FRENCH INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM & DIEN BIEN PHU 72662

[00:09] a war that shook the foundations of France then ended her Asian Empire it is a story whose climactic moment came in an obscure jungle Outpost named dbn

[00:26] the credential Insurance Company of America presents the 20th C it

[01:00] August 1945 after 80 years of colonial rule and four years of Japanese Occupation a new surge for Independence sweeps French Indochina as French troops return to anoi and to Saigon symbol of France's

[01:15] anoi and to Saigon symbol of France's Eastern Empire European citizens welcome them but many Vietnamese support a new nationalist government that claims most of Indochina at the head of IT a hero of wartime resistance Ho Chi Min at 55 ho

[01:30] wartime resistance Ho Chi Min at 55 ho has become a legend a communist although many of his followers are not ho trained in Moscow educated in Paris follows a pure nationalist line he tells the French we want to govern ourselves but

[01:44] we need your engineers and your capital in March 1946 France recognizes Ho's Republic of Vietnam Bai the Emperor of Anam has

[01:56] abdicated to become Ho's political adviser a pre-war French puppet then a Japanese one bai's basic French ties will see him again allied with France will see him again allied with France against

[02:11] complete Independence but his mission is doomed to failure while he is away French colonialists are creating a puppet regime in saon and communist extremists are terrorizing Hanoi whole begs French liberals for support you

[02:26] will not regret it he says he grants an exclusive interview to CBS News correspondent David shbr Ho came into the room that night wearing the uniform that had been made Popular by Stalin by Chun Kai Sheek just a simple khaki High

[02:41] colled uniform no decorations no Insignia of any kind and I said to him president hoe you keep talking about war is there going to be war between your people and the French and to my astonishment this president in office in

[02:55] time of Peace speaking in Paris his Allied country replied yes there will be War there's no way out the French do not really recognize our independence it's all a masquerade we are not really independent we mean to be and there will

[03:10] be War I looked at him and said president ho how can you possibly fight war against the modern French army you have country you are you don't even have a bank let alone an army and guns and

[03:24] modern weapons the French have planes tanks Napalm how can you fight the French and he said oh we have a lot of things that can match the French weapons tanks are no good in swamps and we have swamps in which the French tanks will

[03:37] sink and we have another Secret Weapon It's nationalism and don't think that a small ragged band cannot fight against a modern Army it will be a war between an modern Army it will be a war between an elephant and a tiger if the tiger ever

[03:50] stands still the elephant will crush him and Pierce him with his mighty tusks but the tiger of Indochina is not going to stand still we're going to hide in our jungles by day and steal out by night and the tiger will jump on the back of

[04:04] and the tiger will jump on the back of the elephant and tear huge chunks out of his flesh and then jump back into the jungle and after a while the mighty elephant will bleed to death that was the prediction of hoim on September 11th

[04:19] the prediction of hoim on September 11th 1946 November 20th 1946 The Harbor of [Music] high The Guns of a French crew user fire on the town as Colonial extremists decide to teach the Vietnamese a lesson

[04:34] 3 Days Later 6,000 Naes have been killed in a massive French attack it is the than 7 [Music]

[04:46] [Music] [Applause] [Music] years POI men tries to stem the violence he checks his communist Army leaders when Leon Bloom was socialist becomes

[05:00] premier of France po sends him a desperate cable urging peace the French sensor in anois delays the message it arrives too late on December 19th fighting starts in Hanoi after a brief battle the Vietnamese are driven out

[05:15] French retaliation against the native population ends all hope of population ends all hope of [Music] Peace Po's government has fled to the Jungle it is no new experience for this

[05:30] Guerilla veteran who fought the Japanese from these Hills sometimes with secret American OSS help in this mountain Hideout the gorillas who call themselves Hideout the gorillas who call themselves The vietn Men ma the long war against

[05:51] has predicted it is now rapidly becoming a communist Army its tactics as well as its indoctrination are borrowed from mong's Chinese communist handbook weapons are often crude and homemade instruction is brief but to the

[06:06] instruction is brief but to the [Music]

[06:20] point Viet Min works hard to win popular support in accordance with the time proved communist formula if not by conviction then by Coan there is no denying the popularity

[06:32] of hoi men himself to the simple peasants he is their leader and benefactor and they Revere him Uncle ho they call him this is a clandestine war of Ambush weapons are more valuable than gold they must be used sparingly and

[06:47] hidden carefully in the ground and in swamps mines and sometimes bamboo spikes swamps mines and sometimes bamboo spikes soaked in Poison are planted

[07:02] the men and women of the vietman wait for a French Convoy for a French Convoy [Music]

[07:45] for the moment are most valuable the French use mine detectors and do their best to discover where the Vietnam hides its guns and grenades many are found but not enough to stop the growing Guerilla Army

[08:05] spreads throughout the countryside [Music]

