Duong Van Duc
Encyclopedia
Major General Dương Văn Đức was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
. He is best known for leading a coup attempt against General Nguyễn Khánh
on September 14, 1964. He was a supporter of the Đại Việt Quốc Dân Dảng
(DVQDD, Nationalist Party of Greater Vietnam), a Roman Catholic
political movement.
Duc joined the French-backed Vietnamese National Army
which became the ARVN after the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) was established. After becoming a brigadier general
in 1956 and commanding the Airborne Brigade
, Duc served for a year as Ambassador to South Korea
. Later, he had problems with President Ngo Dinh Diem
and went into exile in France, before returning after the arrest and assassination of Diem
after a November 1963 coup
.
Duc was an assistant to Le Van Kim
, one of generals in the ruling junta, but was recruited into a coup plot by Generals Khanh, Tran Thien Khiem
and Do Mau
. At the time, France was advocating for South Vietnam to become neutral, and the withdrawal of the US, and Duc used his experience of France to draft fake documents purporting to show the junta of Duong Van Minh
wanting to go along with the French proposal. These were then presented to the Americans to ensure support, and Khanh toppled Minh
in January 1964 without a fight.
Duc was rewarded with command of IV Corps
, which oversaw the Mekong Delta
region, before being relieved in September, along with the commander of III Corps
and Interior Minister Lam Van Phat
. This prompted the pair to launch a coup against Khanh on September 13. They initially took over the capital without a fight, but Khanh escaped, and after receiving endorsements from the US, defeated them. At the military trial that followed, charges were dropped.
of the French-backed State of Vietnam
, which fought against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which was run by the communist Vietminh of Ho Chi Minh
. In 1955, during the transition period after the partition of Vietnam
, Duc was a VNA colonel and fought in operations against the Hoa Hao
warlord Ba Cut
, who was trying to wrest power from Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem
. After Ba Cut was driven from the Mekong Delta
, he fled to the That Son
mountains near the border with Cambodia. There, Duc commanded an operation that attempt to capture Ba Cut in 1955, and although he told the media he would capture Ba Cut within ten days, he was unable to do so. Ba Cut was finally captured in April 1956 and executed a few months later.
By the end of the year, Diem had proclaimed himself the president of the newly formed Republic of Vietnam, and the VNA became the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
. Duc was promoted to brigadier general in 1956 and served as an officer in the Airborne Brigade
. He was sent abroad to act as the ambassador to South Korea
from 1956 to 1957. Duc was regarded as an effective but idiosyncratic officer.
During the later years of Diem's rule, Duc was in exile in France. The arrest and assassination of Diem
after a November 1963 coup
allowed Duc a chance to return to Vietnam.
, the chief of the junta's general staff. At the time, there was a coup plot against the ruling junta of General Duong Van Minh
, and Duc was recruited by a group including Generals Nguyen Khanh
, Do Mau
and Tran Thien Khiem
.
At the time, the French President Charles de Gaulle
wanted Vietnam to become a neutralist country, with the Americans out of the region. This was controversial among the anti-communist South Vietnamese and the plotters wanted to milk the furore by implicating their junta enemies. Duc had years of experience in France, which had given him a good feel of what the French might be up to and what their relations with Francophile members of the ARVN were. He used this to concoct some plausible sounding and incriminating documents for Mau. They purported to show that three prominent members of the junta: Generals Minh, Kim and Tran Van Don
had been bought by French agents and were on the brink of declaring South Vietnam's neutrality and sign a peace deal to end the war with the North. Some of the documents were leaked to some senior American officials.
On the night of January 29, 1964, Mau and Khiem alerted their troops to assume their positions around Saigon. At 03:00 the next day, Khanh took over the Joint General Staff Headquarters at Tan Son Nhut Air Base
and seized power in a bloodless coup, having caught the junta off guard.
Khanh rewarded Duc by giving him an important command. Duc served as the commander of IV Corps
, which oversaw the Mekong Delta
region of the country, from 4 March until 15 September 1964, when he was replaced by Major General Nguyen Van Thieu
.
was dismissed as Interior Minister. Disgruntled, the pair launched a coup attempt before dawn on September 13, using ten army battalions that they had recruited, as well as tanks. The coup was supported by Catholic and Dai Viet Quoc Dan Dang
elements. Another member of the conspiracy was Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao
, who while a Catholic, was a communist spy trying to maximize infighting at every possible opportunity. General Khiem, a member of the ruling triumvirate along with Khanh and Minh, but a rival of the dominant Khanh, was also believed to have supported the plot.
