ABRUPTLY, AT 9 : 45 P.M., THE BARRAGE BEGAN FIRST AGAINST THE 
PALACE GUARD BARRACKS, WHERE A MORTAR AND ARTILLERY ATTACK WENT ON 
FOR HOURS . WHEN IT CAME TIME FOR THE BIG PUSH 
ON THE PALACE ITSELF, THERE WAS A DANGER THAT VIETNAMESE AND 
AMERICAN FAMILIES WHO LIVED IN AN ADJACENT RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD WOULD BE 
HIT BY SHELLS . SO, WELL AFTER MIDNIGHT, A FORCE OF 
18 TANKS SUPPORTED BY ARMORED CARS AND 600 FOOT SOLDIERS WENT 
THROUGH A COMPLICATED MANEUVER THAT BROUGHT THEM CIRCUITOUSLY TO THE PALACE 
GROUNDS . AT 4 A.M., FROM SEVERAL SIDE STREETS, THE ATTACKING 
COLUMNS BEGAN POURING POINT-BLANK FIRE FROM TANKS, CANNONS, MACHINE GUNS AND 
RIFLES AT THE PROTECTIVE WALLS . BACK CAME A MURDEROUS COUNTERFIRE, 
EVERYTHING DIEM'S DEFENDERS HAD LEFT . FIRST ONE DIEM TANK CAUGHT 
FIRE AND EXPLODED IN A TOWER OF SMOKE AND FLAME . 
THEN ANOTHER WAS KNOCKED OUT OF ACTION . TWO OF THE 
REBELS' TANKS WERE ALSO DESTROYED . A CHORUS OF CHEERS . 
WITH HUGE HOLES NOW GAPING IN THE FENCES, AND THE DEFENDERS 
SCATTERING INSIDE THE GROUNDS, THE WAY WAS CLEAR FOR THE FINAL 
PUSH . THEN SUDDENLY, AT 6 : 15 A.M., EVERYTHING FELL 
SILENT AGAIN . A REBEL GENERAL, WHO THROUGHOUT THE BATTLE HAD 
BEEN IN CONSTANT TOUCH WITH DIEM AND NHU BY TELEPHONE, HAD 
CALLED FOR A FIVE-MINUTE GRACE PERIOD TO ALLOW THE BESIEGED PRESIDENT 
AND HIS PARTY TO EMERGE . BUT NO ONE CAME OUT, 
AND THE CANNON FIRING RESUMED, SMASHING WINDOWS, SPLINTERING DOORS, KNOCKING CHUNKS 
OFF THE PALACE WALLS . THE RIFLEMEN, BELLYFLAT ON THE GROUND, 
SNIPED HAPPILY AT DIEM'S LAST-DITCH SUPPORTERS . THE BATTLE WAS CLEARLY 
OVER, AND 17 MINUTES LATER, BY DAWN'S FIRST LIGHT, REPORTED TIME 
CORRESPONDENT MURRAY GART, " I COULD SEE A WHITE FLAG BEING 
WAVED FROM A FIRST-FLOOR WINDOW ON THE PALACE'S SOUTHWEST CORNER . 
