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Tài liệu lịch sử giá trị ...


Bài viết thuộc phương diện lịch sử của ngày chính biến 27 tháng 2 năm 1962 của 2 phi công Phạm Phú Quốc và Nguyễn Văn Cử. Rất tiếc trong văn khố lịch sử thế giới không có phiên bản tiếng việt, tạm thời lưu lại bằng tiếng Anh. Tôi sẽ sưu tầm bản tiếng Việt và bổ túc sau.

HNCX.



SOUTH VIETNAM DURABLE DIEM

FLIGHT OF THE REBELS

On the early morning of Feb. 27, 1962, two VNAF Skyraiders took off from Bien Hoa airbase
for a close air support in the 4th tactical corps, but instead of flying straight to the target
area, both aircraft made a sharp right turn to Saigon vicinity and bombed the Presidential
Independence Palace. In an attempt to assassinate President Ngo Dinh Diem, the two young First Lt. Pham Phu
Quoc and Second Lt. Nguyen Van Cu destroyed the left wing of the Presidential Palace
by dropping their 500 lbs bombs. President Ngo Dinh Diem narrowly escaped the air raid.
Lt. Nguyen Van Cu flew to Cambodia for political asylum and Lt. Pham Phu Quoc survived
a crash-landing in Saigon River. It is necessary to remind that at that time period,
President Ngo Dinh Diem's administration had been criticized for his authoritarianism against
political dissidents and for the tacit policy of Buddhism persecution; not counting his tight
grip on power by appointing his close relatives at many positions throughout the upper
echelon of central and provincial government. In that political atmosphere, the "renegade"
P.P.Quoc endured harsh interrogation while in incarceration. On1st November of 1963, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) launched a coup
d'etat and succeeded in overthrowing Ngo Dinh Diem's administration and paved way for the
start of the 2nd Republic of South Vietnam. Lt. Pham Phu Quoc was then reintegrated into
the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) and later rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel. On a bombing mission over North Vietnam, Lt. Colonel P.P. Quoc's Skyraider was shot
down when he tried to put out a Communist triple-A position near Vinh province. The enemy's
anti-aircraft artillery was destroyed, but it was also Pham Phu Quoc's last flight on April 19th
of 1965. There is a well-known song "Huyen Su Ca Mot Nguoi Mang Ten Quoc" (Epic song of a man
named Quoc), which was written by popular songwriter Pham Duy to dedicate to P.P.Quoc's
services and his sacrifice. And in the memories of most Vietnamese Southerners who lived
during that political turmoil of that time frame, Pham Phu Quoc has been always mourned
and admired for his patriotism. Westerners used to mock a fledging democratic nation or a third-world country as a "Banana
Republic," for one of its characteristics is the common coup d'etat, in which the military Top
Brass would not hesitate to takes political matter's solution into their own hands. But the
Silver Lining of that dark cloud "Banana Republic" is It has a lot of unpredictable, true Patriots
who serve no President, no administration, but the country only and those Patriots are the
most fearsome foes to any dictator, tyrant, Communist, or Socialist in this modern time. During the Vietnam War, at a time the Republic of South Vietnam seemed to be a "Banana
Republic" with many coup d'etats and political instability, but Pham Phu Quoc, Nguyen Van
Cu, and the many uncounted junior military Officers of ARVN were her magnificent Silver
Lining. The two young pilots took off for a daring mission as the rebels but they flew into
history forever as the Patriots.