They hoped to overthrow Khanh before their scheduled removal from command took effect. Four battalions of rebel troops moved before dawn from the Mekong Delta
towards Saigon, with armored personnel carriers and jeeps carrying machine guns. After cowing several police checkpoints on the edge of the capital with threats of machine-gun and artillery fire, the plotters put rebel sentries in their place to seal off the capital from incoming or outgoing traffic. They then captured communication facilities in the capital including the post office to prevent messages from being sent in or out. Appearing on national radio, and claiming to represent "The Council for the Liberation of the Nation", Phat proclaimed the deposal of Khanh's junta, and accused Khanh of promoting conflict within the nation's military and political leadership. He further promised to capture Khanh and pursue a policy of increased anti-communism, stronger government and military. Phat said that he would use the ideology and legacy of Diem to lay the foundation for his new junta. There was little reaction from most of the military commanders. According to the historian George McTurnan Kahin
, Phat's broadcast was "triumphant" and may have prompted senior officers who were neither part of the original conspiracy nor fully loyal to Khanh to conclude that Phat and Duc would not embrace them if they rallied to their side. Duc claimed that the coup attempt was prompted by "the transfer to the capital of some neutralist elements, and by some pro-communists in the government.
However, Phat and Duc could not apprehend Khanh, who had escaped the capital and flew to the central highlands resort town of Da Lat. American officials flew after Khanh to encourage him to return to Saigon and reassert his control. The general refused to do so unless the Americans publicly announced their support for him to the nation. They then asked Khanh about his plans for the future, but felt that he was directionless. After talking to Phat and Duc, they concluded the same, so they decided to back the incumbent and publicly released a statement through the embassy to endorse Khanh. Khanh also received support from Nguyen Cao Ky
, the head of the Vietnam Air Force
, who flew over the city and threatened to bomb the rebels, while Brigadier General Nguyen Chanh Thi
of the 1st Division
also supported Khanh. The announcement helped to deter ARVN officers from joining Lam and Duc, who decided to give up. General William Westmoreland
, the commander of American forces in Vietnam, had spoken to Duc and reported to Washington that he "in no uncertain terms...informed him [Duc] that MACV, the U.S. Mission, and the U.S. Government did not support in any way his move, [and] advised that he get his troops moved out of town [Saigon] immediately. He said that he understood and thanked me. He seemed to be a shaky and insecure young man." Duc mistakenly thought that Ky and his subordinates would be joining the coup, but he later realized that he was mistaken. When he found out that he had been tricked into thinking that the plotters had great strength, he soon defected. According to an anonymous source, Duc was alarmed by Phat's strong statements during his broadcast over the radio, which made him reconsider his participation in the coup. After a further meeting between Phat and Duc and Ky, the rebels withdrew as Ky put on another show of force.
Duc claimed that the leading officers had agreed:
Duc further commented that fair treatment of citizens was the only way to defeat the communists. When asked if he now supported Khanh, Duc, "looking ill with weariness, if nothing else", simply nodded in agreement. Ky also claimed that no further action would be taken against those who were involved with Duc and Phat's activities.
However, on September 16, Khanh had Duc and his fellow plotters arrested and committed trial. He then removed three of the four corps commanders and six of the nine division commanders for failing to move against Lam and Duc.
One week later, the charges were dropped. Khanh then gave Duc and Phat two months of detention for indiscipline; their subordinates were given shorter periods of detention. According to Kahin, Khanh rigged the military trial so that Duc and Phat were acquitted so that they would be used as a Catholic counterweight to the Young Turks faction of Ky and Thi, who in Khanh's eyes had become increasingly strong and ominous.
After this, Duc left the military. In January 1966, he was arrested along with an estimated 10–50 officers, mostly junior officers of the rank of captain. They were suspected of making plans to overthrow the junta of Ky. Most observers thought the suspicions against the arrested men were not credible, and Duc was released after 24 hours and given an informal warning to avoid political activities. Ky made a speech denouncing the alleged coup plot without naming individuals the military was placed on a higher level of alert.
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...
