The Spy Who Loved Us_ The Vietnam War and Pham Xuan An's Dangerous Game ( PDFDrive )

56 THOMAS A. BASS
house,” An says, describing what he saw on January 9, 1952.
“We had a long break at lunchtime for a siesta, before going
back to work in the afternoon. Sometimes when there wasn’t
much to do, I would go swimming in the pool near the Majestic
Hotel and then go home for lunch. That day I told my boss
I wanted to leave early to watch the parade honoring a French
regiment that had fought in Korea. It was being rotated home,
with a stop in Saigon to march down rue Catinat to impress
people. This was the most important street in Saigon, lined
with lots of elegant shops. A reviewing stand had been set up in
front of the cathedral, and the whole city was planning to show
up to watch.”
An was riding his bicycle up the rue Catinat toward the
Continental Hotel. Ahead, he saw a large crowd gathered near
the fountain that decorated the Place Garnier. Facing this
square in the center of Saigon were café Givral, the municipal
theater, the Continental Hotel, and other Saigon landmarks.
Neither An nor the spectators knew that the parade had been
canceled. Suddenly An saw people flying through the air and
heard the massive explosion that turned the plaza into a bomb
site full of dead bodies and wailing survivors. He arrived at the
scene to find windows shattered and lots of injured bystanders
calling for help.
Featured as the climax of The Quiet American, the bombing
was the work of General Thé, a Cao Dai warlord who was
supported by the Americans as a “third force” meant to lead
Vietnam into a future that was neither Communist nor French.
In Greene’s novel, Alden Pyle, the CIA agent who is financing
Thé, considers this act of urban terrorism the unfortunate price
one had to pay for advancing the cause of Vietnamese freedom.
“The French G2 got a tip that General Thé had planted a
bomb,” An says. “So at the last minute they canceled the parade.
Maybe they got the information too late. Maybe they wanted
the bomb to go off and embarrass the Americans by having
them kill lots of innocent civilians. Anyway, many people were