Vietnam remembers battle that ended French control

DIEN BIEN PHU, Vietnam -- Atop a tranquil hill, the memories of battle amid red-earth trenches and barbed wire are still vivid for the elderly men who make the pilgrimage here.

Hundreds of veterans of Dien Bien Phu have filed into this small border town in recent weeks -- to celebrate a long-ago victory, to mourn the fallen, but mostly just to remember.

"I was in hell back then. Today feels like I'm in heaven," said Vu Van Nay, 77 leaning on a cane, his left sleeve swinging empty.

Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the battle of Dien Bien Phu, which ultimately ended French colonization of Indochina. It comes upon a nation of 80 million that still adheres to communist ideals but is steadily embracing the capitalist lifestyle. In modern-day Dien Bien Phu, now home to 70,000, Internet cafes sit alongside busy markets.

But the victory of a peasant army over a military giant is still remembered as a historic wake-up call and a strategic masterpiece that continues to be studied.

In this remote valley 260 miles northwest of Hanoi, ringed by misty mountains, the French chose to make their stand, hoping to strangle supply routes from Laos and China to Ho Chi Minh's ragtag army.

Commanded by Vo Nguyen Giap, the peasant army had been inflicting significant damage. The French plan was to draw the Vietnamese into a conventional battle and crush them.

Instead, the French ended up trapped in the small valley when the Vietnamese managed a near-impossible logistical feat of dragging heavy artillery over the mountainous terrain. The French surrendered May 7, 1954.

From the last hill captured by the Vietnamese during the fighting, there is a clear view of one of three war cemeteries below, with neat rows of gravestones and a marble wall of gold-printed names. Trenches and barbed wire have been left on the hill for tourists.

Some 300 veterans still live in Dien Bien Phu.

In the one-room home of Tran Quang Huu, half a dozen veterans -- the oldest 82, the youngest 70 -- chattered excitedly after being visited by their former commander, Giap, now 92.

In the easy rhythm of old friends, they retell their war stories -- not enough food, not enough weapons, constantly being bombed, huddling in trenches alongside dead comrades. And yet never doubting they would win.

"They thought they had their tanks, their planes and their artillery. They thought we had nothing. But they underestimated us," said 74-year-old Nguyen Van Ky.