Dien Bien Phu, 1954, a battle that is considered one of the greatest battles of the 20th century. It lasted 56 days when Vietnamese Viet Minh (Vietnamese Nationalists) led by the legendary general Vo Nguyen Giap defeated the French army and led to the signing of the Geneva Accords on July 21, 1954.

French colonization of Vietnam began with the first cannon shot at the harbor of Da Nang in 1856, and since then many Vietnamese patriots have lost their lives and blood in order to win independence for Vietnam.

The battle of Dien Bien Phu ended the French Indochina that consisted of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.


It's time to celebrate this victory! :guitar: :singing:

This is the battle that ended colonialism. After WW2, Almost everyone realized that colonies were evil and so the U.N was set up, and England and the U.S got rid of it's colonies. The one that didn't was France. But they learned the hard way that colonialism was over, and the Vietnamese kicked their asses, and right after that they lost their colonies in Algeria and other countries, so Diem Bien Phu triggered the end of colonial slavary everywhere.

Yeah, those French loosers lost World War 2 to the Germans, and the Germans bombed the $hit out of them. After WW2, they needed materials and money, so they went back to Vietnam and claimed Vietnam again, but it wasn't easy this time. Damn French, they had to learn the hard way.

Galic War, lost
Hundred Years' War (tied, but still...), lost
Franco-Prussia War, total lost
Napoleonic War (invasion of Russia and Waterloo), lost
World War I (tied, but was fought on French soil), lost
World War II, total defeat
IndoChina War (battle of Dien Bien Phu), total defeat
Terrorism War, too afraid to join
Iraqi War, too lazy to mobolize troops

I am glad I am not a French citizen.

WHY DID WE HAVE TO BE COLONIZED BY THE FRENCH? WHY NOT BRITAIN OR EVEN JAPAN? Because if the French weren't so arragant their probably wouldn't have been no Vietnam war, and Vietnam wouldn't have been destroyed by all those bombs and 1/3 of Vietnamese vegetation and food wouldn't have been destroyed and Vietnam would probably be prosperous today since the U.S wouldn't have given Vietnam a trade embargo.

Dammit out of all the countries that we had to become slaves too, it had to be the French and the other countries that were less stubborn? Dammit the French are always causing problems. No wonder Americans are always making fun of them.

Blame it on the traitor Nguyen Anh.

A lot people think Vietnamese are only good at guerrilla warfare, but the battle at Dien Bien Phu was a conventional war.

French Prisoners.

French prisoners...

Ok here's the story of Dien Bien Phu.

The French wanted to defeat Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh once and for all, so they decided to create a bait trap that Giap couldn't refuse.

The French decided to take almost all of their troops,hardware,weapons whatever and put them at Dien Bien Phu. The whole French military in Vietnam at that one place was something Giap couldn't refuse.

Dien Bien Phu is a mountainous region surrounded by moutains, and the French base there was in the valley below.

The French thought that it would be impossible for the Viet Minh to get their cannons and Howlitzers on the mountains and because the ground was basically hard rock, so it couldn't hold the cannons or howlitzers.

When the Americans analyzed their plans, they critized the French for being stupid for putting all their troops in that mountainous region because it would be hard for American planes to drop supplies to the French since the mountains are so high, but the French told them not to worry about it.

Also the fortress was supposed to be almost impossible to break through.

So Giap couldn't refuse the bait. The French believed the Vietminh will not get up on the mountains becuase it was basically impossible to bring huge cannons up there, and the Vietminh would charge at them at the ground which they would probably be decimated by the French's superior weapons.

But Giap surprised the French, when he told his troops to dismantle the cannons and carry them up the mountains. This process was sooo hard and took sooooo long to do. Once they got up the mountains they overlook the French and began pounding them with them.

The French were shocked they were able to get up on the mountains with the huge cannons, since the French thought it was impossible to do that.

American planes were shot down from the mountains because the planes couldn't get close enough to the French to drop the supplies they needed and the mountains were so close to the planes, it was easier to shoot them down.

Now with no supplies the French were starving. Most of the supplies fell into Vietminh territory where the Vietminh took them.

The French believed their fortress was impossible to get past their trenches, but the Vietminh surprised them by DIGGING THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN. THE MOUNTAIN WAS BASICALLY SOLID ROCK SO IT TOOK LOTS OF PATIENCE AND HARD WORK TO DO BUT EVENTUALLY THEY WERE ABLE TO REACH THE BASE.

