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This is a Vietnamese name; the family name is Ngô. According to Vietnamese custom, this person properly should be referred to by the given name Cẩn.

Ngô Đình Cẩn (1911–1964) was a younger brother, confidant and subordinate of South Vietnam's first president Ngô Đình Diệm and an important member of his government. Diem put Can in charge of the central Vietnam, stretching from Phan Thiet in the south to the border at the 17th parallel, acting as a virtual dictator of the region. His base of operations was in the former imperial capital of Huế, from where he operated his private armies and secret police. In his youth, Can was a follower of the nationalist Phan Boi Chau. In the late 1940s and early 1950s he worked to organise support for Diem as various Vietnamese groups and international powers sought to the establish control over the country. Noted for his success in eliminating alternative nationalist opposition in central Vietnam, Can effectively became the warlord of the region when his brother became president. Can was known for his activities in smuggling goods and government corruption as well as his autocratic ruling style. He was also regarded as an effective leader against the Vietcong insurgency, which was much weaker in his region than in other parts of South Vietnam as it struggled to cope with Can's Popular Force militia. Vietnamese names generally consist of three parts: a family name, a middle name, and a given name, used in that order. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Anthem Thanh niên Hành Khúc (Call to the Citizens) Capital Saigon Language(s) Vietnamese Government Republic Last President¹ Duong Van Minh Last Prime minister Vu Van Mau Historical era Cold War  - Regime change June 14, 1955  - Dissolution April 30, 1975 Area  - 1973 173,809 km² 67,108... Ngô Đình Diệm â–¶(?) «ngoh dihn zih-ehm» (January 3, 1901 – November 2, 1963) was the first President of the Republic of Vietnam (1955–63). ... The introduction of this article does not provide enough context for readers unfamiliar with the subject. ... Huế (化 in Vietnamese Chữ nôm, 順化 in Chinese characters) is the former modern capital of Vietnam. ... Phan Bá»™i Châu (Chữ nôm 潘佩珠 1867-1940) was a pioneer of Vietnamese twentieth century nationalism. ... A Viet Cong soldier, heavily guarded, awaits interrogation following capture in the attacks on Saigon during the festive Tet holiday period of 1968. ...

Over time his influence waned as his elder brother Ngo Dinh Thuc was appointed Archbishop of Huế. Thuc overshadowed Can and desecularised the region, which came to a head with the banning of the Buddhist flag in 1963 during Vesak, the birthday of Gautama Buddha. Forces under the command of Can opened fire on the Buddhists protesting the ban, killing nine and precipitating the Buddhist crisis. Ongoing demonstrations intensified throughout the summer as the regime responded with increased brutality, sparking the toppling of the Diem regime in a coup in November 1963. Can had been offered asylum by the US Department of State, but the US ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. had him apprehended on arrival in Saigon by a CIA agent. He was turned over to the military junta and was tried and executed in 1964. Archbishop Peter Martin Ngo Dinh Thuc (October 6, 1897 - December 13, 1984), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hué, Vietnam, was born in Hué, on October 6, 1897, of Catholic parents. ... Buddhist flag The Buddhist flag is a flag designed to symbolise Buddhism. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... Standing Buddha sculpture, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Thich Tri Quang, leader of the Buddhist protests. ... On November 1, 1963, President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam was deposed in a CIA-backed coup detat led by Duong Van Minh. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ...

