “gave the orders in only thirty minutes”, keeping the plans “all in his head”. In an exclusive interview with Herndon, he said “You are the one who started it all, who drove me into making the coup. You are the hero of the revolution.” This was a reference to Herndon’s sarcastic reference to Đính as a "great national hero" after the general took credit for the pagoda raids. He also courted controversy with anti-American remarks, stating "On August 21, I was governor of Saigon and loyal to Diem; on November 1, I was governor of Saigon and fighting Diem; maybe in the future I‘’ll be governor of Saigon and fighting against the Americans."
Đính and the leading generals in the MRC also had a secret plan to end the communist insurgency, which called itself the National Liberation Front (NLF) and claimed to be independent of the government of North Vietnam. They claimed that most of them were first and foremost southern nationalists opposed to foreign military intervention and US involvement and support of Diem. The generals agreed with this viewpoint and thought that an agreement to end the war within South Vietnam was possible. The government also rebuffed American proposals to bomb North Vietnam on the grounds that such actions would cede the moral high ground, which they claimed on the basis of fighting in a purely defensive manner. However, the plans to bring the NLF into the mainstream were never implemented to any degree before the government was deposed.
During his time on the MRC, Đính persistently raised eyebrows with his volatile behaviour, and the Americans and his colleagues found him difficult to control. General Paul Harkins, the head of the US military presence in Vietnam, advised Đính to relinquish his control of the III Corps on the grounds that he was already serving as the Interior Minister and that a corps needed a full-time leader, but Đính refused. As the III Corps surrounded the capital, the most economically productive region in South Vietnam, it also had the most scope for corruption and graft. Đính told US Embassy officials that he was preparing to "accommodate himself to a neutralist solution for Vietnam". This perturbed the Americans and was interpreted as a threat to not cooperate with the anti-communist struggle if his power was wound back. US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...
criticised the arrangement, and in early January 1964, Đính was relieved by General Tran Thien Khiem
Tran Thien Khiem
General Trần Thiện Khiêm was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. During the 1960s he was involved in several coups. He helped President Ngo Dinh Diem put down a November 1960 coup attempt and was rewarded with promotion...
. Khiem had been the head of the armed forces until being demoted after the coup against Diem, and he set about overthrowing the MRC.
Deposed by Nguyen Khanh
Đính's political stay was brief, as General Nguyen KhanhNguyen Khanh
Nguyễn Khánh is a former general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who variously served as Head of State and Prime minister of South Vietnam while at the head of a military junta from January 1964 until February 1965. He was involved in or against many coup attempts, failed and successful,...
—who was disgruntled at not receiving a high position after Diem's removal—deposed the MRC with the support of Khiem on January 30, 1964, without firing a shot. Khanh used the coup to exact retribution against Generals Don, Đính, Xuan and Le Van Kim
Le Van Kim
Lieutenant General Lê Văn Kim is a former general of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was the brother in law of General Trần Văn Đôn and together with General Dương Văn Minh, the trio organised the 1963 South Vietnamese coup which toppled President Ngô Đình Diệm and ended in his arrest and...
. Khanh had them arrested, claiming that they were part of a neutralist plot with the French government of President Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
to make a peace deal with North Vietnam that would not end communism. Khanh noted that they had all served in the French-backed VNA prior to 1955, although he did as well. He also accused the four generals of discussing such a plan with some visiting politicians from de Gaulle’s party during a dinner, although Đính and his accused colleagues denied that the meeting was anything more than social. The generals were flown to My Khe beach, near Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
.
Khanh presided over their trial of Đính and his colleagues on May 28, 1964. The generals were interrogated for five and a half hours, mostly about details of their coup against Diem, rather than the original charge of promoting neutralism. As all of the officers were involved in Diem's overthrow, the hearings did not reveal any new information. The court deliberated for over nine hours, and when it reconvened for the verdict, Khanh stated, "We ask that once you begin to serve again in the army, you do not take revenge on anybody". The tribunal then "congratulated" the generals, but found that they were of "lax morality" and unqualified to command due to a "lack of a clear political concept". They were chastised for being "inadequately aware of their heavy responsibility" and of letting "their subordinates take advantage of their positions". Đính's quartet were allowed to remain in Da Lat under surveillance.
The four generals were barred from commanding troops and offices were prepared so they could participate in "research and planning". Worried that the idle group would plot against him, Khanh made some preliminary arrangements to send them to the US for military study, but this fell through. When Khanh was himself deposed in 1965, he handed over dossiers proving that Đính and the other generals were innocent and that his charges were dishonest, before going into exile. Robert Shaplen said that "the case ... continued to be one of Khanh's biggest embarrassments".
During the period of house arrest, Khanh briefly released Đính and Kim when the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races
United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races
The United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races was an organization within Vietnam, whose objective was autonomy for the Degar tribes...
, known by its French acronym of FULRO, launched an uprising in the central highlands calling for autonomy for indigenous people. Dinh and Kim were sent to Ban Me Thuot in an attempt to end the standoff in September 1964, but after negotiations stalled, they conferred with Khanh and decided to order ARVN troops to crush the rebellion, which was done successfully.
1966 Buddhist protests and senate career
With the rise to power of Nguyen Cao Ky
Nguyen Cao Ky
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ served as the chief of the Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South Vietnam in a military junta from 1965 to 1967...