. He is best known for leading a coup attempt against General Nguyễn Khánh
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,...
on September 14, 1964. He was a supporter of the Đại Việt Quốc Dân Dảng
Dai Viet Quoc Dan Dang
Đại Việt Quốc dân đảng , often known simply as Đại Việt, was a nationalist and anti-communist political party and militant organisation that was active in Vietnam in the 20th century. The party was founded by Trương Tử Anh, known as Anh Cả Phương...
(DVQDD, Nationalist Party of Greater Vietnam), a Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
political movement.
Duc joined the French-backed Vietnamese National Army
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...
which became the ARVN after the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) was established. After becoming a brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
in 1956 and commanding 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...
, Duc served for a year as Ambassador to South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. Later, he had problems with President 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...
and went into exile in France, before returning after the arrest and assassination of Diem
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...
after a 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...
.
Duc was an assistant to 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...
, one of generals in the ruling junta, but was recruited into a coup plot by Generals Khanh, 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...
and Do Mau
Do Mau
Brigadier General Ðỗ Mậu was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam best known for his roles as a recruiting strategist in both the 1963 coup that toppled President Ngo Dinh Diem and the 1964 coup led by General Nguyen Khanh that deposed the junta of General Duong Van Minh...
. At the time, France was advocating for South Vietnam to become neutral, and the withdrawal of the US, and Duc used his experience of France to draft fake documents purporting to show the junta of 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...
wanting to go along with the French proposal. These were then presented to the Americans to ensure support, and Khanh toppled Minh
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...
in January 1964 without a fight.
Duc was rewarded with command of 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...
, which oversaw 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...
region, before being relieved in September, along with the commander of 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...
and Interior Minister 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...
. This prompted the pair to launch a coup against Khanh on September 13. They initially took over the capital without a fight, but Khanh escaped, and after receiving endorsements from the US, defeated them. At the military trial that followed, charges were dropped.
Early military career
Duc was a member of the Vietnamese National ArmyVietnamese 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...
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...
, which fought against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which was run by the communist Vietminh of Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
. In 1955, during the transition period after the partition of Vietnam
Partition of Vietnam
The Partition of Vietnam was the establishment of the 17th parallel as the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone in 1954, splitting Vietnam into halves after the First Indochina War.The Geneva Conference was held at the conclusion of the First Indochina War...
, Duc was a VNA colonel and fought in operations against the Hoa Hao
Hoa Hao
Hòa Hảo is a religious tradition, based on Buddhism, founded in 1939 by Huỳnh Phú Sổ, a native of the Mekong River Delta region of southern Vietnam. Adherents consider Sổ to be a prophet, and Hòa Hảo a continuation of a 19th-century Buddhist ministry known as Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương...
warlord Ba Cut
Ba Cut
Lê Quang Vinh , popularly known as Ba Cụt , was a military commander of the Hòa Hảo religious sect, which operated from the Mekong Delta and controlled various parts of southern Vietnam during the 1940s and early 1950s.Ba Cụt and his forces fought the Vietnamese National Army , the...
, who was trying to wrest power from 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...
. After Ba Cut was driven from 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...
, he fled to the That Son
That Son
Thất Sơn, also known as Bảy Núi or Thiên Cấm Sơn , is a range of small mountains located in the Tri Tôn and Tịnh Biên districts in Vietnam's An Giang province.- Overview :...
mountains near the border with Cambodia. There, Duc commanded an operation that attempt to capture Ba Cut in 1955, and although he told the media he would capture Ba Cut within ten days, he was unable to do so. Ba Cut was finally captured in April 1956 and executed a few months later.
By the end of the year, Diem had proclaimed himself the president of the newly formed Republic of Vietnam, and the VNA 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...
. Duc was promoted to brigadier general in 1956 and served as an officer in 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...
. He was sent abroad to act as the ambassador to South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
from 1956 to 1957. Duc was regarded as an effective but idiosyncratic officer.
During the later years of Diem's rule, Duc was in exile in France. The arrest and assassination of Diem
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...
after a 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...
allowed Duc a chance to return to Vietnam.
1964 coup with Nguyen Khanh
He returned from exile in Paris, where he had been working as a waiter, and became an assistant to General Le Van KimLe 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...
, the chief of the junta's general staff. At the time, there was a coup plot against the ruling junta of General 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...
, and Duc was recruited by a group including Generals 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,...
, Do Mau
Do Mau
Brigadier General Ðỗ Mậu was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam best known for his roles as a recruiting strategist in both the 1963 coup that toppled President Ngo Dinh Diem and the 1964 coup led by General Nguyen Khanh that deposed the junta of General Duong Van Minh...
and 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...
