On 1 November 1963 , a group of ARVN generals , led by Minh , orchestrated a coup against President Ngô Đình Diệm . The plotters summoned a group of ARVN officers to the Joint General Staff headquarters at Tân Sơn Nhứt Air Base , on the pretext that they were going to attend a lunch meeting . Among those invited was the loyalist commander of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces , Colonel Lê Quang Tung . At 13:30 ( UTC 06:30 ) , General Trần Văn Đôn announced that a coup was taking place . Most of the officers rose to applaud , but Tung did not , refusing to join the coup . He was taken away by Nhung , all the while shouting , “ Remember who gave you your stars ! ” At 16:45 , Tung was forced at gunpoint to talk to Diệm on the phone , telling the president that he had ordered his special forces to surrender . Minh then ordered Nhung to execute the Diệm loyalist . Tung had failed to convince the president to surrender and still commanded the loyalty of his men . The other generals had little sympathy for Tung , because the special forces ' commander had disguised his men in regular army uniforms and framed the generals for the Xá Lợi Pagoda raids in August . The generals were well aware of the threat that Tung posed ; they had discussed his elimination during their planning , having contemplated waging an offensive against his special forces . At nightfall , Nhung took Tung , and his brother and deputy , Major Lê Quang Triệu , with their hands tied , to a jeep and drove them to the edge of the air base . Forced to kneel over two freshly dug holes , the brothers were shot into their graves and buried
Xá Lợi Pagoda raids
Xá Lợi Pagoda raids
Nguyễn Văn Nhung