Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume III, Vietnam, January–August 1963

193. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State¹

Saigon, June 29, 1963, 6 p.m.

1261. Deptel 1286.² I am quite as concerned as Department over possibility renewal demonstrations, etc. and need for GVN haste. Thuan, whom I saw few hours ago, is equally concerned.

Situation at moment (1530) is that Vice President has sent and published letter to Buddhists (Embtel 1256)³ which is helpful but does not go far enough. Series of following specific further actions are still in abeyance pending return of President Diem from Hue this afternoon:

1. Publication of actual text of orders to provincial officials.

2. Publication of Ministry of Interior balance sheet on persons arrested and released.

3. Publication of names of GVN officials found culpable of May 8 incident. (Thuan winced when I put this one to him but agreed it was desirable.)

4. Diem’s speech reaffirming five points, etc.

So far as I have been able to ascertain, and contrary to advance billing by Thuan, Diem did not make any public appearances at Hue except possibly to attend Te Deum service which was part of jubilee program for Archbishop Thuc.⁴ More significant, both Nhus also went to Hue, so that I have no doubt that there has been a major session of the family council. There may well be new decisions as result of this meeting, and I am not optimistic about them.

Meanwhile latest reports from Buddhist contacts are ominous [3 document numbers not declassified]. There are also reports on plans for a Tuyen-organized coup [1 document number not declassified] which I believe can not be dismissed.

Thuan said this morning that he was personally convinced that VC and oppositionists were now behind Buddhists. I said I had seen no evidence of VC involvement but was satisfied that oppositionists were seeking to exploit situation. However, this seemed to me not to affect action required from GVN; it was all the more urgent that GVNmake public moves such as those enumerated above with view to satisfying moderate elements and isolating the rest. He agreed but was plainly [not] in position to do anything until Diem returns.

I also repeated to Thuan that Diem must accept that he can not afford to have more demonstrations and bonze burnings, virtually no matter what concessions he has to make. I cited in this connection full-page advertisment in N.Y: Times signed by prominent US clergymen,⁵ text of which I had sent to his house last night.

Will continue to keep after GVN and to keep Department informed as currently as possible. As of now, Buddhist “deadline” is rather vague. They want convincing proof of GVN sincerity by July 1 but, according to Duc Ngiep, plan no action before July 3. I am not, however, counting on this time table.

Trueheart

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, SOC 14-1 S VIET Secret; Operational Immediate; Limit Distribution. Repeated to CINCPAC for POLAD.
2. Document 191.
3. In telegram 1256 from Saigon, June 29, the Embassy transmitted to the Department of State the text of a letter sent on June 28 by Vice President Tho to the leader of the Buddhist delegation, Thien Minh, in which he outlined government efforts to carry out the terms of the joint communique of June 16. (Department of State, Central Files, SOC 14-1 S VIET)
4. A marginal notation on the source text at this point, in Wood’s hand, reads: “Oh Gawd.”
5. The full-page advertisement ran in the June 27 edition of The New York Times under a copy of Malcolm Browne’s photograph of the self-immolation of Quang Duc. The text of the advertisement was signed by 12 prominent clergymen, including Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr and Bishop lames A. Pike.