July 20, 1964 - Vietnamese students invaded the French Embassy in Saigon early today, smashing windows, breaking furniture, and tearing pictures from the walls.
A station wagon was burned on the embassy grounds, and the students fled when three fire engines arrived to put out the fire. The embassy appeared deserted, and no arrests were reported.
The attack on the embassy followed a torchlight parade by 1,000 students through the main streets of Saigon. The marchers were marking the end of the “National Day of Shame,” the 10th anniversary of the Geneva agreements that resulted in the partition of Vietnam.
Vietnamese officials blame the French Government for the accords, which were signed July 20, 1954. On Sunday, an anti-French speech by the Premier, General Nguyen Khanh, was followed by attempts by bands of students to destroy a French World War II memorial in downtown Saigon.
The raid on the embassy was the work of a handful of students who spent about an hour trying to round up followers from the torchlight rally.
Eventually, about 50 joined them. Hesitantly, they moved down the boulevard toward the embassy, picking up stones and tearing down a French flag from a house on the way.
A group of policemen at a police station near the embassy melted into their driveway as the flag-waving students passed. This gave heart to the students, who ran behind a cheerleader who shouted, “Down with France! Down with de Gaulle! Down with neutralism!”
After the first series of cheers, the students let fly a hail of stones, smashing glass lamps along embassy walls. One student climbed over the tall fence, ran to the main entrance, and tore down the golden seal.
He passed it over the fence, and it was trampled upon.
A dozen more students leaped over the fence to join him, and they overturned a station wagon.
They started smashing windows in the outer embassy buildings. Another group attacked the main door. They streamed inside, tearing down framed pictures from the foyer walls and smashing furniture.
Outside, as policemen watched, the students tore a French flag to pieces before television cameras.
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