At 7 a.m, in the second-floor study of Saigon's yellow stucco Freedom Palace, South Viet
Nam's President Ngo Dinh Diem was absorbed in a biography of George Washington, the
gift of a recent U.S. visitor. At the sudden roar of an airplane engine, he looked up, hurried
out to the balcony in time to see a fighter plane swooping toward him through the early
morning overcast. Scarcely 16 months ago, autocratic, anti-Communist President Diem had narrowly missed
being overthrown by mutinous paratroopers, and this time he was taking no chances. With
the agility born of experience, short, stocky Diem dashed down the stairs of the palace's
east wing to a cellar fortified against such emergencies, flashed word by telephone to his
military commanders just as a napalm bomb turned the west wing into a smoky shambles.
In a west wing apartment, meanwhile, Diem's brother and sister-in-law, Braintruster Nhu
(still clad in pajamas) and Presidential Hostess Mme. Nhu, snatched three of their children
(a fourth was away from home) and bolted for the basement. In the scramble, Mme. Nhu fell
down the steps, bruising her arms, legs and forehead. Also to the bunker rushed another
brother. Archbishop Thuc, in Saigon for medical treatment. Tanks & Pistols. Roused by the sound of aircraft engines, residents of the city climbed to
their rooftops to see what was happening. Two AD6 Skyraider fighter-bombers of the South
Vietnamese air force were lazily circling the spacious palace grounds, gracefully power-
gliding below the 500-ft. ceiling to drop bombs, fire rockets, strafe the building. Then they
pulled up sharply into the heavy clouds before zooming down for another pass. "With that
weather," said a U.S. Air Force officer, "they did a hell of a job." For about 30 minutes the planes were unmolested as they attacked the palace with four
bombs, eight rockets and cannon fire. Meanwhile, loyal ground troops, anticipating a full-
scale revolution, hastily ringed the palace grounds with tanks. Minesweepers patrolled the
Saigon River. Then two loyal pilots from the Bienhoa air base, twelve miles north of Saigon,
gave chase, but on the ground in Saigon no one knew if the new arrivals were friends or
foes. Antiaircraft fire from tanks, minesweepers, and even policemen's pistols was
indiscriminate. Despite the confusion, most of the people went about their business with
conventional apathy. Pretty girls in billowing silk gracefully pedaled their bicycles, and
motorists stopped for red lights. Finally, a shot from a minesweeper downed one of the
rebel planes, and as the pilot crash-landed in the Saigon River, the other plane fled toward
the Cambodian border about 40 miles away. The downed pilot was picked up by naval craft, quickly asked: "Did I kill that filthy character?"
His identity proved surprising: Lieut. Pham Phu Quoc, a French-trained flying ace in the
South Vietnamese air force who recently was congratulated by President Diem for flying
hundreds of sorties against the Communist Viet Cong. In fact, he and the second aerial rebel
were due to fly an anti-Red mission that morning, headed for the Saigon palace instead.
Lieut. Quoc's fellow attacker was 2nd Lieut. Nguyen Van Cu, a less experienced fighter pilot
with more obvious reasons for discontent: his father, an ex-member of an outlawed political
party opposed to Diem, as well as the Communists, had been briefly jailed a few years ago
for "antigovernment activities." Cu, who was granted political asylum in Cambodia, said his
assassination mission was aimed less at President Diem than at his family and supporters,
"who are hated by the army and the population." Just in Case. Whatever the intention, the mission failed. Known fatalities in the assault were
a servant inside the palace, two other Vietnamese, and U.S. Contractor Sydney Ambrose,
59, of Portland, Ore., who climbed to a shaky, asbestos-covered apartment-house roof to
watch the fireworks, fell through and died in a hospital. Also hospitalized with abrasions was
Mme. Nhu, who, reported one visitor, "cried like a baby." Diem's regime seemed unruffled by the surprise attack, wrote it off as the "isolated act" it
appeared to be. But just to make sure, the National Assembly leaders laid the groundwork
for a possible wholesale roundup of dissidents by urging Diem to "take drastic measures
against irresponsible elements." The President himself came through the assassination attempt with courage and coolness.
Within two hours, he was on the radio with a brief recorded speech to thank "divine protection"
for his escape. Then he paid a hospital visit to soldiers wounded in the battle, reassured the
mutinous pilots' fellow officers that they would bear no share of the blame. President Kennedy
immediately sent a message that denounced the attack as a "destructive and vicious act,"
expressed relief that Diem was "safe and unharmed." The quick U.S. reaction was intended
to show that any hidden sympathizers of the mutinous pilots could expect no backing from Washington.
(Source: time.com)

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