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Show 5 Witossd. t'ln Trapped in a Saigon hotel during the November A helpless populace takes Tension HAD the tragicomic side events of a day that made history refuge behind tanks. - been in the air since I or Family Weekly, January 5, 1964. y- fi- in Saigon two days earlier and curious little things had been happening. I had seen a man fixing up a dance floor although Madame Nhu's morality laws prohibited dancing. And her girls showed up for work without smocks although Madame Nhu had ordered them worn. family weekly sent me to Vietnam because of the crisis brewing there. Little did the editors or I know that I would arrive just in time for the revolution! It was 1:55 p.m.9 Friday, Nov. 1, when I got my first definite indication of trouble. A Vietnamese acquaintance, who was supposed to meet me later in the evening, called and warned me to stay indoors. But he refused to say why. Five minutes later, I heard the first rifle fire. From my window on the sixth floor of the Caravelle Hotel, I saw people duck into doorways. But I thought it was just another incident caused by the Viet Cong Communist rebels. When the firing stopped, activities returned to normal, and I went out on the street. 2:30 A block from the hotel, firing starts again. This time it keeps up. I run along the side of the building and make my way back to the hotel, where I call a friend at the U. S. Information Service. He shouts at me to get off the phone and to stay indoors. He couldn't have been more urgent about it. bar. It is jammed 2:43 I reach the eighth-flowith hotel guests. By now, we all have a pretty good idea what is happening; a group of generals have attempted a coup d'ttat against the Diem regime. But we know none of the details. 4:00 The firing lets up, and crowds surge into the streets again, although not in as great numbers as before. I go to the Information Service building two blocks away to find out what's happening. According to my friend there, the generals have given Diem an ultimatum: surrender and get safe passage out of the country, or your palace will be bombed into submission. 4:58 As I duck back into the hotel, I almost bump into two U. S. admirals. They say that if the liquor holds out it might not be a bad revolution! I decide to walk up to the dining room on the ninth floor. It's curious to see at-- ; .1 'S ;:;-- I 1 I W 1 f yy..rfyfBii l, till sI a1 tilt If l. .. i.iiii.m. T (ft? iirrttijk,. JM t 9 Ctrl Xy1 0 i, p.i J I m i )..m ,. fc Sb re. , .1 ? " .s After the coup, the author (right) mingled with civilians near Palace. An armored personnel carrier (in background) had received a direct hit from government antitank guns; there were no survivors. tendants sweeping the halls as though nothing is happening. Rumors are flying even faster than bullets: the generals succeeded, and they didn't; this and that unit had joined them, or they hadn't. No Time Recorded in My Diary Two war planes appear in the distance, and everybody grows quiet as they head in our direction. The President's Palace is but two blocks away; the Presidential Guards, the chief target of the firing so far, are about three blocks away. The pilot's aim better be good, or we may get it straight on our heads. But curiosity wins out' over fear, and most of us run up to the roof. ir. . . . J-?-- The planes seem about 7,000 feet up and pass right over the city! No Time Recorded We go back to the bar below, which is doing a brisk business. There is a feeling of uneasiness with nervous laughter. Music blares loudly from a portable radio owned by an attractive Scandinavian girl, who is a correspondent. The Voice of America cuts in: "Stay off the streets; there is a civil disturbance." Then the Twist resumes. No Time Recorded The shooting has stopped abruptly. A few people are going out on the streets, a few vehicles are moving. A convoy appears; first two jeeps, then cattle cars with |
