While the initial reports from U.S. Embassy in Saigon and
Halberstam-Sheehan reported that Major Dang ordered
troops to fire on peaceful demonstrators, or the victims died from grenades on
the radio station's balcony; subsequent official U.S. reports restated that
Major Dang's troops were not involved in the casualties at the Hue radio station
and the deaths were caused by large, unknown explosions. They further elaborated
that the death tolls were limited to 8, instead of 9 with many wounded, as
stated in the initial reports. According to a CIA high level official, George
Carver, the source of the explosion would probably remain a mystery, shrouded in
secrecy, for all times [Hammer, 1987].
In a report to the U.S. Congress Subcommittee of Internal Security, Senator
Thomas
J. Dodd presented the false
reports created about South Vietnam. He informed the subcommitee that the United
States had been misled by radical reporting that led to the ouster of President
Diem [Dodd, 1964]. In his testimony to Congress, CIA director
William
Colby also expressed his doubts in the reports of Buddhist persecutions. He
iterated that Major Dang Sy did not order his troops to open fire on
demonstrators, though actions taken by the South Vietnamese military were
witnessed by German doctors [Prados, 2004]. In Congressional Recording Volume 114, the U.S.
Congress found that
Major
Dang Sy was a 7 times decorated hero in the South Vietnamese Army and was
held without formal charges. The
Trial of Dang Sy
had created such financial burden on the Đặng family that several U.S.
faith-based charities had to provide financial support to Mrs. Đặng [U.S. Congress, 1967] [U.S. Congress, 1967].
One of the presiding members of the Military Tribunal, and Major Dang's lawyer
contended that the court sentenced Major Dang without proving beyond reason of a
doubt, based on inconclusive and unconnected evidences. This was done to court
the radical Buddhist movement for supporting a fading Military Junta that was
facing further turmoils [Hammer, 1987]. The most notable act that caused violence under
General Khanh's regime was the revised Vietnamese Constitution (
Vietnamese:
Hiến Chương Vũng Tàu).
The plight of Major Sy Dang came to the attention of Mrs. Anne Westrick in
1966 who petitioned to U.S. Congress, Departments of Defense and State, and
allies government for Major Đặng's freedom [Owosso Argus-Press, 1966]. Major General Thieu offered to
award Major Dang the Blue Star, South Vietnam highest honor to military
personnel for the ordeals he endured[New York Times, 1966]. The Military Junta was finally replaced
in 1967 by Premier
Nguyễn Van Thieu with a ratified constitution. The
Second Republic,
called for unity in South Vietnam and promised to a better government and future
for South Vietnam [Christian Science Monitor, 1967], offered Major Dang a choice of returning to his rank or
resigning to the life of a civilian. Major Dang chose the latter. A member of
Vietnamese Congress then introduced Mr. Dang to an office of Bank of America in
Saigon, which offered Mr. Dang employment [Baltimore Sun, 1987] [Harfort Courant, 1987] [Catholic Review, 1988].
In 1970, the Hoa Binh newspaper ran a story that Captain James Scott, who was
reassigned to Mekong Delta region, admited that he was the one who set the
miniturized, plastic explosive devices. This device was first used by a Saigon
warlord in 1951, when it killed many people in Saigon [Hammer, 1987].
1. Dodd, Thomas. U.S. Senate Report to Subcommittee of Internal
Security. U.S. Senate, February 17, 1964.
8. Thieu Voices Appeal for Unity and Sacrifice. Christian Science Monitor, November 1967.
9. Happy July 4th. The Baltimore Sun, July 1987.
10. Area Man Celebrates Ancestor Cannonization. Harfort Courant, July 1987.
11.
Eerie Parallelism to his Ancestor. Catholic Review, August 1988.