Rule

In his youth, Can had met with the renowned anti-French Vietnamese nationalist Phan Boi Chau, who spent his last years in Huế. Can regularly travelled to Chau's sampan on the Perfume River with gifts of food and listening to Chau's political lectures.^[1] After 1945, Vietnam was in chaos. The Japanese invaded during the Second World War and displaced the French. At the end of the war, the Japanese had left and France had been severely weakened and was unable to exert control. Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh declared independence under the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and battled other Vietnamese nationalist groups as well as the French forces while Nationalist China was also acting in a security role. During this time, Can was actively organising a clandestine support base for Diem in the central region as well as extending his personal support. He helped to crush other anti-communist nationalist groups such as the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang (Vietnamese Nationalist Party) and the Dai Viet (Great Vietnam Party).^[2] Phan Bá»™i Châu (Chữ nôm 潘佩珠 1867-1940) was a pioneer of Vietnamese twentieth century nationalism. ... The Perfume River (in Vietnamese is Sông HÆ°Æ¡ng or HÆ°Æ¡ng Giang, Hán nôm 香江) is a river crossing capital city of Huế, in the central Vietnamese province of Thừa Thiên Huế. The Perfume River has two sources which both begin in the Truong Son... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Hồ Chí Minh   (May 19, 1890 – September 2, 1969) was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman, who later became Prime Minister (1946–1955) and President (1946–1969) of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. ... The Viet Minh (abbreviated from Việt Nam Ðộc Lập Ðồng Minh Hội, League for the Independence of Vietnam) was formed by Ho Ngoc Lam and Nguyen Hai Than in 1941 to seek independence for Vietnam from France. ... The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa), also known as North Vietnam, was founded by Ho Chi Minh and was recognized by China and the USSR in 1950. ... Nationalist China was an informal phrase to describe the Republic of China government in Taiwan during the Cold War. ...

Regarded as the least educated of his family,^[3] Can had never travelled outside Vietnam and was the only one to have not received a European education.^[4] With the ascent of Diem to power in 1955, Can's stock rose. Can held no formal position in the government but was regarded, in effect as the warlord of central Vietnam. He had almost unlimited power in the region, often interfering with army operations and against the Vietcong in a style described as "feudal". He ran his own personal army and secret police, which fought the Vietcong, as well as crushing and imprisoning other dissidents. He was regarded as the most oppressive of the Ngo brothers in crushing dissent, using torture and re-education camps. He accumulated great wealth by corrupt practices such as graft while seeking foreign aid contracts from the United States governments of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy respectively, requiring a fee to the National Revolutionary Movement in return for the applications being processed. He was widely believed to be involved in illegal smuggling of rice to North Vietnam on the black market and opium throughout Asia via Laos, as well as monopolising the cinnamon trade.^[5][6] A Viet Cong soldier, heavily guarded, awaits interrogation following capture in the attacks on Saigon during the festive Tet holiday period of 1968. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Development aid. ... Dwight David Ike Eisenhower, born David Dwight Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American General and politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953–1961). ... John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also referred to as John F. Kennedy, Kennedy, John Kennedy, Jack Kennedy, or JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of the United States. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN), or less commonly, Vietnamese Democratic Republic (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa), also known as North Vietnam, was proclaimed by Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, September 2nd1945 and was recognized by the Peoples Republic of China and the... This article does not adequately cite its references. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Binomial name J.Presl Cassia (Chinese cinnamon) is also commonly called (and sometimes sold as) cinnamon. ...

Can was also often in conflict with his brothers on internal matters, with another brother Ngô Đình Nhu controlling the southern part of the country. The brothers competed with each other for US contracts and rice trade, but did not territorially interfere with one another.^[7] He had also once tried to set up an office for his secret police in Saigon, by showing Diem his high list of arrests of political opponents, but insisted that he not have to report to Nhu.^[8] Government appointed officials posted to central Vietnam from Saigon were sometimes vetoed by Can.^[9] Robert Scigliano, an academic from a Michigan State University advisory group hired by Diem, said that Can, along with Nhu, Madame Nhu and eldest brother Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc formed "an extralegal elite which, with Diem, directs the destiny of Vietnam today."^[6] Comparing him to his brothers, Scigliano said "He is also considered the most severe, some would say primitive, member of the family and he rules his domain with a strict and sometimes brutal hand." Referring to his autocratic style, a Vietnamese critic said that unlike Diem, Can's autocracy was consistent and left his followers in no doubt as to what he wanted:"They are not confused by double talk about democratic ideals and institutions." This trait of creating a well defined system of incentive and deterrence was one of the reasons to which his success was attributed.^[10] Ngô Ðình Nhu Ngô Ðình Nhu, born in Vietnam, was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnams first President, Ngô Ðình Diệm. ... Michigan State University (MSU) is a co-educational public research university in East Lansing, Michigan USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act. ... Madame Nhu Madame Nhu (aka Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu), (born Tran Le Xuan) (1924), (Hanoi), Vietnam, was the granddaughter of Emperor Dong Khanh. ... Archbishop Peter Martin Ngo Dinh Thuc (October 6, 1897 - December 13, 1984), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hué, Vietnam, was born in Hué, on October 6, 1897, of Catholic parents. ...

