The removal from power of the Ngô family was greeted with widespread joy by the public of South Vietnam . Large and spontaneous street demonstrations occurred and the offices of the '' Times of Vietnam '' , the propaganda mouthpiece of Nhu and his wife , were burned . Young men wielding acetylene torches cut off the feet of the statues of the Trưng Sisters before the statues were hauled down with a cable around their necks . The Trưng Sisters were a 3rd-century AD pair who are venerated in Vietnam for their role in driving Chinese occupiers from the country , but Madame Nhu had modeled their features on her own as she fancied herself as a modern-day reincarnation . Elsewhere , crowds smashed windows and pulled down government flags from buildings and ransacked any building associated with Nhu . The tension released by the downfall of the regime sparked off celebrations rivaled only by Tết New Year celebrations . American officials were treated and received with great enthusiasm and Lodge was mobbed by the Saigon public . A joke which circulated in Saigon in the aftermath of the coup was that Lodge would win any Vietnamese election by a landslide . Lodge recommended immediate recognition of the new regime by Washington , asserting that the popular approval of the Vietnamese for the coup warranted it . Lodge reported : " Every Vietnamese has a grin on his face today " . The crowds swarmed onto the grounds of Gia Long Palace in the midst of what U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission William Trueheart called a " Mardi gras " atmosphere . The atmosphere was punctuated by the sound of celebratory ARVN gunfire as a sea of Buddhist flags flew throughout the city . As Lodge traveled from his residence to the US embassy , the crowds cheered his convoy . According to Mrs. Lodge , the atmosphere was " extraordinary " . She further observed " I had not realized how feared and hated the government was … " . As Lodge walked past the Xá Lợi Pagoda adjacent to the US Operations Mission building , he was warmly received . Xá Lợi had been at the heart of violent government raids by Nhu 's Special Forces on 21 August 1963 which had left an estimated three-figure death toll across the country . Lodge and his wife were greeted by cries of " Vive Capa Lodge " and was ushered into the pagoda by the Buddhists . According to Mrs. Lodge , " they were so excited that they nearly squashed us " . Lodge reported that the populace had " lionized " by the soldiers , giving them fruit , flowers and garlands of roses
violent government raids
Xá Lợi Pagoda raids
Reaction to the 1963 South Vietnamese coup