Approximately 150 documents, photos and artifacts relating to the 1954 battle, from both Vietnam and France, are on display at an exhibition in the Museum of Dien Bien Phu Victory in the eponymous northern town. The exhibition will remain open until May 10. President Ho Chi Minh discusses strategy for the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in December 1953. General Vo Nguyen Giap (2nd, R) and other commanding officers discuss Dien Bien Phu plans in 1954. Vietnamese troops march towards the northwestern battlefield in 1954. Two-ton cannons are pulled through tough terrain to the battlefield. Soldiers share a moment of merriment in a trench. Medics tend to injured soldiers. A unit joins the battle to gain control of the Muong Thanh Bridge, carrying a flag. Vietnamese troops capture a French tank. A soldier waves a Vietnamese flag on top of General Christian de Castries's bunker on May 7, 1954, signalling the Viet Minh's victory. General de Castries and his officers are captured. Muong Thanh after … [Read more...] about A Dien Bien Phu flashback in black and white
French vietnamese battle of dien bien phu 1954
The battle of Dien Bien Phu in a sun helmet
from Wilfred Burchett, North of the 17th Parallel, 1955 A sun-helmet lay on the bamboo table of a thatch-roofed hut deep in the jungle of Northern Vietnam. It was late afternoon in mid-March 1954, and somewhere overhead an aeroplane was buzzing about. It had no chance of sighting the dozen or so bamboo and thatch huts that made up the little village. Much of the jungle had been cleared away – but the smooth pillars of giant iron-woods and other jungle denizens supported a thick canopy of inter-woven broad-leaved creepers, nature's most perfect camouflage net flung over the village. A helicopter could hover a few meters over the top of that green canopy for an hour and see nothing that it covered. It was not the jungle however but the image of the sun-helmet that was to remain in my mind for many weeks that followed. My road to this jungle village had led almost directly from Panmunjom in Korea with a day or two's halt in Peking to change clothes for the difference in temperature … [Read more...] about The battle of Dien Bien Phu in a sun helmet
Heroic spirit of Dien Bien Phu Victory shines forever!
65 years ago on the Muong Thanh plain, in the midst of the Northwestern mountains and forests, the Vietnamese people and armed forces, under the leadership of the Party headed by President Ho Chi Minh, fought the strategic battle of Dien Bien Phu. After 56 days of relentless, valiant and ingenious combat, on the afternoon of May 7, 1954, the Vietnamese people and armed forces defeated the French colonialists’ last-ditch effort and gained the Dien Bien Phu Victory, which resounded across the five continents and shook the world, ending the resistance war against the aggressive French colonialists and marking a great turning point in the Vietnamese people’s history of struggle for national construction and defence. The Dien Bien Phu Victory is the zenith of the Vietnamese art of war. Together with Bach Dang, Chi Lang and Dong Da, the Dien Bien Phu Victory has gone down in national history as an epic of great heroism with bright examples of gallantry, affirming the Vietnamese … [Read more...] about Heroic spirit of Dien Bien Phu Victory shines forever!
Soldiers’ remains, explosives discovered in Dien Bien
The Military Command of Dien Bien Phu city of the north western province of Dien Bien on December 21 started the excavation of soldiers’ remains and unexploded ordnance (Photo: VNA) Dien Bien (VNA) – The Military Command of Dien Bien Phu city of the north western province of Dien Bien on December 21 started the excavation of soldiers’ remains and unexploded ordnance (UXOs) discovered during construction work on Hill A1. The discovery of the remains and UXOs was made on December 19. Upon receiving the information, the Military Command of the city mobilised personnel to excavate the remains and UXOs. The unit will work with the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to carry out DNA tests and will dispose of the UXOs. Hill A1 in Muong Thanh district, Dien Bien Phu city is the site of the most famous battle of the Dien Bien Phu campaign. The 32-metre-high hill, covering 82,000 sq.m. and located 500m west of the headquarters of the French … [Read more...] about Soldiers’ remains, explosives discovered in Dien Bien
Painful past unearthed as French PM visits Dien Bien Phu battle site
The 94-year-old colonel and former POW accompanied French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Saturday to the remote valley where the bloody battle raged for 56 days before Vietnam's shock victory that would pave the way for the nation's independence. "This is like being in a dream, I'm thinking of my comrades, of all my men," said Allaire, who was captured by soldiers in 1954 and held for more than seven months, including a 90-day "death march" to a prison near the Chinese border. As the fate of the French became clear in March 1954, he received a written order from his commander: "Cease combat and destroy your weapons". He kept the note throughout his captivity and carried a copy of it in his jacket pocket to the battle site Saturday, an area he called "unrecognisable". "It was a small village, far from everything (in 1954). Today it's a city, which proves that Viet Minh fighters didn't fight for nothing," he said. The ferocious battle in the rugged, remote valley killed 13,000 people … [Read more...] about Painful past unearthed as French PM visits Dien Bien Phu battle site