[08:31] European history to fight a stationary War a war of forts a magino line War but in the Indochina jungle no such line is possible barbed wire and concrete are

[08:43] spread far apart in an effort to hold a few fixed

[08:56] outmoded planes to carry paratroopers into Vietnam men territory where roads are scarce and dangerous they hope to flush out the elusive enemy in a series of lightning rids but on the ground the Goin is slow

[09:10] rids but on the ground the Goin is slow and some natives have been indoctrinated by communist cadres to believe zealously in the vietn cause many others are only part-time guillas whose real desire is

[09:26] to be left alone in their villages in this type of war the hunters quickly become the [Music]

[09:52] hunted it is a brutal seesaw battle against hidden elements prisoners and occasional refugees are an important source of information but the Vietnam's jungle grape vine is often more efficient than French

[10:05] intelligence the French suffer heavy casualties as the Guerilla War continues until 1950 it remains primarily a local conflict but as the Communists Nationalist movement and began to bolster their forces with Aid and

[10:20] advisers from neighboring red China it will become a key part of the world's struggle between communism and the Western democracies

[10:34] intensity the French plead for increased American Aid and get it in 1950 it comes to about $100 million 4 years later it will be nearly four times that much in all the United States pours nearly $4 billion worth of military financial and

[10:50] economic assistance into Indochina in an effort to avoid a French and a free world defeat some of the AIDS such as heavy trucks and cement for Road is of questionable value it is hoped that this Aid will enable the French to stem the

[11:04] [Music] tide General Jean deetra deini a brilliant officer arrives to rebuild the morale of the dispirited colonial army in addition to Vietnamese recruits dtra's force of

[11:19] 170,000 includes tough professional soldiers from the Foreign Legion and volunteers from all parts of the French Empire delectra employs American aircraft on a massive scale and kills 6,000 Viet men in a pitched battle east

[11:34] of Hanoi in the face of growing French airow the vietn men soon becomes expert airow the vietn men soon becomes expert at camouflage

[12:07] military aid from Red China has begun to reach the Vietnam to increase the flow of supplies better roads are needed men and women work with their hands hands are not as good as bulldozers but enough of them do the

[12:20] [Music] job General rul Salah later to head the secret army in Algeria succeeds the alien General deetra Bai is back as chief of a French sponsored government in Saigon but the French still unwilling

[12:36] to Grant the Vietnamese real Independence lack popular support at his Northern headquarters General ven yep the tough commander of the Viet Army prepares his strategy Yap now figures he has enough strength for a

[12:51] frontal assault but he must move carefully he plans to draw the French carefully he plans to draw the French into a trap in saon the new nationalist assembly meets its members and bai's cabinet are mostly French weaned

[13:03] property owners and professional men with little political experience there are no Northerners represented among the delegates and no figure like hoi men to command respect and provide strong United

[13:22] French have half a million men in Indochina a 2 to1 numerical superiority over the vietn but there still losing heavily in Jungle combat the stage is set for a showdown it comes when the French launch an Airborne attack against

[13:36] an obscure Northern Village named deban Fu its Chief military asset is an air strip built by the Japanese in World War II in a shallow Valley near the Le ocean

[13:48] border the enbn fu has been chosen as an objective for both political and Military reasons vietman units have begun to move west across the border into neighboring Laos their route takes them along one of the few roads linking

[14:01] the two countries a road that passes through dbn Fu General hin Navar who has replaced Salon as French military commander feels that creating an impregnable strong point at D enbn Fu will stall the red

[14:16] drive into Laos the entire operation is to be supplied from the air the French military commanders who cling to their concept of defensive forts the enbn fu will become the greatest Fort of all three ,000 tons of barbed wire or strum

[14:31] triple the normal quota for such a defensive position units are provided with N9 days of rations eight days of ammunition and such special aids to Modern Warfare as flamethrowers and nighttime infrared sights called sniper

[14:46] Scopes the dmbn fu Garrison is a polyglot force of 12,000 foreign legionnaires Moroccans algerians and Vietnamese commanded by a colorful Vietnamese commanded by a colorful Cavalry Colonel named Christian decastro

[15:03] with all he has in men and supplies says general Navar there is a 100% chance of crushing the Viet in a mountain Factory using a primitive water wheel for Motive Power the Viet men Works to increase its

[15:15] Arsenal some weapons have been captured intact some must be repaired others are manufactured from scratch with homemade equipment the vietman workers include conscripts but many are indoctrinated and zealous partisans of the communist

[15:29] and zealous partisans of the communist [Music]

[15:47] from communist China they're carried across the border 200 Mi Northeast by a across the border 200 Mi Northeast by a force of 75,000 coolies

[16:12] at dban Fu the job of preparing the unique Fortress is almost complete despite its modern equipment there's something medieval about it something anachronistic the big planes pour in on the refurbished Japanese air strip