BUT THERE WAS MORE SHOOTING FROM THE PALACE . THEN THE 
WHITE FLAG WAVED AGAIN AND FIRING STOPPED . AT FIRST CAUTIOUSLY, 
THEN FREELY, THE CAMOUFLAGE-SUITED REBELS BEGAN TO STAND UP, AND A 
CHORUS OF CHEERS WELLED UP FROM THE STREETS . WESTERN-STYLE, THEY 
FIRED THEIR GUNS IN THE AIR, AND RUSHED INTO THE SIEVED 
FORTRESS . " AFTER ALL THEIR EFFORT, THE REBEL SOLDIERS DECIDED 
THAT A LITTLE LOOTING WAS IN ORDER . MERRILY, THEY RAN 
FROM ROOM TO ROOM, RIPPING DOWN CURTAINS FOR SOUVENIRS, GRABBING PIECES 
OF CHINA . ONE SOLDIER GRABBED A CALENDAR THAT BORE DIEM'S 
PICTURE, STUFFED IT IN HIS SHIRT . ANOTHER MADE OFF WITH 
A TWO-FOOT JAPANESE DOLL THAT HE HUGGED FONDLY TO HIS BREAST 
. THE OFFICIAL STORY . FORGOTTEN FOR THE MOMENT WERE DIEM 
AND NHU . A FEW HOURS LATER, THE UGLY FACTS BEGAN 
TO EMERGE . FIRST, THERE WAS THE OFFICIAL STORY . A 
SPOKESMAN FOR THE MILITARY JUNTA ANNOUNCED THAT THE PAIR HAD SLIPPED 
OUT OF REBEL HANDS DURING THE CEASE-FIRE, BOARDED A DEPARTING TRUCK 
WHILE WOUNDED WERE BEING REMOVED, AND SOMEHOW REACHED A CATHOLIC CHURCH 
IN THE CHINESE QUARTER OF SUBURBAN CHOLON . THERE, ACCORDING TO 
THE STORY, BOTH KILLED THEMSELVES AT 10 : 45 A.M . 
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AN INCREDIBLE END FOR SUCH DEVOUT ADHERENTS 
OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM, WHICH STERNLY CONDEMNS SUICIDE . BUT, IN FACT, 
THE PRESIDENT AND HIS BROTHER WERE OBVIOUSLY MURDERED . ACCORDING TO 
ONE VERSION, DIEM AND NHU, SHOULD HAVE BEEN SENT ABROAD BY 
PLANE ; BUT, INSTEAD, THEY ESCAPED FROM THE PALACE, WERE FOUND 
N THE CHOLON CHURCH BY A TROOP OF SOLDIERS WHO ARRESTED 
THE PAIR AND DROVE THEM OFF IN AN ARMORED CAR TOWARD 
MILITARY HEADQUARTERS . ON THE WAY, AN ORDER WAS GIVEN TO 
KILL THEM . WHEN THE ARMORED CAR ARRIVED AT HEADQUARTERS, BOTH 
MEN WERE DEAD . " UNOFFICIAL " PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWED DIEM'S BULLET-RIDDLED 
BODY LYING NEXT TO A PERSONNEL CARRIER, WITH A SOLDIER LEANING 
OVER HIM . A PICTURE OF NHU SHOWED HIM ON A 
STRETCHER, HIS BODY MARKED BY BRUISES . ACCORDING TO THE SAME 
REPORT, HE HAD BEEN STABBED TO DEATH . AGAIN THE ACCUSING 
VOICE OF MME . NHU WAS HEARD FROM LOS ANGELES : 
" ANY CRIME COMMITTED AGAINST THE NGO FAMILY CANNOT BE HIDDEN 
UNDER THE LABEL OF SUICIDE . I AFFIRM THAT SUICIDE HAS 
ALWAYS BEEN CONSIDERED INCOMPATIBLE WITH OUR RELIGION . " SHE ALSO 
WORRIED OVER THE FATE OF HER THREE YOUNG CHILDREN, 4, 11 
AND 15, BUT REPORTS FROM SAIGON SUGGESTED THAT THEY WERE SAFE 
. SHE ADDED AMID SOBS : " IF REALLY MY FAMILY 
HAS BEEN TREACHEROUSLY KILLED WITH EITHER THE OFFICIAL OR UNOFFICIAL BLESSING 
OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, I CAN PREDICT TO YOU ALL THAT 
THE STORY IN SOUTH VIET NAM IS ONLY AT ITS BEGINNING 
. " THE TRUNG SISTERS . THE REPORTS OF DIEM'S MURDER 
THAT SWEPT THROUGH SAIGON LEFT A COLD CHILL AMONG EVEN THE 
BITTEREST OF HIS ENEMIES . BUT FOR A WHILE NOTHING COULD 
COOL THE EXULTANT CROWDS IN SAIGON . BUDDHIST MONKS, QUICKLY RELEASED 
FROM JAIL BY THE REVOLUTIONARY REGIME, JOINED THE THRONGS . SHOUTING 
STUDENTS TURNED THE TOWN ON END . THE MOB SMASHED BOOKSTORES 
THAT HAD BEEN OWNED BY DIEM'S BROTHER, BISHOP NGO DINH THUC, 
AND BY MADAME NHU . ANOTHER CROWD TOPPLED AND BROKE UP 
THE STATUE OF VIET NAM'S REVEREND TRUNG SISTERS, STALWART VIETNAMESE HEROINES 
WHO FOUGHT CHINESE OVERLORDS IN THE 1ST CENTURY A.D . ; 
THEIR MONUMENT HAD BEEN SPONSORED BY MADAME NHU . AT THE 
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, A SHOUTING ANTI-DIEM CROWD SACKED THE HALL . THEN 
CARRIED DIEM'S PORTRAIT ONTO THE FRONT STEPS AND SHREDDED IT . 
