Dien Bien Phu.
The fortress city was where French colonial power ultimately fell to Vietnamese communist forces in 1954. This marked the end of
France's control in the region.
In America, we remember the Vietnam War as a
long, protracted struggle in which the United States military was not able to
succeed over motivated local forces. What we often don't remember is that
the path to war in Vietnam began with revolution against colonial government by
the French. The US became involved because we had made a commitment to
work against the spread of communism.