After several days of fighting the French were starving and tired and lost soooo many men. They coudn't get reinforcements or supplies since the valley was closed off.

So the French surrerended to the Vietminh and about 20,000 were taken prisoner and most of them died while prisoners due to sickness and the Vietminh wouldn't let them treat their wounded.

So this was the final battle of Dien Bien Phu which triggered the end of colonial slavary and changed the world.

just for clarification

OMG. Who was the f-fer in charge of the French army at Dien Bien Phu? Who the hell would station his camps in a valley surrounded by mountains? The Americans even warned them, and they refused to listen to the Americans, that was so stupid of them!

In all most all military books, even the "Art of War" by Sun Tzu, station your army in a valley surrounded by mountains is the worst thing any general would do in his career.

Well, they deserved it.

Yeah but the French wanted to get rid of the Viet minh forces once and for all in one final battle, so the valley thing was a bait trap for Giap. They thought their superior technology would win the war for them. But of course they underestimated the will of the Vietnamese for freedom and actually climbing the mountains with their HUGE Cannons and actually digging their way to the French during that battle while Vietminh cannons were firing from them from the huge height on the mountains.

yup..

why did he have to invite Frenchie into Vietnam... then everything in Vietnam history begins to go wrong

He was a coward, a traitor, and the one that put all the generations after him under slavery and torture.

Without the French colonialism and the US' refusal to help Ho Chi Minh, there would have been no Vietnam War and Vietnam would have been very properous today, probably even better than Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan.

I blame the French and Americans for the suffering of my people.

I thought it was the king of cambodia that invited the French into what was called Indo-China...?

http://www.theculturedtraveler.com/Archive...03/Cambodia.htm

I read it was Vietnamese Catholics who invited the French. Since the Emperor of Vietnam hated Catholics and was executing them, so the Vietnamese catholics asked the French to help them, the French used that as an excuse to invade Vietnam to save Catholics, even though I'm sure Vietnamese Catholics were eventually made as slaves as well.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/...d(DOCID+vn0025)

"Christians enjoyed the protection of Viceroy Le Van Duyet until his death in 1832. Soon thereafter the Nguyen government began a serious attempt to rid itself of French missionaries and their influence. A series of edicts forbade the practice of Christianity, forcing the Christian communities underground. An estimated ninety-five priests and members of the laity were executed by the Vietnamese during the following quarter of a century.

In response, the missionaries stepped up their pressure on the French government to intervene militarily and to establish a French protectorate over Vietnam. During this period, French traders became interested in Vietnam once more, and French diplomats in China began to express the view that France was falling behind the rest of Europe in gaining a foothold in Asia. Commanders of a French naval squadron, permanently deployed in the South China Sea after 1841, also began to agitate for a stronger role in protecting the lives and interests of the missionaries. Given tacit approval by Paris, naval intervention grew steadily. In 1847 two French warships bombarded Tourane (Da Nang), destroying five Vietnamese ships and killing an estimated 10,000 Vietnamese. The purpose of the attack was to gain the release of a missionary, who had, in fact, already been released. In the following decade, persecution of missionaries continued under Emperor Tu Duc, who came to the throne in 1848. While the missionaries stepped up pressure on the government of Louis Napoleon (later Napoleon III), which was sympathetic to their cause, a Commission on Cochinchina made the convincing argument that France risked becoming a second-class power by not intervening."

That seems far fetch. French invaded Vietnam to save some Catholics.

Besides, I doubt there was any Vietnamese Catholics before the French colonized Vietnam.

Read my edited post above.

Oh well here it is again.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/...d(DOCID+vn0025)

"Soon thereafter the Nguyen government began a serious attempt to rid itself of French missionaries and their influence. A series of edicts forbade the practice of Christianity, forcing the Christian communities underground. An estimated ninety-five priests and members of the laity were executed by the Vietnamese during the following quarter of a century."

