Battle of Saigon (1955)
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (March 2013) |
Battle of Saigon | |||||||
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Territory controlled by the Bình Xuyên in 1955 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Bình Xuyên | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
500–1,000 deaths |
History of Ho Chi Minh City |
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Attack on USNS Card (2 May 1964) | |
1964 Brinks Hotel bombing (24 December 1964) | |
1965 United States embassy bombing (30 March 1965) | |
1965 Saigon bombing (25 June 1965) | |
Operation Jackstay (26 March – 6 April 1966) | |
Operation Fairfax (November 1966 - 15 December 1967) | |
Viet Cong attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base (4–5 December 1966) | |
Tet offensive battle of Cholon and Phu Tho Racetrack (31 January-11 February 1968) | |
Tet offensive attack on Joint General Staff Compound (31 January-1 February 1968) | |
Tet offensive attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base (31 January 1968) | |
Tet offensive attack on US Embassy (31 January 1968) | |
Battle of West Saigon (5–12 May 1968) | |
Battle of South Saigon (7–12 May 1968) | |
Hijacking of Pan Am Flight 841 (2 July 1972) | |
Bombing of Tan Son Nhut Air Base (28 April 1975) | |
Operation Frequent Wind (29–30 April 1975) | |
Fall of Saigon (30 April 1975) |
The Battle of Saigon was a week-long battle between the
Prelude
On the midnight of March 29–30, explosions rocked
Battle
The final battle between Diệm's VNA and the Bình Xuyên began on April 28 at mid-day.[1] After initial small-arms fire and mortar exchanges, the VNA resorted to the heaviest artillery in its arsenal. This coincided with growing calls from within the Eisenhower administration to oust Diệm because Eisenhower believed that he was unable to subdue the Bình Xuyên and unify the country. By evening, a large part of the inner city was engulfed in house-to-house combat. By the morning of April 29, the fighting had driven thousands of civilians onto the streets. A square mile of the city, around the densely populated inner-city Chinese district of Chợ Lớn where the Bình Xuyên had a stronghold, became a free-fire zone. Artillery and mortars leveled the poor districts of the city, killing five hundred civilians and leaving twenty thousand homeless. Observers described that fighting from both sides as lacking strategy and relying on brute-force attrition tactics. One of the few maneuvers that was considered tactical was an attempt by the VNA to cut off Bình Xuyên reinforcements by demolishing the bridge across the Saigon–Chợ Lớn canal. This was made moot when the Bình Xuyên threw pontoon bridges across the canal. It appeared that the conflict would be determined by the side which was able to absorb the greater number of losses. Approximately 300 combatants were killed in the first day of fighting.
On the morning of April 28 in Washington, John Foster Dulles, the US Secretary of State phoned J. Lawton Collins to suspend moves aimed at replacing Diệm. Eisenhower had determined that these were to be put on hold pending the outcome of the VNA operation. Collins and Dulles clashed in the National Security Council meeting, with Collins vehemently calling for Diệm to be removed. Collins continued to argue that the attempt to destroy the Bình Xuyên by force would produce a civil war. The NSC endorsed Dulles’ position.
After 48 hours of combat, the VNA began to gain the upper hand. Le Grand Monde, previously
Aftermath
Bảy Viễn escaped to Paris to live out his life on the profits of his criminal ventures, and the VNA pursued the Bình Xuyên remnants into the
References
- ^ "Telegram From the Chargé in Vietnam (Kidder) to the Department of State". US Department of State. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
- Jacobs, Seth (2006). Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam, 1950–1963. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 70–80. ISBN 0-7425-4447-8.
- The Battle of Saigon, by Thê ́Vinh Ngô.
External links
- The Showdown
- Indochina: Saigon after the combats (rushes) French news archives, ORTF, May 10, 1955