AT FIRST, THE SOLDIERS OF THE MILITARY JUNTA LET THE EXCITEMENT 
RUN ITS COURSE, THEN TROOPS NUDGED THE MOBS OFF MAIN THOROUGHFARES, 
URGING THEM TO QUIET DOWN . THEY OBVIOUSLY HAD ORDERS FROM 
THE NATION'S NEW BOSS,DUONG VAN MINH, TO AVOID THE KIND OF 
TOUGH MEASURES THAT MIGHT MAKE ENEMIES FOR HIS REGIME . ORIENTAL 
GULLIVER . EIGHT YEARS AGO, GENERAL DUONG VAN MINH MADE A 
TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO SAIGON TO THE CHEERS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN . 
MINH'S TROOPS HAD HUNTED DOWN THE LAST GUERRILLA FORCES OF THE 
DREADED BINH XUYEN BANDITS, A SORT OF ORIENTAL COSA NOSTRA THAT 
PILLAGED THE COUNTRYSIDE AND CONTROLLED VICE IN SAIGON . SOMETIMES IT 
WAS KNOWN AS " THE WHOREHOUSE SECT . " SO MOVED 
WAS PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM BY MINH'S VICTORY THAT HE KISSED 
HIS GENERAL ON BOTH CHEEKS . IF SHEER HEFT COULD HELP 
HIM RUN SOUTH VIET NAM, BIG MINH WOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM 
. A GULLIVER AMONG HIS COUNTRY'S LILLIPUTIANS, HE STANDS JUST UNDER 
6 FT . AND WEIGHS AROUND 200 LBS., HAS A PRONOUNCED 
SLOUCH CAUSED FROM CONSTANTLY HAVING TO STOOP OVER TO HEAR HIS 
COUNTRYMEN . AMERICAN MILITARY ADVISERS NICKNAMED HIM BIG TO DISTINGUISH HIM 
FROM A SMALLER-STATURED FELLOW OFFICER WHO IS NOT RELATED TO HIM, 
LIEUT . GENERAL TRAN VAN ( " LITTLE " ) MINH 
. VIETNAMESE GOOD-NATUREDLY CALL MINH " BEO, " OR FAT BOY 
. PRISON TO PRISON . BORN IN MYTHO, 35 MILES SOUTHWEST 
OF SAIGON, MINH GRADUATED FROM A LYCEE RUN BY THE FRENCH, 
IN 1940 ENLISTED IN THE FRENCH COLONIAL ARMY AND WAS COMMISSIONED 
A 2ND LIEUTENANT . HE SPENT MOST OF WORLD WAR II 
SERVING UNDER A VICHY COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION THAT DID THE BIDDING OF 
THE JAPANESE INVADERS . BUT IN MARCH 1945, WHEN VICHY SURRENDERED 
THE FRENCH COLONY TO THE JAPANESE OUTRIGHT, MINH JOINED A BAND 
OF DEFIANT, LOWER-ECHELON SOLDIERS WHO ORGANIZED HEROIC BUT FUTILE RESISTANCE TO 
THE CAPITULATION . MINH WAS TAKEN PRISONER BY THE JAPANESE, BEATEN 
AND TORTURED BY HAVING MOST OF HIS TEETH YANKED OUT . 