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/...d(DOCID+vn0026)

"In response, the missionaries stepped up their pressure on the French government to intervene militarily and to establish a French protectorate over Vietnam. During this period, French traders became interested in Vietnam once more, and French diplomats in China began to express the view that France was falling behind the rest of Europe in gaining a foothold in Asia. Commanders of a French naval squadron, permanently deployed in the South China Sea after 1841, also began to agitate for a stronger role in protecting the lives and interests of the missionaries. Given tacit approval by Paris, naval intervention grew steadily. In 1847 two French warships bombarded Tourane (Da Nang), destroying five Vietnamese ships and killing an estimated 10,000 Vietnamese. The purpose of the attack was to gain the release of a missionary, who had, in fact, already been released. In the following decade, persecution of missionaries continued under Emperor Tu Duc, who came to the throne in 1848. While the missionaries stepped up pressure on the government of Louis Napoleon (later Napoleon III), which was sympathetic to their cause, a Commission on Cochinchina made the convincing argument that France risked becoming a second-class power by not intervening.

By 1857 Louis-Napoleon had been persuaded that invasion was the best course of action, and French warships were instructed to take Tourane without any further efforts to negotiate with the Vietnamese. Tourane was captured in late 1858 and Gia Dinh (Saigon and later Ho Chi Minh City) in early 1859. In both cases Vietnamese Christian support for the French, predicted by the missionaries, failed to materialize. Vietnamese resistance and outbreaks of cholera and typhoid forced the French to abandon Tourane in early 1860. Meanwhile, fear was growing in Paris that if France withdrew the British would move in. Also current in Paris at that time was the rationalization that France had a civilizing mission--a duty to bring the benefits of its superior culture to the less fortunate lands of Asia and Africa. (This was a common justification for the colonial policies of most of the Western countries.) Meanwhile, French business and military interests increased their pressure on the government for decisive action. Thus in early 1861, a French fleet of 70 ships and 3,500 men reinforced Gia Dinh and, in a series of bloody battles, gained control of the surrounding provinces. In June 1862, Emperor Tu Duc, signed the Treaty of Saigon agreeing to French demands for the cession of three provinces around Gia Dinh (which the French had renamed Saigon) and Poulo Condore, as well as for the opening of three ports to trade, free passage of French warships up the Mekong to Cambodia, freedom of action for the missionaries, and payment of a large indemnity to France for its losses in attacking Vietnam."

If you could find another site that says somewhat the same thing than I mite believe you. On other hand, I can find more than one site that proves that the cambodian king invited the French into what was called Indo-China to protect them from the Thais and Vietnamese.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/vietnam_history.asp

"The early history of Vietnam is that of Tonkin , Annam , and Cochin China . The first Europeans to arrive were the Portuguese in 1535. Dutch, French, and English traders came in the 17th cent., at which time missionaries entered the area, winning many converts to Roman Catholicism. The persecution of missionaries and of their Vietnamese converts by the ruler of Vietnam was a factor prompting French conquest in the 19th cent. The French captured Saigon in 1859, and after a period of warfare, organized (1867) the colony of Cochin China. In 1884, France declared protectorates over Tonkin and Annam; in 1887 it merged Tonkin, Annam, and Cochin China with Cambodia to form a union of Indochina , to which Laos was added in 1893."

Jayson, it was the Vietnamese that got the French into Indochina in the first place, not the Cambodians.

Before Cambodia asked France for protection from Viets and Thais, France already had a plan to colonize the region. France used diplomacy to conquer Cambodia and Laos, but they had to encounter resistance when they conquered Vietnam.

I guess you're right.


http://countrystudies.us/cambodia/10.htm

France's interest in Indochina in the nineteenth century grew out of its rivalry with Britain, which had excluded it from India and had effectively shut it out of other parts of mainland Southeast Asia. The French also desired to establish commerce in a region that promised so much untapped wealth and to redress the Vietnamese state's persecution of Catholic converts, whose welfare was a stated aim of French overseas policy. The Nguyen dynasty's repeated refusal to establish diplomatic relations and the violently anti-Christian policies of the emperors Minh Mang (1820- 41), Thieu Tri (1841-47), and Tu Duc (1848-83) impelled the French to engage in gunboat diplomacy that resulted, in 1862, in the establishment of French dominion over Saigon and over the three eastern provinces of the Cochinchina (Mekong Delta) region.