[16:25] bringing flamethrowers mortars artillery and even tanks but what is out of focus is the thinking behind it all CBS News correspondent David shran was there we

[16:37] stood in D NBN Fu I I'll never forget it it was a little muddy field and it was shaped something like this it was in the hollow of my palm here and all around us were Mountain crests High ridges the French were located down here in the

[16:51] bowl they called it la cette which was a bowl and I remember some of the General at the time but General whated happens if the enemy ever gets up onto the ridge he's going to be shooting fish in a barrel and the general looked at

[17:05] that and said oh yes but you see these Vietnamese these anom mites they're not very good with artillery like we Europeans are they don't have any heavy stuff and we think it's unlikely that the Chinese will give them heavy stuff

[17:18] that was the gamble they took it was unlikely that the Chinese would furnish the vietn Communists whom the Chinese were backing the general has made a tragic miscalculation our arery including American Guns captured by the

[17:31] Chinese Reds is furnished the Viet men in quantity painfully pushed and pulled up Mountain Trails these guns will provide the key to Victory the French will be thoroughly outgunned the Viet men has maneuvered its artillery into

[17:45] position as adroitly as if it were dealing with light machine guns soldiers work side by side with coolies to complete the buildup the death nail of colonialism in Asia will be sounded in the terrible battle about to take place

[17:58] the terrible battle about to take place at DNB Fu yep surrounds the French with four divisions March 13th

[18:20] psychologically and physically stunned within hours the vietman captures the first of eight strong points dastra has romantically named for former girlfriends the French reply with their own artillery but it is not nearly so

[18:51] Liquid Fire but it is apparent that D enbn Fu needs reinforcements reports David shran I remembered watching French and Vietnamese parrot tropers volunteering to jump into DN Fu even in the last days of the war when they knew

[19:06] that it was suicide they had more volunteers than they had planes to carry them rarely in history can one witness such a magnificent and totally absurd sacrifice of human life and Noble courage as at the

[19:27] on their planes but heavy Viet men anti-aircraft fire also unexpected cripples French air [Music] support the deanan fu air strip is riddled with shell planes can no longer

[19:44] land there helicopters must be brought in to evacuate the wounded they are carried to the Airfield from a nearby Field hospital and loaded often Under Field hospital and loaded often Under Fire French nurses perform heroically

[19:56] one of them genv de galar will gain undying Fame in her country is the angel of deanan Fu in France the battle is being called the Verdon of Vietnam the French have trouble spotting the Viet guns cleverly hidden in the Hills as the

[20:11] unequal Duo continues and communist fire predominates the French artillery predominates the French artillery Commander is driven to suicide

[20:44] French tanks cannot stop the Viet men from closing in through a maze of trenches enemy shot troops are dug in as close as 10 yards from the French line despite heavy losses they overrun the French positions one by one

[21:17] May 7th the vietn men starts its final assault at French military headquarters assault at French military headquarters in Hanoi David sh I was in The Dugout at Hanoi at Supreme headquarters with General reene Kane was calling the NBN

[21:29] fol every one of the little Citadel positions had been captured by then the radio communications were growing fainter and we could hear the noise of communist guns we could even hear the screaming of the Wounded on that radio

[21:41] communication until finally we heard the voice of a Caster saying my general they're coming in now all is over I must cut off the radio went dead we heard no more from D Fu it was the end of the Garrison it was the end of the French

[21:57] Adventure in Indochina it was indeed the end of the French Empire

[22:39] French captives almost 10,000 are subjected to brainwashing in a Viet prison camp Colonel dastra now a general in defeat is one of them communist political officers hand down the line as the prisoners listen

[22:54] abjectly 1,500 of their comrades at deban fu dead and 4,000 have been deban fu dead and 4,000 have been wounded more will die in vietman

[23:10] the Viet men bargaining power at a peace conference in Geneva they get all of Vietnam north of the 17th parallel with Hanoi their Capital French troops leave Hanoi forever but many of them are headed for

[23:24] another long bloody war in Algeria [Music]

[23:44] bridge leading from Hanoi vietman guards take over communism has won a take over communism has won a far-reaching victory in

[23:58] million of them head for the South below the line drawn at Geneva these are the Vietnamese who do not choose to live under communism the old and the young they stream along the roads and trails on

[24:11] [Music] foot some go by sea in small boats While others come down the coast to Saigon by ship today many of these refugees are leaders in the continuing fight to

[24:25] preserve their freedom by Saving South Vietnam from communism a strikingly similar kind of war in which the United States is deeply

[24:46] from your host the presedential insurance company of presedential will present a story of Espionage never before for to on

[24:59] television of the most massive spying effort ever directed against a single country West Germany these are actual red spies at work filmed secretly by West German Security Forces next week this story the suppor crime C reporting

[25:14] this story the suppor crime C reporting for the 20th century