joe-collins-warned-us-gov-dinh-diem-VIEP-spring-2023

Photo of Premier Ngo Dinh Diem and General Lawton Collins talk during the latter's final visit to Independence Palace, Saigon (later Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam, May 13, 1955. Collins departed the following day, after completing a six-month special assignment.

Joe Collins (left) repeatedly warned the U.S. government that a South Vietnam led by Diem (right) would become a failed state, but his words went unheeded. (PhotoQuest/Getty Images)

PhotoQuest/Getty Images