—head of the Vietnam Air Force
Vietnam Air Force
The Vietnam Air Force began with a few hand-picked men chosen to fly alongside French pilots during the State of Vietnam era. It eventually grew into the world’s sixth largest air force at the height of its power, in 1974...
—following Khanh's departure, Dinh returned to a command role in the army. In April 1966, he was appointed to lead the I Corps
I Corps (South Vietnam)
The I Corps Tactical Zone was a corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975. It was one of four corps which the ARVN oversaw. This was the northernmost region of South Vietnam, bordering North Vietnam...
, based in central Vietnam. Dinh was the third commander of the corps within five weeks. This upheaval came about after the dismissal of General Nguyen Chanh Thi
Nguyen Chanh Thi
Lieutenant General Nguyễn Chánh Thi was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . He is best known for frequently being involved in coups in the 1960s and wielding substantial influence as a key member of various juntas that ruled South Vietnam from 1964 until 1966, when he was...
due to his sympathies towards Buddhist activists and because Ky viewed him as a personal threat. In response, Buddhist protesters brought the region to a standstill with anti-American and anti-war demonstrations, some of which descended into rioting. The protests were supported by groups of rebel I Corps soldiers and the mayor of Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
, Nguyen Van Man, who had been appointed by Thi. These anti-Ky groups formed a coalition known as the Struggle Movement. Thi’s replacement, General Nguyen Van Chuan
Nguyen Van Chuan
Major General Nguyen Van Chuan was an officer of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He served as the commander of I Corps, which oversaw the northernmost part of the country, from 14 March 1966 until 9 April of the same year, when he was replaced by Lieutenant General Ton That Dinh.Tucker, pp....
, refused to confront the dissidents or shut them down. He was content to let them protest as long as there was no insurrection.
Prime Minister Ky disapproved of Chuan’s approach and replaced Chuan with Dinh. Prime Minister Ky felt that Dinh's aggressive attitude following the Xa Loi Pagoda raids in 1963 indicated a willingness to suppress Buddhist dissidents. Moreover, Dinh was a native of central Vietnam and would have been popular with those who thought along parochial lines. Dinh arrived in Huế on April 15 and, after a week, announced that he had restored Saigon's authority over the region. He proclaimed that he had regained control of the radio stations in Da Nang and Huế from the dissidents, and that he had convinced the mayor of Da Nang to stay loyal to Saigon. Dinh announced a deal whereby the Buddhists would have regular air time in return for relinquishing control of the radio station. This move was interpreted in different ways. Some felt that Dinh was attempting to gain favour with the Buddhists in anticipation of Ky's fall from power, while Frances FitzGerald felt it was the only sensible government action during the crisis. On April 19, clashes erupted in Quang Ngai between the Buddhists and the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang
Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang
The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng , also known as the Việt Quốc and the Vietnamese Kuomintang, is the Vietnamese Nationalist Party, a revolutionary socialist political party that sought independence from French colonial rule in Vietnam during the early 20th century...
(VNQDD, Vietnamese Nationalist Party), who supported the continuation of the anti-communist war, prompting Dinh to forcibly restrain the two groups.
Soon after, Ky made a surprise attack to assert government control over central Vietnam. He flew out to Da Nang with his own units, without consulting the Americans or officials in I Corps. At this time, Dinh was pursuing a policy of reconciliation and negotiation with the dissident I Corps units, and making contact with the Struggle Movement. Ky decided to attack Da Nang and sent his forces to overrun Dinh's headquarters on May 15, forcing the latter to abandon his post and flee to the headquarters of US General Lewis Walt. Fearing that Ky’s forces would kill him, Dinh asked Walt for help and was flown to Huế, where the pro-Thi and pro-Buddhist elements were still in control. Dinh was then formally replaced by General Huynh Van Cao
Huynh Van Cao
Major General Huỳnh Văn Cao was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was born on September 26, 1927.He is married and has ten children and more than 20 grandchildren. In 1950, he graduated from Military school in Huế. He then attended College of Tactics and graduated in Hanoi in...
. Walt’s assistance to Dinh provoked a reaction from General William Westmoreland
William Westmoreland
William Childs Westmoreland was a United States Army General, who commanded US military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak , during the Tet Offensive. He adopted a strategy of attrition against the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the North Vietnamese Army. He later served as...
, the commander of US forces in Vietnam. Walt and Westmoreland were often in conflict, and the latter responded to his subordinate’s evacuation of Dinh by imploring Ky to attack Huế.
Ky's surprise attack led to conflict between the ARVN rebels and loyalists, with the American ground forces caught in the middle, effectively creating a civil war within a civil war. Ky eventually quelled the rebellion and briefly jailed Dinh, who claimed that he was incarcerated because he refused to back up Ky’s account of the conflict with the Buddhists, which he regarded as false.
Dinh left the army and won election to the newly created Senate in 1967, serving there until the fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
in 1975, when he fled to the United States. In February 1968, while serving in the Senate, Dinh started a newspaper called the Cong Luan. He also served as the head of the Vietnamese Publishers Association. In 1998, Dinh claimed that he felt remorse for the deposal and execution of the Ngo brothers, and claimed that he was opposed to their policy of religious discrimination against Buddhists, which had fomented national disunity and the eventual communist victory.