The French, Americans and British all had vested interests in keeping the Communists at bay during those chaotic days. They were particularly interested in keeping them from gaining a foothold in Saigon. A suitable governor had to be found, one that was loyal to the “idea” of a South Vietnam and who would advocate for western policies once in place. A name that had surfaced on-and-off throughout the years of French rule was one Ngo Dinh Diem… READ MORE>>
Posted in Asia, Essays, History, US Military, Vietnam, War
Tagged French Indochina, Ngo Dinh Diem, South Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam War
La 317ème section (Photo credit: antonella.beccaria)
In 1951 Pierre Schoendoerffer, then in his early twenties, was out for adventure. He had read about French reporters and cameramen working in Indochina and it fascinated him. So he volunteered in the Service Cinématographique des Armées and was assigned to Saigon. There he befriended a Service Presse Information war photographer named Jean Péraud. In 1954, it was Péraud who asked Schoendoerffer to jump into Dien Bien Phu to work with him on filming the combat. Schoendoerffer agreed. He dropped with the 5th Vietnamese Parachutist Battalion into the besieged fortress during the early days of the battle. Corporal-Chief Schoendoerffer “celebrated” his 26th birthday in the midst of the 57 day siege. He filmed much of the battle, but after the French defeat he tragically decided to destroy most of his film and his cameras to keep them out of Vietminh hands. One small reel of footage was salvaged. It didn’t resurface for years.
After the fall of Dien Bien Phu to the Vietminh on 7 May 1954 Schoendoerffer shared the same fate as thousands of French soldiers; he was captured and marched off, hundreds of miles, to a Vietminh prison camp. During the march he and Jean Péraud attempted a daring escape. The two men joined with the legendary French paratroop commander Marcel Bigeard, darting into the jungle at an opportune moment. Unfortunately he and Bigaerd were ultimately caught. Péraud vanished into the jungle, never to be heard from again. Schoendoerffer was released by the Viet Minh in September 1954. After his release he left the French army and became a war reporter in South Vietnam for various French and American news magazines including Paris Match, Time and Life. Later Schoendoerffer took up film making.
His first success was in 1965 with The 317th Platoon (La 317e Section) based on his experience in the First Indochina War. WATCH: THE 317th PLATOON MOVIE TRAILER HERE>>
On 1 August 1965, the U.S. 1st Air Cavalry Division was sent to South Vietnam. The American war in Vietnam was on. The following year, in September 1966, Schoendoerffer joined it and followed a 33-man platoon led by Lieutenant Joseph B. Anderson. WATCH THE ANDERSON PLATOON ENTIRE MOVIE HERE>>
Enjoy!
Posted in Asia, History, Movies & TV, Video, Vietnam, War
Tagged Dien Bien Phu, First Indochina War, French Indochina, Indochina War, Marcel Bigeard, Pierre Schoendoerffer, Viet Minh
Image via Wikipedia
On February 27, 1968, upon returning from a trip to Vietnam after the Tet Offensive, Walter Cronkite closed his CBS News broadcast with Report from Vietnam: Who, What, When, Where, Why?” :
“We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds. They may be right, that Hanoi’s winter-spring offensive has been forced by the Communist realization that they could not win the longer war of attrition, and that the Communists hope that any success in the offensive will improve their position for eventual negotiations. It would improve their position, and it would also require our realization, that we should have had all along, that any negotiations must be that — negotiations, not the dictation of peace terms. For it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. This summer’s almost certain standoff will either end in real give-and-take negotiations or terrible escalation; and for every means we have to escalate, the enemy can match us, and that applies to invasion of the North, the use of nuclear weapons, or the mere commitment of one hundred, or two hundred, or three hundred thousand more American troops to the battle. And with each escalation, the world comes closer to the brink of cosmic disaster. To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy’s intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.”
Following Cronkite’s editorial report, President Lyndon Johnson is reported to have said, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.”… WATCH VIDEOS OF THE NIGHTLY NEWS FROM THROUGHOUT THE VIETNAM WAR>>
Posted in Asia, Culture, History, Movies & TV, News Articles, US Military, Video, Vietnam, War
Tagged Hanoi, Lyndon B. Johnson, Vietnam, Vietnam War, Walter Cronkite
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…Cabanier arrived in Saigon on the 19th of November, 1953, just as Operation CASTOR, the occupation of Dien Bien Phu by airborne assault, was launching. He would meet with General Navarre as the first French paras were floating down over Dien Bien Phu. Interestingly, the weather was questionable for jumping over western Tonkin that day. Cogny and the commander of the assault force, Brigadier General Jean Gilles, considered calling the operation off. The window of opportunity was a brief one, and it’s quite possible that had they opted out that day the operation would not have been re-mounted, ever…. MORE >>
Posted in Asia, Essays, History, Vietnam, War
Tagged Dien Bien Phu, Ho Chi Minh City, Jean Gilles, Navarre, Operation CASTOR, Saigon, Vietnam
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Parallel Narratives 