Widow's Retreat

Mme. Ngo Dinh Nhu had arrived in the U.S. 5 1/2 weeks ago as a crusading wife; last week she left, an embittered widow. From Beverly Hills she flew to Rome to join her three younger children, Son Trac, 15, Son Quyhn, 11, and Daughter Le Quyen, 4. Either because of a shortage of funds or a misunderstanding with California's Young Republicans, who had originally invited her to Los Angeles to speak, Mme. Nhu departed owing nearly half of her $2,000 bill at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (the manager did not seem worried about collecting). Following her by mail was a stack of books, among them To Live Again and TNT: The Power Within You; How to Release the Forces Inside you and Get What You Want.

At the airport, reading a long farewell statement, she referred to the fact that the U.S. had encouraged the coup: "Judas has sold the Christ for 30 pieces of silver. The Ngo brothers have been sold for a few dollars." By this Mme. Nhu meant the aid that the U.S. had withheld from Diem but restored "to those who would not hesitate to turn their guns against their own duly elected leaders." She had heard reports that, after being murdered by South Viet Nam's new rulers, "President Ngo Dinh Diem's face was serene in death, and my husband had a slight smile though his face was all streaked with blood. I think therefore that I cannot be less serene than they."

In Rome she was welcomed by Diem's brother, Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc, who had been attending the Vatican Council; then she was whisked to a tree-shaded convent for a rest. Eventually, Mme. Nhu insists, she will return to South Viet Nam. Said she: "My burden will be hard indeed, for the Devil has not been disarmed and is still trying to beat me down."

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