Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu, the wife of the President of South Vietnam's brother, served as First Lady of the Diem regime. A convert to Roman Catholicism an a nationalist, in October 1961 she introduced a resolution in the National Assembly to create a military training program for 1,500 young women who would, in turn, train more women to build a reserve force of some 360,000.

Visiting her Women's Paramilitary Corps, Madame Nhu fires a .38 for the first time. Surprised by the noise and recoil, she laughs at her shock, fires several more times, and vows that she will not flinch again. She did not. Tan Hoa Dong firing range, June 1962.