In spite of his autocracy and iron rule, Can gained praise from US officials in Huế for his relative success in combating the Vietcong insurgency. Can's central region was much more peaceful than the restive areas near Saigon and the Mekong Delta. Can had created the "Popular Force" organisation to operate in the central region, which was an alternative to the Strategic Hamlet Program which was used in a much larger scale in the south by Nhu to move peasants into fortified camps in an attempt to isolate Vietcong cadres. Can assumed that around one third of the villagers in the countryside was pro-Vietcong. He reasoned that they were of a significant proportion so as to disrupt any hamlets from the inside and render the hamlets ineffective by intimidating other villagers. Can's Popular Force were a group of volunteers who underwent rigid training similar to that of US Marines in boot camp. Those who passed the training would be put into units of 150 men who were assigned to live and work in the villages by day. At night they would do defense patrols with hit and run tactics against the Vietcong. According to the report by US officials in the central region, the program had aroused villager support due to the integration of the Force's personnel into its daily life and the sense of security that it provided. The units were regarded as being successful in their six month deployments, allowing them to move onto the next troublespot.^[11] Officials in Washington disagreed with their men on the ground in central Vietnam, alleging that Can was mainly using the Popular Force for repressing dissidents.^[12] A Viet Cong soldier, heavily guarded, awaits interrogation following capture in the attacks on Saigon during the festive Tet holiday period of 1968. ... Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thành Chí Minh) is the largest city in Vietnam, located near the delta of the Mekong River. ... Mekong River Delta from space, February 1996 Mekong Delta, February 2005. ... The Strategic Hamlet Program was a plan by the governments of South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War to combat the nationalist insurgency by means of population transfer. ... United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the second smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. ... Boot Camp is a software assistant made available by Apple Inc. ... Hit and run is the act of hitting an object with a vehicle and leaving the location of the incident. ...

Buddhist crisis

See also: Hue Vesak shootings

Can was considered the most secular of the four Ngo brothers who ruled Vietnam's domestic affairs. With the appointment of elder brother Thuc as the Archbishop of Huế in 1961, Can was eclipsed and became less influential as Thuc aggressively blurred the distinction between church and state. In early 1963 his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu, Diem's chief adviser, sent an emissary from Saigon telling Can to retire and leave the country for Japan.^[13] This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Ngô Ðình Nhu Ngô Ðình Nhu  , born in Vietnam, was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnams first President, Ngô Ðình Diệm. ...

His elder brother Ngô Đình Thục served as the Catholic archbishop of Huế, and unrest erupted in the summer of 1963. After Catholic flags were permitted at an anniversary celebration for Thuc's appointment, Buddhist flags were banned from being flown at Vesak on June 8, the commemoration of the birth of Gautama Buddha. Can's subordinates ordered his forces to open fire on the unarmed Buddhist demonstrators, killing nine.^[8] Can thought that the US were responsible for the explosion during the Vesak shootings in order to destablise the regime, with which relations had become strained.^[14] This is a Vietnamese name; the family name is Ngô, but is often simplified as Ngo Thục Archbishop Ngô Đình Thuc Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục (approximately pronounced Ngoh Din Took ) (October 6, 1897–December 13, 1984), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Huế, Vietnam, was born in Huế, on... In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. ... Huế (化 in Vietnamese Chữ nôm, 順化 in Chinese characters) is the former modern capital of Vietnam. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... Standing Buddha sculpture, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet. ...