MINH IS PROUD OF HIS DENTAL SCARS AND TODAY, WHEN HE 
NEGLECTS TO WEAR HIS FALSE-TOOTH PLATE, HE SMILES JUST THE SAME, 
UNINHIBITEDLY SHOWING OFF HIS HALF-EMPTY MOUTH . RELEASED BY THE JAPANESE 
AFTER TWO MONTHS, MINH DULY REPORTED BACK TO THE FRENCH ONLY 
TO BE JAILED FOR HIS INSURRECTION . HE AND SEVERAL OTHER 
PRISONERS WERE PUT IN A CROWDED, REEKING CELL WITH NEITHER LIGHT 
NOR TOILET, ANKLEDEEP IN HUMAN EXCREMENT . MINH " ALMOST WENT 
CRAZY, " WAS FREED AFTER THREE MONTHS, THANKS TO A FELLOW 
PRISONER WHO WAS RELEASED BEFORE MINH AND INTERVENED ON HIS BEHALF 
WITH THE FRENCH COMMANDANT . THE FRIEND : NGUYEN NGOC THO, 
DIEM'S VICE PRESIDENT AND THE MILITARY JUNTA'S CHOICE LAST WEEK FOR 
PREMIER . ALTHOUGH MINH IS UNIVERSALLY DEEMED ANTI-COMMUNIST AND PRO-WEST, THE 
EXPERIENCE IN JAIL HEIGHTENED HIS NATIONALISM . HOWEVER, AFTER HIS RELEASE, 
HE ACCEPTED A PROMOTION TO 1ST LIEUTENANT IN THE FRENCH FORCES, 
SPENT FOUR YEARS ATTACHED TO THE PUPPET REGIME OF EMPEROR BAO 
DAI . IN 1952, WITH INDEPENDENCE ONLY TWO YEARS AWAY, MINH 
TRANSFERRED TO THE NEWLY FORMED VIETNAMESE ARMY WITH THE GRADE OF 
MAJOR . AFTER A STINT OF ADVANCED STUDY AT PARIS' GENERAL 
STAFF SCHOOL, HE RETURNED AND, FOLLOWING DIEM'S INSTALLATION IN 1955, LAUNCHED 
HIS GUERRILLA-STYLE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE BINH XUYEN BANDITS . HE ALSO 
HELPED DIEM IN HIS CAMPAIGN TO SUBDUE TWO FANATIC, REBELLIOUS RELIGIOUS 
SECTS, THE HOA HAO AND CAO DAI . AFTER A SECOND 
TRAINING TOUR ABROAD THIS ONE AT THE U.S . ARMY COMMAND 
AND GENERAL STAFF COLLEGE AT FORT LEAVENWORTH, WHERE HE PICKED UP 
SERVICEABLE ENGLISH MINH IN 1958 WAS CHOSEN BY DIEM TO BE 
THE FIRST BOSS OF A FIELD OPERATIONS COMMAND TO COORDINATE THE 
MOUNTING WAR AGAINST COMMUNIST VIET CONG GUERRILLAS . GENERALS WITHOUT COMMANDS 
. LIKE MANY OF HIS BROTHER OFFICERS, MINH WAS TO BECOME 
DISENCHANTED WITH THE PRESIDENT'S RULE, WHICH OFTEN CUT HUMILIATING THROUGH THEIR 
CHAINS OF COMMAND . ONCE, WITHOUT SO MUCH AS ADVISING THE 
AREA COMMANDER, THE PRESIDENT'S BROTHER, NGO DINH NHU, ORDERED AN ENTIRE 
BATTALION TRANSFERRED 80 MILES FROM CANTHO TO SAIGON . MINH PROTESTED 
PRIVATELY : " GENERALS DO NOT HAVE POWER OF COMMAND, THEREFORE 
I DO NOT COMMAND . " HE WAS ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT 
LACK OF POPULAR SUPPORT IN THE WAR AGAINST THE VIET CONG, 
BUT HE TOOK NO PART IN THE ABORTIVE 1960 COUP . 
