Major Matthew Sy Dang, (Vietnamese: Matheo Đặng Sỹ; born July 29, 1929 – died November 11, 2006[1][2]) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He acquired a degree of infamy for ordering his soldiers to open fire on a crowd of Buddhists demonstrating against a ban on the Buddhist flag, leading to the Huế Vesak shootings in which nine people died. This sparked the Buddhist crisis and downfall of Ngô Đình Diệm.
Contents |
Born in the province of Thừa Thiên, Huế, Sy Dang came from a long line of devout Roman Catholics, including Michael Dinh-Hy Ho, one of the "Vietnamese Martyrs".[3] He attended a Lasallian school, graduated from National Military Academy of Da Lat as first Lieutenant. His father was a captain for the local national guard unit.
At age 14, Sy Dang ventured as an interpreter for the local French garrison. He tried the prospect of being a Christian Brother, like his mother's brother, but found out he was not suited for a pious, teaching life. He decided to follow a military career. He married Cam De Nguyen at age 21. She converted to Roman Catholicism; the couple had 10 children.
After his graduation from Vietnamese National Military Academy of Da Lat and attended U.S. Infantry Center & School at Fort Benning, Sy Dang quickly progressed to the rank of major, assigned to the First Infantry Division and was named as deputy Governor and Security Chief, in charge of Thừa Thiên and Huế city. While in this position, he was embroiled in the midst of political unrests such as the Huế Vesak shootings. He ordered his men to open fire on the demonstrators, and nine died in the ensuing chaos. .
As Deputy Governor in charge of Huế's security, Major Sy Dang was held responsible for the deaths of nine Buddhists. Many accounts, which included official CIA reports and U.S. State Department Weekly reports, indicated that Major Dang took direct actions that caused these deaths.[4][5] There are other minority accounts, which suggested Major Dang was at the right time and place for a set-up by third party with interests in seeing the Diệm regime fall. Journalists Arthur Dommen and Ellen Hammer speculated that an American serviceman and a handful CIA operatives orchestrated the entire affair.[6]
Marguerite Higgins and an independent United Nations investigative team reported on May 8, 1963 at 8:00 p.m. that a large crowd, under the leadership of Thích Trí Quang, besieged Huế radio station demanding religious rights. The station director refused their demands and barricaded himself. He called on the local fire station and government security forces for help. The firemen were unable to disperse the crowd with fire hose. Dang's security forces arrived, with armored vehicles, to negotiate with the venerable and the station director. An agreement was reached and the venerable was working to disperse the crowd. A series of explosions blasted exterior of the radio station while Dang and Quang were inside, causing a massive stampede. In defense against possible Việt Cộng attack in darkness, Dang signaled his men, with three shots to the air, to use MK3A2 concussion grenades to subdue the crowd and secure the area. After the crowd dispersed, there were 8 people dead and 1 person dying.[7]
The Diệm government dismissed charges of misconduct. Later, however, the South Vietnamese military junta tried and Dang and sentenced him to death in 1964 for charges including shooting into an unarmed crowd, having armored vehicles ran over protesters, and using dangerous, high explosives for crowd control. Dang, primarily on his own, maintained his and his men's innocence. When the military tribunal pronounced sentence, thousands lined the streets in protest, prompting some international observers to speculate that an internal civil war was about to erupt.[8] Facing internal unrest and U.S. government disapproval, Khánh commuted Dang's death sentence to life with hard labour at Con Son with payments to victims' families.
In 1967, the Thiệu civilian government repealed the life sentence and restored his rank. Dang chose to resign to civilian life and worked at Bank of America in Saigon.
From 1969 until the Fall of Saigon, he was the chairman of the executive board for an import-export company, South Asia Facilities. After April 1975, Dang was imprisoned for his military career with the former regime. In March 1980, Dang was released and escaped to Indonesia by boat. He was reunited with his family in December of the same year. Subsequently, he worked with Baltimore County Department of Social Services and U.S. Catholic Charities to help Vietnamese refugees until his retirement.
Sy Dang died on November 11, 2006, aged 77, at his home in Maryland.