Another notable religious incident occurred under Can's rule of the central region in 1963. In a small pond near the central city of Da Nang, a hugely oversized carp was found swimming. Local Buddhists began to believe that the fish was a reincarnation of one of Gautama Buddha’s disciples. As pilgrimages to the pond grew larger and more frequent, so did disquiet among the district chief and his officials, who answered to Can. The pond was mined, but the fish swam on unhindered. After raking the pond with machine gun fire, the fish still lived. To deal with the problem, the Special Forces of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) led by Colonel Le Quang Tung under the direction of Nhu, were called in. The pond was grenaded, killing the carp. The incident generated more publicity as newspapers across the world ran stories about the miraculous fish. South Vietnamese army helicopters began landing at the site, with ARVN paratroopers filling their bottles with water which they believed had magical powers.^[15] This article is about the city of Da Nang. ... Genera Abramis Aristichthys Barbodes Carassius Cirrhinus Ctenopharyngodon Cyprinus Epalzeorhynchos Henicorhynchus Hypophthalmichthys Labeo Mylopharyngodon and others Carp is a common name for various freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fishes that dominates the fish faunas of Eurasia and North America. ... Reincarnation, literally to be made flesh again, is a doctrine or mystical belief that some essential part of a living being (in some variations only human beings) survives death to be reborn in a new body. ... Standing Buddha sculpture, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet. ... The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was a military component of the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam). ... Colonel Le Quang Tung (1923-1963) was the head of the Army of the Republic of Vietnams Special Forces under the command of Ngo Dinh Nhu, the brother of South Vietnams president Ngo Dinh Diem. ...

Downfall and execution

A staunch supporter of his brother's policies, Can was tried and executed in a public square in Saigon by the new administration following the deposition of his brother.^[5] During the summer, the Buddhists had organised protests against the religious bias of the Diem regime. The protests were met with brutal crackdowns including ARVN Special Forces attacks on Buddhist pagodas which left hundreds missing, presumed dead. As public discontent heightened, a coup by ARVN officers was planned and executed in November. This came about after Ton That Dinh, a young 37 year old general who had risen quickly through the Army of the Republic of Vietnam as a protege of Can, double crossed the Diem regime and helped the coup when his division was expected to remain loyal. ^[16] Diem and Nhu were executed during the coup.^[17] Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thành Chí Minh) is the largest city in Vietnam, located near the delta of the Mekong River. ... Tôn Thất Đính (born 1926) was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, who was one of the key figures in the coup which deposed Ngo Dinh Diem, the nations first president, in 1963. ... The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was a military component of the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam). ...

The White House came under public pressure from South Vietnamese to take a hard line on Can. Mass graves containing 200 bodies had been found on his land. The US consul in Huế, John Helble, confirmed the existence of rows of 18th century style dungeons with filthy, dark cells in an old French arsenal. Although General Tran Van Don, a member of the military junta publicly asserted that the compound predated the Diem era, the town's citizens believed that Can was a mass murderer. Two days after the coup ended on November 2, thousands of angry town people walked two miles to Can's house on the city's outskirts where he lived with his aged mother, demanding vengeance. The junta had ringed the home with barbed wire and armoured cars, sensing that the populace would want Can punished. Can had already escaped to a Catholic seminary. The US State Department was faced with a dilemma: sheltering Can would associate them with protection of a corrupt and authoritarian regime that had killed and tortured hundreds of thousands of its own people. On the other hand, allowing him to be attacked by angry mobs would damage the reputation of the new junta which the Americans were backing. It instructed that "asylum should be granted to Ngo Dinh Can if he is in physical danger from any source. If asylum granted explain to Huế authorities further violence would harm international reputation new regime. Also recall to them that U.S. took similar action to protect Tri Quang from Diem government and can do no less in Can case." A cable was sent to the US embassy in Saigon from the White House on November 4 agreeing that Can and his mother needed to be evacuated. General Do Cao Tri, the commander of the First Corps of the ARVN who had repressed the Buddhists in Huế, privately told Can that the junta would allow him safe passage. On November 5, Can sought refuge at the US consulate with a valise crammed with US dollar bills. Tri was then told that Can was not safe in Huế and that he was to send Can to Saigon immediately for his protection. Tri would only promise Can's safe passage to Saigon in an American plane where embassy officials were to meet him. Can was accompanied by four Americans: a vice-consul, two military policemen and a lieutenant colonel.^[18] He had intended to ask for asylum in Japan.^[19] Tran Van Don (born 1917 in Bordeaux, France) was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and one of the principal figures in the coup which deposed Ngo Dinh Diem from the presidency of South Vietnam. ... Thich Tri Quang is a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist bhikkhu best known for his role in leading South Vietnam’s Buddhist majority during the Buddhist crisis in 1963. ... Lieutenant General Do Cao Tri questions a North Vietnamese prisoner in Cambodia during the incursion of 1970 Do Cao Tri (20 November]] 1929 - 23 February 1970 was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). ...