.
At the time, the French 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....
wanted Vietnam to become a neutralist country, with the Americans out of the region. This was controversial among the anti-communist South Vietnamese and the plotters wanted to milk the furore by implicating their junta enemies. Duc had years of experience in France, which had given him a good feel of what the French might be up to and what their relations with Francophile members of the ARVN were. He used this to concoct some plausible sounding and incriminating documents for Mau. They purported to show that three prominent members of the junta: Generals Minh, Kim and Tran Van Don
Tran 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:...
had been bought by French agents and were on the brink of declaring South Vietnam's neutrality and sign a peace deal to end the war with the North. Some of the documents were leaked to some senior American officials.
On the night of January 29, 1964, Mau and Khiem alerted their troops to assume their positions around Saigon. At 03:00 the next day, Khanh took over the Joint General Staff Headquarters at Tan Son Nhut Air Base
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...
and seized power in a bloodless coup, having caught the junta off guard.
Khanh rewarded Duc by giving him an important command. Duc served as the commander of 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...
, which oversaw 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...
region of the country, from 4 March until 15 September 1964, when he was replaced by Major General 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...
.
Attempted September 1964 coup against Nguyen Khanh
The removal was due to Buddhist lobbying, who accused Khanh of accommodating too many Catholics regarded as Diem supporters in leadership positions. This had come after Khanh had made an attempt to augment his power in August by ordering a state of emergency and introducing a new constitution, which resulted in mass unrest and calls for civilian rule, forcing Khanh to make concessions in an attempt to dampen discontent. Meanwhile, General Lam Van PhatLam 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...
was dismissed as Interior Minister. Disgruntled, the pair launched a coup attempt before dawn on September 13, using ten army battalions that they had recruited, as well as tanks. The coup was supported by Catholic and Dai Viet Quoc Dan Dang
Dai Viet Quoc Dan Dang
Đại Việt Quốc dân đảng , often known simply as Đại Việt, was a nationalist and anti-communist political party and militant organisation that was active in Vietnam in the 20th century. The party was founded by Trương Tử Anh, known as Anh Cả Phương...
elements. Another member of the conspiracy was Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao
Pham Ngoc Thao
Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo, known to friends as Albert Thảo , a major provincial leader in South Vietnam and infiltrator of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, was a communist agent of the Vietminh and later the Vietnam People's Army...
, who while a Catholic, was a communist spy trying to maximize infighting at every possible opportunity. General Khiem, a member of the ruling triumvirate along with Khanh and Minh, but a rival of the dominant Khanh, was also believed to have supported the plot.
They hoped to overthrow Khanh before their scheduled removal from command took effect. Four battalions of rebel troops moved before dawn from 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...
towards Saigon, with armored personnel carriers and jeeps carrying machine guns. After cowing several police checkpoints on the edge of the capital with threats of machine-gun and artillery fire, the plotters put rebel sentries in their place to seal off the capital from incoming or outgoing traffic. They then captured communication facilities in the capital including the post office to prevent messages from being sent in or out. Appearing on national radio, and claiming to represent "The Council for the Liberation of the Nation", Phat proclaimed the deposal of Khanh's junta, and accused Khanh of promoting conflict within the nation's military and political leadership. He further promised to capture Khanh and pursue a policy of increased anti-communism, stronger government and military. Phat said that he would use the ideology and legacy of Diem to lay the foundation for his new junta. There was little reaction from most of the military commanders. According to the historian George McTurnan Kahin
George McTurnan Kahin
George McTurnan KahinSometimes referred to as George Kahin or George McT. Kahin. Some, but fewer, sources may also cite him as George M. Kahin. was an American historian and political scientist. He was one of the leading experts on Southeast Asia and a critic of United States involvement in the...
, Phat's broadcast was "triumphant" and may have prompted senior officers who were neither part of the original conspiracy nor fully loyal to Khanh to conclude that Phat and Duc would not embrace them if they rallied to their side. Duc claimed that the coup attempt was prompted by "the transfer to the capital of some neutralist elements, and by some pro-communists in the government.
However, Phat and Duc could not apprehend Khanh, who had escaped the capital and flew to the central highlands resort town of Da Lat. American officials flew after Khanh to encourage him to return to Saigon and reassert his control. The general refused to do so unless the Americans publicly announced their support for him to the nation. They then asked Khanh about his plans for the future, but felt that he was directionless. After talking to Phat and Duc, they concluded the same, so they decided to back the incumbent and publicly released a statement through the embassy to endorse Khanh. Khanh also received support from 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...
