Author Topic: Autobiography of Archbishop Thuc (Read 153855 times)

Persto · « **Reply #660 on:** **Today** at 01:35:10 PM »

https://archive.org/details/ourvietnamnightm0000higg/page/157/mode/1up
Excerpt from Our Vietnam Nightmare by Marguerite Higgins
Diem's Character:

Left to right: Nhu, Abp. Thuc, and President Diem

No Public Funeral for αssαssιnαtҽd President Diem and Brother Nhu
17 years after the recounted encounter between Ho Chi Minh and Deim (in the post above), Diem and his brother Nhu were αssαssιnαtҽd, after a valiant fight for a free and independent Vietnam.

After the assassination, the bodies of President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu were transferred to the General Staff Headquarters for autopsy and the creation of death certificates. His niece Elisabeth recounts (in the video posted above) how her sister Bernadette and cousin were called after their uncles deaths to claim the bodies. Bernadette called her mother (Diem's sister Hiep who was in Hue) to ask her how they could tell whether the bodies were her uncles or not. The bodies were badly beaten and swollen and deformed from being in the sun. Hiep told her daughter to check their pockets. She said Diem always carried a rosary in his pocket. Nhu she said, always carried in his pocket the prayer of the Holy Cross to prepare for a holy death. This was something they had done all their lives. Bernadette and her cousin found these items, and so they were sure that the bodies were of their uncles Diem and Nhu.

Tran Trung Dung was Ngo Dinh Diem's niece and served as Assistant Minister of Defense in the South Vietnamese government. Her husband Lt. General Tran Trung Dung was Minister of Defense for Saigon. She was the one who obtained permission from the military to receive the bodies of Diem and his younger brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, after they were αssαssιnαtҽd. Their remains were then transferred to Saint Paul Hospital, where Mrs.Tran Trung Dung organized the embalming, purchased coffins, and obtained permission for their burial. After the embalming was completed, the 2 coffins were placed in a separate room in the morgue of St Paul Hospital.

The funeral was scheduled for the next day, November 3, 1963, at 12 noon at the French Mac Dinh Chi Cemetery. However, due to threats by Buddhist's to steal the coffins and desecrate the remains, they were temporarily buried at the General Staff Headquarters instead. The photo of the funeral appears to have been taken at night, and only 2 people were permitted to be present besides the priest and guards. The priest performed the ceremony in the presence of Mr. and Mrs. Tran Trung Dung and the Supervisory Committee at the grave. After that, the two coffins were lowered and the grave was later completed at the General Staff (Saigon).

MiracleOfTheSun · « **Reply #661 on:** **Today** at 01:41:18 PM »

I'd never really been aware of the deeply Catholic side to the Vietnamese culture. Excellent posts.

CathInfo.com

Author Topic: Autobiography of Archbishop Thuc (Read 153855 times)

Persto

Re: Autobiography of Archbishop Thuc

MiracleOfTheSun

Re: Autobiography of Archbishop Thuc