U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (1888-1959) praises French (French Far East Expeditionary Corps, CEFEO) & Vietnamese (State of Vietnam's National Army, VNA) support in the fall of Dien Bien Phu during the Indochina War.
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U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN DIEN BIEN PHU DECLASSIFIED IN 2004 (50 years later):
"By early April 1954, the garrison had to rely entirely on air supply. Although President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff had considered—and then rejected—American military intervention in Indochina, they did agree to employ aircraft belonging to CAT to airdrop vital supplies. The CAT flights, known as Operation Squaw I and Operation Squaw II, involved a dozen Fairchild C-119 cargo aircraft repainted in French Air Force colors. During the siege, 37 CAT pilots flew 682 missions out of the airbase at Cat Bi near Haiphong between March 13 and May 6, 1954. On February 24, 2005, French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte posthumously awarded the Legion of Honor to McGovern, Buford, and surviving CAT pilots on behalf of France for their actions at Dien Bien Phu."
FURTHER READING:
"A Look Back ... Earthquake McGoon's Final Flight"
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/earthquake-mcgoon...
"James B. McGovern, Jr., Captain, United States Army Air Force"
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jbmcgovernjr.htm
AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION:
"John Foster Dulles on the fall of Dien Bien Phu
A few hours ago, Dien Bien Phu has fallen.
Its defense of fifty-seven days and nights will go down in history as one of the most heroic of all time. The defenders composed of French and native forces, inflicted staggering losses on the enemy. And the French soldiers showed that they have not lost either the will or the skill to fight even under the most terrible conditions. And it showed that Vietnam can produce soldiers who have the qualities needed to enable them to defend their country.
The epic battle has ended, but great causes have before now been won out of lost battles. The Chinese communists have been supplying the forces of the Vietminh rebels with munitions and trucks and anti-aircraft guns, radar, technical equipment and technical advisers. They have, however, stopped short of open armed intervention. And in this respect, they may have been deterred by the warnings which the United States has given that such open intervention would lead to grave consequences which might not be confined to Indo-China.
Accordingly we are ready to take part with the other countries principally concerned in an examination of the possibility of establishing a collective defense within the framework of the Charter of the United Nations to seek the peace, security and freedom of Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. And I feel that unity of purpose still persists. And that such a tragic event as the fall of Dien Bien Phu will harden, and not weaken our purpose to stay united. Today the United States and the other countries immediately concerned are giving careful consideration to the establishment of a collective defense. Conversations are taking place amongst these. There are many problems we must agree on just who will take part in the united defense effort and just what the different commitments will be. And also I frankly recognize that difficulties have been encountered, but also I say that this was to be expected. Because the complexity of the problem is great. So great indeed that, as I pointed out, it was only possible in the last few months, even to get started on this project. And under all the circumstances, I feel that very good progress is being made. I feel confident that the outcome will be such that communist aggression will not be able to gain in Southeast Asia the results that it seeks. This common defense may involve serious commitments by us all but free people will never remain free if they are not willing it need be to fight for their vital interests. Furthermore, vital interests can no longer be protected barely by local defense. The key to successful defense and the key to detering attack is association with others for mutual defence. And that is what United States seeks in Southeast Asia."
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5 videos
Excellent speech.
andyw513 6 months ago
Wow, astounding images. thanks for posting this great footage!
nirvana2187 9 months ago
Fantastic rare footage of the post battlefield in the beginning. Gotta love the shot up Bearcat at 0:08.
kolbpilot 1 year ago
@neoconsnightmare3 when the french army decided to leave vietnam in 1956, the french government managed to impose ho chi minh a free non-red part of vietnam, however when the americans were defeated south vietnam disappeared and the whole vietnam was lost to communism. hopefully some free vetnamese managed to reach france and the us through operation passage to freedom and else.
YouSmellyReds 1 year ago
@Francophobe002 the vietnamese eat silkworms in hanoi restraurants. fucking savages.
YouSmellyReds 1 year ago
@Francophobe002 the vietnamese are cowards, they used 5 divisions against a single french union division and nevertheless the french killed more viet minh during the battle than the viet minh killed french. today the vietnam army is doing a genocide over hmong montagnards, these communist viet are fucking savages. :|
YouSmellyReds 1 year ago