Major Matthew Sy Dang, ( vi, Matheo Đặng Sỹ; July 29, 1929 – November 11, 2006) 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 The Buddhist flag is a flag designed in the late 19th century as a universal symbol of Buddhism. It is used by Buddhists throughout the world. History The flag was originally designed in 1885 by the Colombo Committee, in Colombo, Ceylon (''no ...

, leading to the Huế Vesak shootings in which nine people died. This sparked the

Buddhist crisis The Buddhist crisis ( vi, Biến cố Phật giáo) was a period of political and religious tension in South Vietnam between May and November 1963, characterized by a series of repressive acts by the South Vietnamese government and a campaign o ...

and downfall of Ngô Đình Diệm.

Early life

Born in the province of Thừa Thiên,

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...

, Sy Dang came from a long line of devout Roman Catholics, including Michael Dinh-Hy Ho, one of the Vietnamese Martyrs. He attended a Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, 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 colonial empire, French garrison. He tried the prospect of being a Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, Christian Brother, like his mother's brother, but found he was not suited for a "pious", teaching life. He decided to follow a military career. He married Cam De Nguyen at the age of twenty-one. She converted to Roman Catholicism; the couple had ten children.

Military career

After his graduation from Vietnamese National Military Academy of Da Lat and having attended the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, U.S. Infantry Center & School at Fort Benning, Sy Dang quickly progressed to the rank of major, assigned to the 1st Division (South Vietnam), 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 unarmed demonstrators, and nine were murdered in the ensuing chaos. .

The trial of Đặng Sỹ

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 Đặng took direct actions that caused these deaths. There are other minority accounts, which suggested Major Đặng was at the right time and place for a set-up by third party with interests in seeing the Ngô Đình Diệm, Diệm regime fall. Journalists Arthur Dommen and Ellen Hammer speculated that an American serviceman and a handful of CIA operatives orchestrated the entire affair. 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 Vietnamese Buddhism, Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk Venerable Thích Trí Quang, besieged Huế radio station to broadcast their request for religious rights. The station director refused to facilitate their request and proceeded to deny the Buddhists access by barricading himself. He called on the local fire station and government security forces to prevent the Buddhists from voicing their plight. The firemen were unable to disperse the crowd with fire hose. Đặng'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 Đặng and Quang were inside, causing a massive stampede. On the pretext of "defending" against possible "Viet Cong, 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 eight people dead and one person dying. The Diệm government dismissed charges of misconduct. Later, however, the 1963 South Vietnamese coup, South Vietnamese military junta tried and Đặng 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. Đặng, 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."Death Sentence Asked for Vietnamese Major"
/ref> Facing internal unrest and U.S. government disapproval, Nguyễn Khánh, Khánh commuted Đặng's death sentence to life with hard labour at Côn Sơn Island, Côn Sơn with payments to victims' families.

Post-military career

In 1967, the Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, 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 Vietnamese boat people, boat. He was reunited with his family in December of the same year. Subsequently, he worked with Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County Department of Social Services and U.S. Catholic Charities to help Vietnamese refugees until his retirement.

Death

Sy Dang died on November 11, 2006, aged 77, at his home in Maryland.

U.S. news headlines 1963-66

* Letters to The Times; Diem Regime Assailed Religious Favoritism, Intolerance and Persecution Charged. ''New York Times'' - August 2, 1963 * Start Trial For Murder. ''Gettysburg Times'' - June 2, 1964 * Vietnamese Major Enters Innocent Plea. ''Eugene Register-Guard'' - June 2, 1964 * Saigon Trying Officer As Slayer of Buddhists. ''New York Times'' - June 3, 1964 * Major Asked to Blame Bishop. ''Chicago Tribune'' - June 3, 1964 * Viet Officer Gets Life For Killing Buddhists. ''Hartford Courant'' - June 7, 1964 * Religious-political Furor In Viet Nam Sparks Noisy March. ''Gadsden Times'' - June 8, 1964 * VIETNAM OFFICER DRAWS LIFE TERM; Convicted of Killing Eight. ''New York Times'' - June 7, 1964 * Protest Against Military Rule, 100,000 marched. ''Keesing's World News'' - December 1, 1964 * State Woman Fights for Major's Freedom. ''Owosso Argus-Press'' - March 1966

References

External links

* ''Lodge in Vietnam: A Patriot Abroad'' by Anne E. Blair; Yale University Press (1995) * "The Impossible Prayer", ''The Baltimore Sun'' (1987) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dang, Sy 1929 births 2006 deaths Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Vietnamese Roman Catholics South Vietnamese military personnel of the Vietnam War People from Huế