. It was the 2,527th birthday of Buddha. The Buddhists in Hue, symbolically the birthplace of Vietnamese Buddhism and imperial capital of the old state of Annam, a center of Buddhist learning and a symbol of a time when Buddhism was the favored religion of Vietnam, wished to fly their flag. However, the Roman Catholic Government, citing an old regulation, replied that only Government flags were permitted in public. Buddhist flags were flown anyway, and troops opened fire on the celebrating crowds, killing nine people. A few days later, thousands of Buddhists marched to protest the Hue incident. Diem’s family responded by jailing numerous monks and leaders. A delegation of Buddhist high priests visited the President at this time, and he told them they were “fools” to ask for religious freedom since it was guaranteed in the Constitution. (Gettleman 265)The Buddhist rebellion gained further public appeal when, on June 11, an aged Buddhist priest, Thich Quang Duc, sat down at a major intersection, poured gasoline on himself, took the cross-legged “Buddha” posture and struck a match. He burned to death without moving and without saying a word. On June 8, Mrs. Ngo Dinh Nhu’s Women’s Solidarity Movement issued a bitter statement implying that the Buddhists were infiltrated by Communists. Embassy officials were stunned and replied, “If that statement is policy, it’s a disaster. Otherwise it’s simply an aberration.”(Gettleman 267) A high State Department official on a visit said, “The thing that bothers me about this Government is that the only people who are for it are Americans.” (Gettleman 264)The issue of the Buddhists was a controversial topic for Khiem. During the time the Buddhists were protesting, Khiem was a student, and he, too, participated in the protests. When asked why, he protested Diem, he laughs and says that he was a kid just trying to have fun. He re...
