PERSONS/ENTITIES: DIEM MAJOR GEN. TRAN VAN DON (sp.?)
DATES: May 8, 1963
CATEGORIES: DIEM

OCCURRENCE: "Immediately after May 8, President Diem ordered a formal investigation of the Hue affairs. For this purpose he appointed a 3-man technical commission led by Major General Tran Van Don, the acting head of the army (General Don was considered a man of integrity by the Americans.)" The commission also included the Surgeon General of the Vietnamese Army and its Chief of Ordinance. After extensive interrogation of witnesses General Don's mission cited plastic charges as the cause of the deaths on May 8.
"At the time, nonetheless, Diem's regime claimed that plastic caused the deaths was widely ridiculed.
"Unfortunately, no American officials were witness to the incidence. The American consul had been out of town but he tended to disbelieve the government's efforts to place blame on the Viet Cong."
SOURCE: Our Viet Nam Nightmare, Higgins, Harper and Row, 1965
STAFF: Dawson, R.
DATE: July 2, 1975
FILE:

PERSONS/ENTITIES: THICH TRI QUANG NGUYEN VAN BANG (Province Chief) MAJOR DANG SY (ASST. PROV. CHIEF)
DATES: May 8, 1963
CATEGORIES: DIEM

OCCURRENCE: Nguyen Van Bang later at the trial of Major Dang Sy said that "While we were inside, two loud explosions suddenly reverberated on the veranda. Then came the sounds of broken glass, gunshots, and exploding hand grenades." In the confusion Major Dang Sy heard the explosions also and in attempting to signal what he feared may be a Viet Cong attack fired three shots in the air. Unfortunately this was the prearranged signal authorizing his troops to use grenades to disperse the crowds. At least 15 of these grenades were thrown and the explosions caused at least 8 dead at the radio station. (95) This statement though, appears to be in conflict with later medical evidence coming from the Interior Minister which found that none of the bodies of the dead had metal splinters in their organs, but rather the weapons expert said that the bombs were probably made of plastic and that "plastic is the arm of the Viet Cong guerilla." (95-96)
SOURCE: Our Viet Nam Nightmare, Higgins, Harper and Row, 1965
STAFF: Dawson, R.
DATE: July 2, 1975
FILE:

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