Minister Lecornu calls at Hill A1, where the fiercest battle took place in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign in 1954. He is accompanied by Secretary of State Patricia Miralles and several French war veterans.
The French Defense Minister and former French war veterans listen to an introduction to the historical site Hill A1.
Lecornu and his entourage see old weapons used during the Dien Bien Phu Campaign.
Ngo Tuong Minh, a 12-year-old student, sings the song “Hello Vietnam” and presents the Vietnamese flag to a French war veteran who fought at Dien Bien Phu seven decades ago.
Minister Lecornu walks along through trenches around the De Castries bunker deep underground.
Inside the De Castries bunker, the Minister learns about the Dien Bien Phu campaign through a diagram.
Lecornu has accepted Vietnam’s invitation to visit and attend a grand ceremony marking 70 years of the Dien Bien Phu victory over French colonialism (May 5, 1954 – 2024), demonstrating the good relations, the friendship and the common desire of the two countries to strengthen their partnership.
His visit shows France’s desire to break with the past and look to the future, for the sake of cooperation and development between the two countries and peoples.
