DIEN BIEN PHU, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam on Tuesday celebrated the 70th anniversary of the battle of Dien Bien Phu in which the French colonial army was defeated by Vietnamese troops, marking the end of the French occupation of Indochina. At Dien Bien Phu, Vietnamese troops led by General Vo Nguyen Giap, surprised French forces with heavy artillery fire at their mountainous garrison in northwestern Vietnam. When Dien Bien Phu fell in 1954, it spelled the end of almost a century of French colonial rule. “The historic Dien Bien Phu victory is a remarkable event, not only for the Vietnamese revolution,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said in a speech at the ceremony. “It is also a monumental saga that inspired countries rising up to fight for independence and freedom, marking the collapse of the colonialism all over the world.” On Tuesday morning, the commemoration was held at a stadium in the center of Dien Bien Phu, once a village in a valley dense with trenches, barbed wires and bomb craters. It is now a city of more than 80,000 people. |
How major US stock indexes fared Friday, 4/19/2024Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department behindTigers hand Twins seasonDozens of Palestinians killed, injured in Israeli attack in Gaza CityAfrica Energy Indaba highlights prospects of South AfricaMusic legend reveals they are working on tellPanama Papers trial's public portion comes to an unexpectedly speedy endChinese researchers develop targeted nanomedicine for female Alzheimer's patientsJennie Garth, 52, admits her steamy makeMaine gun store owner adopts calf that was rejected by its mother and left alone in the woods