, the 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...
, who flew over the city and threatened to bomb the rebels, while Brigadier 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...
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....
also supported Khanh. The announcement helped to deter ARVN officers from joining Lam and Duc, who decided to give up. 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 American forces in Vietnam, had spoken to Duc and reported to Washington that he "in no uncertain terms...informed him [Duc] that MACV, the U.S. Mission, and the U.S. Government did not support in any way his move, [and] advised that he get his troops moved out of town [Saigon] immediately. He said that he understood and thanked me. He seemed to be a shaky and insecure young man." Duc mistakenly thought that Ky and his subordinates would be joining the coup, but he later realized that he was mistaken. When he found out that he had been tricked into thinking that the plotters had great strength, he soon defected. According to an anonymous source, Duc was alarmed by Phat's strong statements during his broadcast over the radio, which made him reconsider his participation in the coup. After a further meeting between Phat and Duc and Ky, the rebels withdrew as Ky put on another show of force.
Staged media conference and claims of harmony
As the coup collapsed, Ky and Duc appeared with other senior officers at a news conference where they proclaimed that the South Vietnamese military was united, and announced a resolution by the armed forces, signed by them and seven others claiming a united front against corruption. The officers contended that the events in the capital were misinterpreted by observers, as "there was no coup". Ky claimed that Khanh was in complete control and that the senior officers involved in the stand-off, including Duc, "have agreed to rejoin their units to fight the Communists".Duc claimed that the leading officers had agreed:
- To put an end to attempts of the Vietcong to seize power in South Vietnam
- To purge all Vietcong elements and their "puppets" out of Government agencies and the ranks of the administration
- To build a unified nation without distinction based on religion
- To have the Government treat its citizens impartially
Duc further commented that fair treatment of citizens was the only way to defeat the communists. When asked if he now supported Khanh, Duc, "looking ill with weariness, if nothing else", simply nodded in agreement. Ky also claimed that no further action would be taken against those who were involved with Duc and Phat's activities.
However, on September 16, Khanh had Duc and his fellow plotters arrested and committed trial. He then removed three of the four corps commanders and six of the nine division commanders for failing to move against Lam and Duc.
Trial
In the middle of October, Duc and Phat were among 20 put on trial in a military court. Duc told the assembled media that he thought the trial was unfair, stating that "I believe in the supreme court of conscience". He then pointed to his subordinate officers and called them "national heroes". He denied media speculation that he had backed down during the coup to avoid being bombed by Ky, claiming "I wanted to avoid bloodshed...I am very proud of my decision". Phat's lawyers started by asking for the charges against the conspirators to be dismissed, claiming that the rebels were not captured "red-handed", a request that was dismissed. The accused officers claimed that they only intended to make a show of force, rather than overthrow Khanh. Duc claimed that the objective of his actions was to "emphasize my ideas" and said that his actions did not constitute a coup attempt. Duc said that if he was intending to overthrow the government, he would have arrested public servants or military officials and denied that he had done so. However, he also admitted to being concerned by Khanh's policies. Duc said that he had decided to end what he regarded as a military protest demonstration when Khanh promised to consider his concerns, and then returned to the IV Corps headquarters in the Mekong Delta. Duc claimed responsibility for the actions of his subordinate and co-accused, Colonel Huynh Van Ton, who led the 7th Division of IV Corps into Saigon in support of the action. Ton agreed that Duc had ordered him to move his troops into the capital. During questioning, Duc did not refer to Phat.One week later, the charges were dropped. Khanh then gave Duc and Phat two months of detention for indiscipline; their subordinates were given shorter periods of detention. According to Kahin, Khanh rigged the military trial so that Duc and Phat were acquitted so that they would be used as a Catholic counterweight to the Young Turks faction of Ky and Thi, who in Khanh's eyes had become increasingly strong and ominous.
After this, Duc left the military. In January 1966, he was arrested along with an estimated 10–50 officers, mostly junior officers of the rank of captain. They were suspected of making plans to overthrow the junta of Ky. Most observers thought the suspicions against the arrested men were not credible, and Duc was released after 24 hours and given an informal warning to avoid political activities. Ky made a speech denouncing the alleged coup plot without naming individuals the military was placed on a higher level of alert.