In the view of the government in Paris, Cambodia was a promising backwater. Persuaded by a missionary envoy to seek French protection against both the Thai and the Vietnamese, King Ang Duong invited a French diplomatic mission to visit his court. The Thai, however, pressured him to refuse to meet with the French when they finally arrived at Odongk in 1856. The much-publicized travels of the naturalist Henri Mouhot, who visited the Cambodian court, rediscovered the ruins at Angkor, and journeyed up the Mekong River to the Laotian kingdom of Luang Prabang from 1859 to 1861, piqued French interest in the kingdom's alleged vast riches and in the value of the Mekong as a gateway to China's southwestern provinces. In August 1863, the French concluded a treaty with Ang Duong's successor, Norodom (1859-1904). This agreement afforded the Cambodian monarch French protection (in the form of a French official called a résident--in French resident) in exchange for giving the French rights to explore and to exploit the kingdom's mineral and forest resources. Norodom's coronation, in 1864, was an awkward affair at which both French and Thai representatives officiated. Although the Thai attempted to thwart the expansion of French influence, their own influence over the monarch steadily dwindled. In 1867 the French concluded a treaty with the Thai that gave the latter control of Batdambang Province and of Siemreab Province in exchange for their renunciation of all claims of suzerainty over other parts of Cambodia. Loss of the northwestern provinces deeply upset Norodom, but he was beholden to the French for sending military aid to suppress a rebellion by a royal pretender.

In June 1884, the French governor of Cochinchina went to Phnom Penh, Norodom's capital, and demanded approval of a treaty with Paris that promised far-reaching changes such as the abolition of slavery, the institution of private land ownership, and the establishment of French résidents in provincial cities. Mindful of a French gunboat anchored in the river, the king reluctantly signed the agreement. Local elites opposed its provisions, however, especially the one dealing with slavery, and they fomented rebellions throughout the country during the following year. Though the rebellions were suppressed, and the treaty was ratified, passive resistance on the part of the Cambodians postponed implementation of the reforms it embodied until after Norodom's death.

http://www.vnagency.com.vn/NewsA.asp?LANGU...4&NEWS_ID=94371

Get-together in Moscow marks Dien Bien Phu Victory
04/09/2004 -- 18:05(GMT+7)

Moscow, Apr. 9 (VNA) - The Dien Bien Phu Victory 50 years ago forced the French government to withdraw its troops from northern Viet Nam, creating conditions for the Vietnamese people to continue their struggle for national liberation as well as creating a great source of encouragement to the world's movement for national independence.

So said Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Van Nganh at a recent get-together with Russian students on the occasions of the 50th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7) and the 29th anniversary of Viet Nam's Southern Liberation (Apr. 30).

The Dien Bien Phu victory also helped the UN General Assembly adopt a declaration to return national independence to colonies on Dec. 14, 1960, Nganh added.

Twenty-one year later, the Vietnamese people won another historical vitory leading to the liberation of the whole southern Viet Nam.

The event, which also drew the participation of President of the Russia-Viet Nam Friendship Association E. Glazunov and astronaut Gorbatko, helped Russian students understand liberation struggle of Viet Nam, a people that had sacrified itself for national independence.--Enditem

I am very glad that Vietnam is celebrating this victory as a national holiday. In 2010, Hanoi should have one hell of a celebration because it marks the 1000th year of Vietnam's capital.

Remembering Dien Bien Phu

JOHN CHERIAN

Vietnam celebrates the 50th anniversary of its victory over France in the battle of Dien Bien Phu, a victory that provided tremendous impetus to anti-colonial struggles the world over.


PICTURES: THE HINDU PHOTO LIBRARY

General Vo Nguyen Giap.


THE 50th anniversary of one of the greatest battles of the 20th century is being commemorated in Vietnam and other countries. The battle of Dien Bien Phu, which saw the defeat of France at the hands of the Vietnamese, is a milestone in the decolonisation struggle worldwide. In the battle, which lasted 55 days (from March 13 to May 7, 1954), the Vietnamese were led by the legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap. Giap was later to play a crucial role in the war against U.S. occupation in South Vietnam.

Indo-China, comprising Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, was the jewel in the crown of imperial France. When the Japanese invaded Indo-China in 1940, most of the French colonial administrators and settlers chose to cooperate with the occupiers. The Japanese had shown to the people of South-East Asia that the white colonisers were not invincible. The political vacuum created in South-East Asia by the defeat of the Japanese in the Second World War was soon filled by nationalists who demanded freedom from colonial rule and exploitation. The French, like the Dutch in Indonesia, however, thought that they could re-establish their empire. They were encouraged in the re-colonisation endeavours by the United States. Ho Chi Minh, an avowed communist who led the Vietnamese, was viewed by the West as an agent of Moscow and Beijing. In those days, Washington firmly adhered to the "domino" theory in international politics. The argument was that if Vietnam was to be taken over by the communists, the neighbouring countries would fall like dominos to the advancing tide of socialism.



