Buddhist+Protests+(1962-1963)

The Buddhists Protests were a turbulent period in Vietnam. It started when South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem started discriminatory actions against Buddhists in favor of Roman Catholics. He banned the Buddhist flag from public view, sparking an outrage among South Vietnamese Buddhists. On May 8, 1963, Buddhists gathered in the city of Hue to celebrate Buddha's birthday. In response, the South Vietnamese military cracked down on them, killing nine people.

The Buddhists fought back using the method of self-immolation. On June 11, 1963, 60-year-old monk Thich Quang Duc sat down in the middle of a Saigon intersection and doused himself in gasoline. A fellow monk ignited him, and Duc perished in the flames.

This affected U.S. policy in a great way, as we supported President Diem's government's crackdown on the protesters. This would eventually lead up to full-blown U.S. involvement in 1965.

=Sources=

Tucker, Spencer C. "Buddhism in Vietnam." The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War. Second Edition. Volume I. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Print.

Browne, Malcolm W. "The Buddhist Protests of 1963." Reporting America at War. n. page. Web. 21 Dec. 2011. .