IN THE END, HOWEVER, MINH SUFFERED FOR HIS VIEWS, WHICH ULTIMATELY 
REACHED THE PALACE . LAST YEAR, EVEN THOUGH MINH WAS BEING 
PUSHED VIGOROUSLY BY GENERAL PAUL D . HARKINS, HIS FIELD OPERATIONS 
COMMAND WAS ABOLISHED, AND MINH WAS ASSIGNED AS " MILITARY ADVISER 
" TO THE PRESIDENT A MEANINGLESS POST IN WHICH HE WAS 
UNDER DIEM'S SURVEILLANCE TALK WITH THE PENTAGON . THE DOWNGRADING FAILED 
TO DIMINISH U.S . ENTHUSIASM FOR MINH, WHO IMPRESSED THEM NOT 
ONLY IN MILITARY ABILITY . HE IS ONE OF HIS COUNTRY'S 
TOP ALL-ROUND ATHLETES, EXCELS AT TENNIS, SOCCER, SWIMMING AND BOATING . 
MINH USED TO DELIGHT IN RUNNING HIS 16-FT . MOTORBOAT UP 
AND DOWN THE SAIGON RIVER BY MEANS OF A REMOTECONTROL STEERING 
SYSTEM, TERRORIZING ALL OTHER RIVER TRAFFIC . ONE DAY, A FEW 
YEARS AGO, MINH WAS MATCHED AGAINST VISITING GENERAL MAXWELL TAYLOR IN 
A SET OF TENNIS DOUBLES AND LATER EXULTED : " WE 
WHIPPED THE HELL OUT OF THEM . " IN THE ANGRY 
AFTERMATH OF LAST AUGUST'S " SPECIAL FORCES " RAIDS ON BUDDHIST 
PAGODAS, EYES FELL ON MINH AS A MAN WHO MIGHT LEAD 
A COUP . KNOWING THAT HE WAS SUSPECT, MINH TOOK CARE 
NOT TO IMPLICATE HIMSELF ; AS RECENTLY AS TWO WEEKS AGO, 
HE SHOWED UP WITH DIEM AT A PALACE CEREMONY . BUT 
WITHIN THE PAST MONTH, MINH PARTICIPATED IN AN AFTERNOON'S TALK WITH 
A VISITING PENTAGON OFFICIAL IN WHICH THE POSSIBILITIES OF A COUP 
WERE DISCUSSED . THE FAT BOY SUGGESTED THAT HE WAS NOT 
THE MAN TO LEAD IT, IF IT CAME, BECAUSE HE CONSIDERS 
HIMSELF A WEAK ADMINISTRATOR . MINH EVIDENTLY FOUND HIS ADMINISTRATOR IN 
ARISTOCRATIC, FRENCH-EDUCATED LIEUT . GENERAL TRAN VAN DON, 46, ACTING CHIEF 
OF THE JOINT GENERAL STAFF, CO-LEADER OF THE COUP, AND THE 
SHARPEST STAFF OFFICER IN SOUTH VIET NAM . SAYS ONE U.S 
. OFFICER OF MINH : " HE IS A VERY NICE 
MAN AND VERY TOUGH, BUT GENERAL DON IS MORE CAPABLE . 
" BIG MINH MAY LACK THE POLITICAL TALENT TO BECOME THE 
LEADER HIS COUNTRY NEEDS, BUT HE HAS SEVERAL IMPORTANT FACTORS GOING 
FOR HIM . FOR ONE THING, HE IS A CAREER INFANTRYMAN 
WITH A BULLDOG FACE AND A TOP SERGEANT'S BLUNTNESS, YET IS 
POPULAR IN THE RANKS . NEXT, HE IS CLEAN OF CORRUPTION 
OR A PRO-COMMUNIST PAST . FINALLY, BIG MINH IS POPULAR AMONG 
CIVILIANS . HE DRINKS SO LITTLE THAT ONE JOKE HAS IT 
THAT A QUART OF WHISKY WOULD LAST HIM A YEAR . 
HE IS MARRIED TO A PRETTY VIETNAMESE WIFE, HAS THREE CHILDREN 
. HE IS A BUDDHIST WHO ESCHEWS FANATICISM . SAID ONE 
VIETNAMESE LAST WEEK : " EVERYONE KNOWS GENERAL MINH . HE 
FOUGHT THE WHOREHOUSE SECT . HE IS A GOOD MAN . 
/ 