French soldiers in their trenches around Dien Bien Phu during the siege 50 years ago.


The People's Army of Vietnam (Viet Minh), formed after the Second World War, began giving the French a tough time. Its guerilla tactics coupled with the political sagacity of Ho Chi Minh forced the French to start negotiations. By 1953, the French had agreed to hold talks with the Vietnamese at Geneva. The French leadership calculated that a decisive military victory over the Viet Minh would give the French a stronger bargaining position at the talks, which were scheduled to start in April 1954. The French military commanders picked Dien Bien Phu, a picturesque village located in a river valley about 18-km long in northwestern Vietnam, near the border with Laos and China. It was also located along the access routes to Laos.

The French military leaders thought that if they succeeded in drawing the guerillas into a conventional battle, they could be easily defeated. There was also the intention to stop the flow of supplies and reinforcement by interdicting the Viet Minh's rear area. The bulk of the French troops and equipment were supplied by air. The main French garrison at Dien Bien Phu was supported by strong artillery positions on surrounding hilltops. The French forces, under the command of Gen. Christian de Castries, were confident that guns on the hilltops would neutralise any mass assault by the Viet Minh. By March 1954, the French troop strength at Dien Bien Phu had risen to 16,000. The architect of the new strategy was Gen. Henri Navarre, who had taken over as the commander-in-chief of the French Expeditionary Corps in Indo-China. Navarre's brief from Paris was to show to the Viet Minh that a military victory against his forces was impossible.

"The valley of Dien Bien Phu was fairly large but completely surrounded by high mountains. Our troops are already grouped around the valley. The enemy could no longer pull out without incurring major losses. They were entirely isolated as far as roads and airborne communications and supplies were concerned," wrote Gen. Giap in a book on the war published this year. Two U.S. airmen helping in the re-supply effort for the French were killed by anti-aircraft fire. They became the first Americans killed in combat in Vietnam. Washington had shouldered around 80 per cent of the cost of the French military effort in Indo-China.



French parachutists being airlifted to the war zone by a U.S. Air Force aircraft from the Oroly airfield in Paris.


Giap was given full control over the conduct of the war by Ho Chi Minh. "As field commander you have full authority on everything. This battle is vital and must be won at all costs. Fight only when you are sure of victory," Ho Chi Minh instructed Giap. Giap has also acknowledged that the "invaluable" experience of allies like China stood the Vietnamese in good stead. Much of the equipment, especially artillery pieces, were provided by the Chinese. The equipment was captured by the Chinese in the Korean War between 1950 and 1952.

The initial plan of the Vietnamese was to launch a full-scale frontal assault - "Swift attack, swift victory" was the strategy to be employed. But after studying the situation more closely, Giap devised the new strategy of "steady attack, steady advance". The general had concluded that the enemy was no longer in a state of "provisional defence" but had converted its base into "a fortified entrenched camp". Giap had decided to attack only if victory was guaranteed. "This battle will be very important, we must attack to win. Attack only when sure of victory, if not, don't attack," Ho Chi Minh had told Giap.



Refugees fleeing the war zone.


Giap recounted that new preparations were made in accordance with the changed strategy. New systems of fortifications were made, completely surrounding the French base with hundreds of kilometres of trenches "so that our fighters could wage combat both day and night under enemy bombardment". The French Expeditionary Corps had expected the Vietnamese troops to engage in all-out lightning clashes. Instead Giap preferred to destroy French pockets of resistance one at a time, choosing the timing as well as the location. The Vietnamese strategy was so successful that the French supply line to the base in Dien Bien Phu was strangled by early March. Giap wrote that when his troops opened fire on March 13, 1954, on Dien Bien Phu, the French deputy commander of the base, who was responsible for artillery, killed himself because he was powerless in stopping the heavy Vietnamese barrage.

The French watched helplessly as the mightiest points of the base fell in the face of assaults by bare-footed Vietnamese shock units. "Our system of trenches ran from the high mountains down to the plains, further sealing the fate of the base with each passing day," writes Giap. On May 7, 1954, the flag of victory was raised over the bunker of the French commander. About 10,000 enemy troops surrendered to the triumphant Vietnamese Army. At least 2,200 French soldiers were killed during the 55 days of siege. About 11,000 French soldiers were taken prisoner by the Vietnamese. There was an eleventh-hour appeal from the French for U.S. intervention. The plea was rejected by the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration. John Foster Dulles, the hawkish U.S. Secretary of State, is said to have offered two atomic bombs to the French government to stave of a military defeat. The French government politely refused that offer.

