European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 2, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                M so a amps comforts the fallen vietnamese of that War. Those vietnamese soldiers lionized in the Ballad of Dien Bien Phu who survived have grown old now. Many Are retired and tending their gardens. But they can still feel the weight of the heavy artillery they pulled by hand and the 50 pounds of Rice each carried for Miles through the Mountain passes often under attack by French bombers. They can still see the French bodies in the trenches and feel their hatred that inspired them to Victory. They can still feel the sting of the hot shrapnel making = Contact with their own bodies and the excruciating pain of bullets being removed with no anaesthesia. Quot so Many people were killed both vietnamese and French said Veteran non Van Khau now 63. Quot they All Laid Down in the trenches and  the French lost 2,200 troops killed out of More than 16,0q0 in the Garrison waving White flags up to 10,000 others surrendered Many of them seriously wounded. Many of them succumbed on a 500-mile death March to pow Camps. Western historians estimate the vietnamese suffered Between 8,000 and 10,000 dead As much As one fourth of their forces at Dien Bien Phu. Khau was among the thousands of wounded who survived to fight in the War against the americans. His Chest is covered with medals and he still carries scars on his right knee and a piece of a Bullet in his lung. Surgeons ripped his Back open with a pair of scissors to pull out the shrapnel with no anaesthesia. Painkillers were for the More severe cases. The surgeons gave him the part of the Bullet they removed As a souvenir. Quot i was very angry Khau recalls. Quot i threw the Bullet away because i considered it As my  there Are other expressions of anger and hatred. A a statue depicts a Mother clutching her dead baby and old women and children running in panic through balls of fire. Soldiers said it is both a memorial to 403 men women and children killed in an air strike and an expression of the villagers hatred of the French. Cao Xuan du/65, dug trenches with hand tools so determined was he to defeat the French. Quot we had been dominated by the French for Over 80 years and that caused our hatred Quot he says. Quot we were just determined to  a a. _ a. The vietnamese surrounded ten Bien Phu with a network of trenches stretching hundreds of Miles from the High mountains to the Plains cutting French Supply lines and gradually tightening the noose around their Camp. From their fortified trenches barefooted vietnamese Shock troops assaulted French strongholds Day and night even under French bombardment. They secured their _ artillery in emplacements in the surrounding mountains and built roads for trucks to carry shells to each gun position. _ As thousands of soldiers and civilians hauled Rice and ammunition through the Jungle and High Mountain passes the vietnamese Battle cry became Quot everything for the front line everything for  Quot the greatest Surprise we had in store for the enemy. Continued on Page 22 French troops scan the Distant Hills and wait for the next attack by communist forces. Gen. To Nguyen Cap Speaks with one of the men who served with him at Dien Bien Phu. Youngsters play in front of an old French tank from which wet laundry now hangs. Few French recall defeat by Terril Jones a a a the associated press it s synonymous with overwhelming defeat an utter rout that four decades Fater is the modern Frenchman s Waterloo. France s defeat at Dien Bien Phu by a vietnamese peasant army still causes shudders and shrugs among French today. Quot it leaves the image on one hand of defeat on. The other of Relief because it meant the end of the War in Vietnam Quot says Henri Tabah a 73-year-old Art photographer in Paris. Quot but it was at much too High a . The 40th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu is being overshadowed in France by the 50th anniversary of the a Day landings in Normandy in june the 80th anniversary of the declaration of world War i in August and the 40th anniversary of the Start of the algerian War in november according to the ministry of veterans affairs. Quot besides it s not something we French commemorate much Quot Tabah says. Many Young French people have Little awareness of this Corner of France s past. Quot something Over in China was that it Quot frowned Patrice Chesnais a Butcher s apprentice m his 20s. Quot sorry i Only know the  \ unlike americans the French have resisted a confronting their Vietnam experience and Only in 1992 did the first feature film about Dien Bien Phu appear.  a. A a. A director Pierre Schoendorfer himself taken prisoner of War during the Battle Felt moved to make the film Dien Bien Phu because Quot it s a european tradition to let  heat without talking about  Quot for me it s a sacred place Quot Schoendorfer said when he revisited the Battlefield. Quot this was a country we loved this was our last Battle. ,. But we can come Back with our Heads High with respect for the . Monday May 2, 1994 the stars and stripes