 On 21 August 1963 , Tung 's men , acting on Nhu 's orders , raided the Xá Lợi Pagoda , Saigon 's main Buddhist temple . The attacks were replicated across the nation , leaving a death toll estimated to be in the hundreds . The pagodas suffered extensive damage and a further 1 @,@ 400 monks and nuns were arrested . The attacks occurred after Nhu had tricked a group of Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) generals into agreeing to declare martial law . He knew the generals were plotting and hoped to exploit martial law to overthrow his brother , but outmanoeuvred them by sending Tung 's special forces into the pagodas disguised as regular ARVN soldiers . As a result , South Vietnam 's Buddhist majority initially thought the regular army had attacked the monks , damaging its generals ' credibility among the populace as potential leaders of the country . Following the attacks , U.S. officials threatened to withhold aid to the special forces unless they were used to fight communists rather than attacking political or religious dissidents . 