THE battle of Dien Bien Phu was a decisive moment for the Vietnamese. The French were forced to cede control of North Vietnam at the Geneva Conference that followed. The Geneva Agreement recognised the principles of independence, unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Vietnam. Although the country was temporarily divided along the 17th Parallel, a vote on unification was promised in 1956.

Giap, who is now more than 90 years old, said recently that Dien Bien Phu, besides being the biggest victory over a French expeditionary force, also foiled the U.S. plan to intervene in Vietnam at that time. "It later helped liberate the capital city of Hanoi and northern Vietnam. Northern Vietnam served as a firm and decisive guerilla base for southern Vietnam in its resistance war against the American aggressors, thereafter liberating the whole country," said Giap. The period from 1945 to1954 is described in Vietnamese history books as the "first resistance". The heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people against the Americans from 1954-75 is known as the "second resistance". The lessons drawn from the struggle against the French enriched the theory and practice of Vietnamese military combat. It was put to good use during the war waged against the Vietnamese people by the U.S.



Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai(left) with Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh (center), Premier Pham Van Dong and Vice-Premier Ho Lung.


The French defeat at Dien Bien Phu provided a tremendous impetus to liberation movements the world over. A small Asian country had defeated a powerful European colonial power.

Immediately after the climactic battle, the Algerian people rose in revolt against French colonial rule. It took six years for the Algerian revolution to succeed. The French colonies in West Africa also became independent by 1960. The wars in Vietnam and Algeria had exhausted the French state. In the eight years of war, France spent over two billion francs and had committed more than 450,000 troops in Indo-China.

http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2106/stori...26000306100.htm

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1108738/posts


General Vo Nguyen Giap ® is seen with revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh © in 1954 before starting the Dien Bien Phu campaign.

so proud to be Vietnamese !!

word

Well, today is 7 tây tháng 5 năm 2004 which marks the bi-centennial anniversary of the battle of Điện Biên Phủ.

Let's celebrate!

:genius: -

It's over, today's the 8th in Vietnam and Australia. Isn't that abit late? LOL

vui thì cứ nhậu ~~~ không say không về -

CNN has a good article on the battle of Dien Bien Phu:

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/11/spotlight/

A sidenote ......... General Giap would attempt to recreate the victory at Dien Bien Phu in 1967 at Khe Sanh, but in this case the massively better US air supply and support turned the table.

True to certain aspect. But this front could be a decoy for the US embassy takeover and other strategic places that was under seige scattered through out the south at the same time. It maybe an attempt to recreate DBP or it maybe a red herring to disperse the US forces. Only Giap would know. But we do know that this battle is a psychological win and turning points in the US military involvement in Vietnam even thought the North suffered a heavy casualty on the battle fronts.

Hehheehehee...

This dude's been in AF for sometime, and he has only posted 6 posts.

'General Vo Nguyen Giap is considered the military mastermind who defeated the French and succeeding American armies. Now aged 92, he and many other veterans have returned to the scene of one of history's greatest military victories.'




92, damn !

Just 8 more years Đại Tướng!

Nothing much. No specific responding. Just to increase the number of posts
since everyone here is a senority in postsarama.
You said you from Danang too bro?
Ty? cool!

talented people always live long , wow 92 !!

I think he gonna wait for 1 year more - May 7, 2005 or April 30, 2005 , and he .... 30 years

Who?

Yup, doesn't that city rock?

LOL.... Dai_Viet, he meant General Vo
You've been drinking lately dude?

Yep! that's city is my cookie.

Ta ve^` ta ta('m ao ta
Du` trong, du` ddu.c, ao gia` va^~n ho*n

Small correction

The party has ended, but the celebration continues.

Ta về ta tắm ao ta,
Dù trong dù đục, ao nhà vẩn hơn.

Bầu ơi thương lấy bí cùng,
Tuy rằng khác giống nhưng chung một giàng.

Remember those two, and you will never forget that you're Vietnamese.

for some reason I now have the billy joel song We Didn't Start the Fire in my head.
Isn't there a line in there where he says "Dien Bien Phu falls..."

la' la`nh ddu`m la' ra'ch