Feb. 20, 1965 - A 20-hour coup against South Vietnam’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Nguyen Khanh, by rebel generals collapsed early today and was declared officially ended at 10:45 a.m. (9:45 p.m. last night New York time) when former Brig. Gen. Lam Van Phat announced: “We have capitulated.”
The last rebels holding out inside the general staff headquarters near Saigon airport also were seized by loyal forces without any shooting.
A short time earlier, the personal bodyguard of Phat and Col. Huynh Tan Ton had turned themselves over to forces loyal to Khanh.
The director of the Saigon radio announced at 8:30 a.m. that paratroopers had taken over the station. He called on all stations in South Vietnam to hook up for an important announcement.
Shortly after, coup leader Col. Pham Ngoc Thao came on and said:“To avoid a clash in Saigon and people getting killed, I talked with Gen. Ky [air force commander Nguyen Cao Ky] last night. I went to Bien Hoa Air Base to see him.
“The reason for our act yesterday was that we wanted to help the people and the military command. There has been much trouble in Vietnam. If Gen. Khanh does not think he can solve our problems, then he should retire.”In previous announcements, Thao had bitterly assailed Khanh.
One of Khanh’s aides said Phat and Thao “were idiots to think they could get away with this.”
“They just didn’t have anywhere near the force that would have been needed,” he said. “But this attempted coup has worried all of us about the American position. The Voice of America broadcasts last night made it sound as if the coup was over and America favored the rebels.”
In Washington, the coup attempt was recognized as a psychological setback at a time when the Administration was eager to present a position of strength and hope in South Vietnam’s guerrilla war. It was a particular embarrassment on a day set aside for conferences by President Johnson and State Department officials with Maurice Couve de Murville, the French Foreign Minister.
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