Word: diem
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Truckloads of red-kerchiefed, insurgent marines were already racing toward the heart of Saigon. A primary target was police headquarters, where some troops surrounded the building while others rushed inside to put pro-Diem officials under arrest. Other groups of troops showed up at navy headquarters, on the banks of the Saigon River, and at the telegraph office and radio station...
...first, there was little shooting. But as word spread to pro-Diem forces, small-arms fire began to crackle along the shady avenues around the palace. By now, the little air force bombers were soaring high over central Saigon, peeling off now and then to make strafing runs at the navy headquarters, where defenders inside were putting up a spirited fight. Antiaircraft guns aboard Diem's naval vessels moored in the river barked back...
...Fame. At 4:45 p.m., Saigon Radio, which abruptly ceased broadcasting at the start of the fighting, returned to the air. "Soldiers in the army, security service, civil defense force, and people's force," blared the radio. "The Ngo Dinh Diem government, abusing power, has thought only of personal ambition and slighted the fatherland's interests . . . The army has swung into action. The task of you all is to unite . . . The revolution will certainly be successful...
...Saints' Day Mass at the Church of the Good Shepherd, she told reporters bitterly: "I believe all the devils of hell are against us, but we will triumph eventually." If the news of the coup was true, "it would be a shame for many Americans." The Diem regime, she claimed, had been nearing victory against the Red guerrillas, and now some people were trying to "rob the fruits of victory from the victors with the help of their little friends, whom we all consider as traitors to their fatherland." Would Mme. Nhu seek asylum in the U.S.? "Never...
...from the fighting, life seemed strangely normal. G.I.s in civilians strolled the streets in search of bars and restaurants still open. Traffic flowed through the streets, though drivers cautiously detoured a few blocks to avoid the trouble spots. There were some grimly humorous sights: outside the Hotel Caravelle, a Diem policeman seated in a tiny European car struggling desperately to get out of his uniform before the rebels spotted him; a pedestrian dashing madly around a corner, bullets kicking up sparks at his heels; a man scooting into a sidewalk pissoir an instant before it was riddled with machine...