European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 2, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A Stonewall separates a family farm from the cemetery for vietnamese soldiers killed during the Battle. Continued from Page 21 was our refusal to engage in at out lightning clashes with the entire strength of the elite French expeditionary corps firmly dug in their solidly built forts Quot Giap wrote in one account of the Battle Dien Bien Phu the most difficult decision. Quot we decided to destroy pockets of resistance one by one Quot crap wrote Quot and gradually in our own was at a time and place of our own choosing launch attacks with overwhelming superiority in each Battle and at the same Lime consolidate our Bunker system and Cut the enemy a Quot Supply line until the base Camp was strangled president Eisenhower was ready to order . Air strikes against vietnamese positions at  Phu in support of the French because he believed Indochina was vital to american interests. But he was unable to get approval from . Allies the defeat of the French brought to a close the first Indochina War. The Geneva agreement of 1954 that followed divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel into North and South. A a. A a a the communist victors at Dien Bien Phu held the North with Hanoi As the capital. A  no communist regime controlled the South with the seat of Power in Saigon. 7 both the United states and France sought political influence in the new government in Saigon in the year following the Geneva agreement the United states emerged As the new Western Power when nip Dinh diem an anti communist Leader ousted French backed emperor Bao Dai. Diem became president of the newly formed Republic of Vietnam in the South France had withdrawn All of its troops irom South Vietnam by 1956, the United states remained the Only foreign Power supporting diem. But in 1956, both the United states and South Vietnam refused to Honor a key provision in the Geneva. Agreement that called for National elections to be held that year to reunify the country. They feared the v. Communists would win and gain control of South a. Vietnam upsetting the balance of Power with China and . That refusal marked the beginning of the second Indochina War. Giap would repeat his Dien Bien Phu strategy against the United states Locking it into a divisive War that took nearly 60,000 american lives and As Many As 2 million vietnamese. During that War Giap led a siege at Khe Sanh near the laotian Border that had striking similarities to the Battle for Dien Bien Phu. For 77 Days in 1968, Giap s North vietnamese forces attacked the american fortress hammering it daily with Cannon fire from Mountain positions surrounding it. But Khe Sanh held with the support of massive . Air 22 strikes that unleashed nearly 100,000 tons of explosives against North vietnamese positions one sixth of the total tonnage dropped by . Planes during the entire three years of the korean War. A Relief column of 12,000 american and South vietnamese soldiers reached the battered base on april 5. The North vietnamese had withdrawn into the Jungles. What had been billed As the showdown Battle of the War never came off but the Cost of holding the base had been High with More than 200 . Marines killed and 1,600 wounded. The late historian Bernard fall says in his Book about the first Indochina War hell in a very Small place the siege of Dien Bien Phu that a major american air Effort there in support of the French would have achieved desirable military and political results fail writes that the communist vietnamese army was getting stronger by the Day and it became imperative for the French to destroy at least a Large part of the main Battle Force As quickly As possible. Like Dien Bien Phu Khe Sanh became synonymous with failed Western military strategy. It was a. Consideration that eventually led the United states to withdraw its military forces in 1973 under terms of the Paris peace agreement. The War Between North and South ended on april 30, 1975, with a communist. Quot Victory. A a a a. A a a a a a a. 7 a a a a a a in the cemeteries of Dien Bien Phu wives and. Daughters and sons come to Light Joss Sticks and Pray for the  a. V a. A a Tran Thi yen came Here for the first time on this 40th anniversary to search for the grave of her father. She was Only 2 years old when he was killed. Theeart Lvov Dien Bien Phu also embraces the remains of american airmen missing in the second Indochina War during missions Over the Valley. They tie far from family and Home missed and mourned by their loved ones. _ victorious act Narcse wave a Banner atop the Bunker of the French commander Gen. Christian de Castries. Fila the stars and stripes monday May 2,1994