However, the US ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, who had abetted the coup had other ideas and sent CIA agent Lucien Conein, who helped the Vietnamese generals to plan the coup, to Tan Son Nhut airport instead of embassy officials. Conein turned Can over to the junta. Lodge said that General Don had promised that Can would be dealt with "legally and judicially". Lodge told Washington that asylum was unnecessary saying "It seems to me that our reason for giving him asylum therefore no longer exists" and the US could not interfere with justice, since Can was "undoubtedly a reprehensible figure who deserves all the loathing which he now receives." Lodge reasoned that since Can would not be killed, protecting him would give the impression that the US backed his activities. Lodge said that General Duong Van Minh, who was the President, had implied that Can would receive clemencncy even if sentenced to death despite Conein asserting that the feeling among Army of the Republic of Vietnam officers was that Can should be executed. Can's case was damaged with the release of tens of thousands of political prisoners, who recollected tales of torture at the hands of the Ngo brothers.^[20] Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 – November 9, 1924) was an American statesman, a Republican politician, and noted historian. ... Lt. ... Hồ Chí Minh International Airport (also called Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport) is Vietnams largest international airport. ... Dương Văn Minh (February 16, 1916 – August 6, 2001), known popularly as Big Minh, led the South Vietnamese army under Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem. ... The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was a military component of the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam). ...

It was reported that General Nguyen Khanh, who had displaced Minh in a coup in January 1964, offered Can exile if Can gave him the funds he had deposited in foreign bank accounts. Can refused, saying he had no money. Don suggested that Khanh would have executed Can anyway, since Can would have known of the corruption that the generals, such as Khanh, who commanded a division in Can's zone, were party to. Can's lawyers used the provision in the legal code which allowed an appeal to the head of state for clemency. This placed Minh, who was still the titular head of state, in the position of approving a third death in the Ngo family, having already ordered his bodyguard Nguyen Van Nhung to execute Diem and Nhung during the coup. By the time Can was executed, his elderly mother had died and his diabetic condition had worsened during the trial. He suffered a heart attack while in jail and on May 9, 1964 was carried on a stretcher into the prison courtyard and assisted by two Catholic priests and some guards onto a post to which he was tied. He was blindfolded against his request and shot in front of approximately 200 spectators. Lodge later defended his conduct by saying that the US had done all that it could to prevent the executions. Lodge publicly claimed that Can would have been allowed refuge at the US embassy, conveniently overlooking the fact that he ordered Can to be intercepted at the airport by Conein. Father Cao Van Luan, the rector of Huế University who had been fired for opposing the crackdown on the Buddhists had asked Lodge that Can not be executed. According to Luan, Lodge had assured him that this would not occur.^[21] He left his personal fortune, which had been stored in foreign banks, to Catholic charities.^[22] On January 30 1964, a successful coup lead by General Nguyen Khanh ousted the military junta lead by General Duong Van Minh from the leadership of South Vietnam. ... Captain Nguyen Van Nhung was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. ...

Notes

Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Buttinger, Joseph (1967). Vietnam:A Dragon Embattled. Praeger publishers. 
• Hammer, Ellen J. (1987). A Death in November. E. P. Dutton. ISBN 0-525-24210-4. 
• Jones, Howard (2003). Death of a Generation. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505286-2. 
• Karnow, Stanley (1997). Vietnam:A history. Penguin Books, 210. ISBN 0-670-84218-4. 
• Langguth, A. J. (2000). Our Vietnam. Simon and Schuster, 99. ISBN 0-684-81202-9. 
• Prochnau, William (1995). Once upon a Distant War. Vintage. 
• Scigliano, Robert (1964). South Vietnam:nation under stress. Houghton Miffin. 
• Tucker, Spencer C. (2000). Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War. ABC-CLIO, 288–289. ISBN 1-57607-040-0.