Le Quang Tung - Coup and Assassination

Coup and Assassination

See also: 1963 South Vietnamese coup and Arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm

By September, Diệm and Nhu knew that a group of generals were planning a coup. Nhu ordered Tung and Tôn Thất Đính — a loyalist general who commanded the ARVN III Corps which encompassed the Saigon region — to plan a fake coup against the government. One objective was to trick anti-government dissidents into joining the false uprising so that they could be identified and eliminated. Another aim was to provide a public relations stunt that would give a false impression of the strength of the regime.

Codenamed Operation Bravo, the first stage of the scheme involved some of Tung's loyalist soldiers, disguised as insurgents, faking a coup. Tung would then announce the formation of a "revolutionary government" consisting of opposition activists, while Diệm and Nhu pretended 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 Dương Văn Minh, Trần Văn Đôn, Lê Văn Kim and junior officers that were helping them. Tung's men and some of Nhu's underworld connections were also to kill some figures who were assisting the conspirators, such as the titular but relatively powerless Vice President Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, 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". This was to be followed by a fake "counter-coup", whereupon Tung's special forces, having left Saigon on the pretext of fighting communists, as well as Đính's forces would triumphantly re-enter Saigon to reaffirm the Diệm regime. Nhu would then exploit the scare to round up dissidents.

However, Nhu and Tung were unaware that Đính was part of the real coup plot. The III Corps commander told Tung that the counter-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 loyalists 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 of Saigon on 29 October 1963.

On 1 November 1963, Tung was summoned by the coup organisers to the Joint General Staff headquarters at Tân Sơn Nhứt Air Base, on the pretext of a routine officers' lunch meeting. At 13:30, General Trần Văn Đôn announced that a coup was taking place. Most of the officers rose to applaud, but Tung did not. He was taken away by Nguyễn Văn Nhung, the bodyguard of General Dương Văn Minh. As he was led away, Tung shouted "Remember who gave you your stars!"

During the early stages of the coup, the rebels forced Tung to order his men to surrender. This meant that only the Presidential Guard was left to defend Gia Long Palace. At 16:45, Tung was forced at gunpoint to talk to Diệm on the phone, telling the president that he had told his men to surrender. Minh ordered Nhung to execute the Diệm loyalist. Tung had failed to convince the president to surrender and still commanded the loyalty of his men. The other generals had little sympathy, since the special forces commander had disguised his men in army uniforms and framed the generals for the pagoda raids. The generals were aware of the threat Tung posed; they had discussed his elimination during their planning, having contemplated waging an offensive against his special forces.

At nightfall he was taken with Major Lê Quang Triệu, his brother and deputy, hands tied, into a jeep and driven to edge of the air base. Forced to kneel over two freshly dug holes, the brothers were shot into their graves and buried. The coup was successful, and on the following morning, Diệm and Nhu were captured and executed.