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Vietnam The Fall of Ngo Dinh Diem
In 1961 the rapid increase of insurgency in the South
Vietnamese countryside led President John F. Kennedy's
administration to decide to increase United States support for
the Diem regime. Some $US65 million in military equipment and
$US136 million in economic aid were delivered that year, and by
December 3,200 United States military personnel were in Vietnam.
The United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was
formed under the command of General Paul D. Harkins in February
1962. The cornerstone of the counterinsurgency effort was the
strategic hamlet program, which called for the consolidation of
14,000 villages of South Vietnam into 11,000 secure hamlets, each
with its own houses, schools, wells, and watchtowers. The hamlets
were intended to isolate guerrillas from the villages, their
source of supplies and information, or, in Maoist terminology, to
separate the fish from the sea in which they swim. The program
had its problems, however, aside from the frequent attacks on the
hamlets by guerrilla units. The self-defense units for the
hamlets were often poorly trained, and support from the Army of
the Republic of Vietnam
(
ARVN--see Glossary) was inadequate.
Corruption, favoritism, and the resentment of a growing number of
peasants who were forcibly being forced to resettled plagued the
program. It was estimated that of the 8,000 hamlets established,
only 1,500 were viable.
In response to increased United States involvement, all
communist armed units in the South were unified into a single
People's Liberation Armed Force (PLAF) in 1961. These troops
expanded in number from fewer than 3,000 in 1959 to more than
15,000 by 1961, most of whom were assigned to guerrilla units.
Southerners trained in the North who infiltrated back into the
South composed an important element of this force. Although they
accounted numerically for only about 20 percent of the PLAF, they
provided a well-trained nucleus for the movement and often served
as officers or political cadres. By late 1962, the PLAF had
achieved the capability to attack fixed positions with battalionsized forces. The NLF was also expanded to include 300,000
members and perhaps 1 million sympathizers by 1962. Land reform
programs were begun in liberated areas, and by 1964 approximately
1.52 million hectares had been distributed to needy peasants,
according to Communist records. In the early stages, only
communal lands, uncultivated lands, or lands of absentee
landlords were distributed. Despite local pressure for more
aggressive land reform, the peasantry generally approved of the
program, and it was an important factor in gaining support for
the liberation movement in the countryside. In the cities, the
Workers' Liberation Association of Vietnam (Hoi Lao Dong Giai
Phong Mien Nam), a labor organization affiliated with the NLF,
was established in 1961.
Diem grew steadily more unpopular as his regime became more
repressive. His brother and chief adviser, Ngo Dinh Nhu, was
identified by regime opponents as the source of many of the
government's repressive measures. Harassment of Buddhist groups
by ARVN forces in early 1963 led to a crisis situation in Saigon.
On May 8, 1963, ARVN troops fired into a crowd of demonstrators
protesting the Diem government's discriminatory policies toward
Buddhists, killing nine persons. Hundreds of Buddhist bonzes
responded by staging peaceful protest demonstrations and by
fasting. In June a bonze set himself on fire in Saigon as a
protest, and, by the end of the year, six more bonzes had
committed self-immolation. On August 21, special forces under the
command of Ngo Dinh Nhu raided the pagodas of the major cities,
killing many bonzes and arresting thousands of others. Following
demonstrations at Saigon University on August 24, an estimated
4,000 students were rounded up and jailed, and the universities
of Saigon and Hue were closed. Outraged by the Diem regime's
repressive policies, the Kennedy administration indicated to
South Vietnamese military leaders that Washington would be
willing to support a new military government. Diem and Nhu were
assassinated in a military coup in early November, and General
Duong Van Minh took over the government.
Data as of December 1987
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