Huế chemical attacks
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Huế chemical attacks
Ben Ngu Bridge, the location of the attacksLocationBen Ngu Bridge, Perfume River,Huế, South VietnamDateJune 3, 1963TargetBuddhist protestersAttack typeLiquid components of tear gas that had failed to vaporiseInjured (non-fatal)67
The Huế chemical attacks occurred on June 3, 1963, when soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) poured liquid chemicals from tear gas grenades onto the heads of prayingBuddhists in Huế, South Vietnam. The Buddhists were protesting against religious discrimination by the regime of the Roman Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem. The attacks caused 67 people to be hospitalised for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments.
The protests were part of the Buddhist crisis, during which the Buddhist majority in South Vietnam campaigned for religious equality after nine people were killed by government forces while defying a ban that prevented them from flying the Buddhist flag on Vesak. The incident prompted the United States to privately threaten to withdraw support for Diem’s government and when the Americans finally reduced aid a few months later, the army took it as a green light for a coup.
An inquiry determined that the chemical used in the attack was a liquid component from old French tear gas grenades that failed to vaporize as it should have done. The findings exonerated the ARVN soldiers from charges that they had used poison or mustard gas. The outcry over the attack had already forced Diem to appoint a panel of three cabinet ministers to meet with Buddhist leaders for negotiations regarding religious equality. The talks led to the signing of the Joint Communique, but the policy changes it provided were not implemented and widespread protests continued, leading to the assassination of Diem in a military coup.
full article can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu%E1%BA%BF_chemical_attacks
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I stumbled up on this article from Wikipedia; don’t know if any of this were true, I take it with a grain of salt. However, I thought the South, which was where I’m from, stand for freedom and liberty. But where is the religious equality that supposedly democracy stood for? Deep within me screaming for someone to prove this article was incorrect to allow me to stand tall and believing solidarity in the many people that had wave the yellow and red strips flag at city hall, demanding freedom to my home country, Vietnam. Like a cry in the dark, a lonesome wolf. I highly doubt anyone will come forward with evidence to help me because the truth is hard to find; to find out the truth is to find life worth living.
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