War veterans, communist leaders and tourists are gathering in  Honour guards march at the ceremony cerebrating Dien Bien Phu Victory in Dien Bien town on May 7, 2014 The bloody, 56-day battle in this remote, northwestern valley ended on May 7, 1954, precipitating both the collapse of "The "It was a victory that helped end colonialism and brought During the battle, artillery boomed across the valley and there was hand-to-hand fighting. Now, it is a small city where celebrations will be held at a stadium Wednesday morning to mark the victory. One of the key sites of the battle, Eliane Hill, was crawling with Vietnamese tourists Tuesday, who climbed on decaying French tanks and explored the deep trenches that criss-cross the area. "In only one month we built some 400 kilometres (250 miles) of trenches around Dien Bien Phu -- these were key to our victory," war veteran Ngyuen The Tran, 81, told AFP. Tran said he had returned to Dien Bien Phu from his native Hai Duong province -- 50 kilometres west of the capital "I hope that they will rest in peace forever. They are dead, but I am still here to remember them," he said, adding that he was happy to see the area -- which he remembered only as a bloody battlefield -- had changed. "When I come here, I see the town is beautiful and I am very happy."  War veteran gathering at the ceremony on May 7 The battle cost an estimated 10,000 Vietnamese lives. About 3,000 soldiers of various nationalities who fought under the French flag died or disappeared. Female veteran Nguyen Thi Tang, 81, a Vietnamese army messenger, told AFP she met her husband in the trenches of "I could not believe The fight against American forces and their surrogate regime cost at least three million Vietnamese and 58,000 American lives before it ended on April 30, 1975 when the country was reunified. But without the victory at Dien Bien Phu, reunification could not have happened, the director of the " AFP |
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