M24 Chaffee Light Tank

[Bruce_in_Oz]

I went to Dien Bien Phu for the 50th anniversary; quite a shindig.

Certain parts of the various battlefields have been "Disney-fied" to accommodate the steady stream of tourists. Classic example is the use of "concrete" sandbags that withstand the hands and feet of punters much better than the '50s originals. Like the Cu Chi Tunnels in the south, some selected tunnels, trenches and bunkers have been enlarged from their original "minimalist" dimensions. Even the Giap's HQ redoubt in "the mountains" has been significantly "tarted up". Several of the tanks at Dien Bien Phu have, given the corrosion patterns on wheels, tracks and hulls, been "relocated" to positions more amenable to viewing by the punters.

There is an interesting film about the battle, made by a Yugoslav crew, not long after the real shooting had ceased. Captured Legionaires were "recycled" to play "themselves" and given (unloaded) weapons to look the part. Apparently ALL of the ammo fired in the "remake" was LIVE; nobody had "theatrical" blanks handy in such staggering volumes. When the "cinematic" sappers blew something up, it wasn't with a metre of det. cord, a few litres of petrol in a plastic jar and an over-wad of sphagnum moss and cork pellets, "Hollywood style", but with REAL explosives.

[martins8589]

Got a link to the movie name etc Bruce!!!

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Still looking for the "original", in glorious monochrome, of course; it has been shown in Oz at least once on our "Ethnic" TV network. There is another version of "The Battle of Dien Bien Phu" made in in 1992 and directed by Pierre Schoendoerffer, (now, there's a good Irish name), a veteran of the battle, using the Vietnamese PAVN as "Giap's extras", and half the expat population of Hanoi as "legionnaires". They built a lot of replica locations "somewhere in Viet Nam" to shoot it.

[browningautorifle]

I'd love to go look at some of these places, specially the ones I heard about when I was younger...actually watched the battles unfold. The tunnels would be one but I wouldn't really want to go inside...

[Bruce_in_Oz]

The Cu Chi tunnels are an incredible story in themselves.

The ones that have been opened for tourism are fairly shallow and "comfortable".

NOBODY is allowed to go down to the "third level", not even the skinniest Viet. The deep tunnels that were dug as the "last hiding place" against the "rolling thunder" / Arc-Light" visits by B-52s are allegedly infested with nasty snakes etc. If you got into "trouble", the nearest backhoe is MILES away. Once the bombing stopped, even the Viet Cong stayed out of the deep tunnels.

While you are there you can blow some extra cash and let rip with a selection of "period appropriate" weaponry, at a buck(US) a round (at last costing); it is not cheap for vintage ammo and equally vintage M-16s and AKs etc. Last time I was there, I got to play very briefly with a Chinese Type 63 / 68 on " rock and roll"; interesting experience.

The whole operation is actually run by a special unit of the Viet military, so they actually know what they are doing and supervise the "long-nosed" Nimrods fairly closely.

Over the border in Cambodia, you can REALLY empty your wallet and let rip with an RPG7 or similar. Or, at least until recently you could. Check with an "interesting" travel agent or, on line.

[browningautorifle]

I'd be very uncomfortable down there anyway. Just for that very reason. I'll wait to get into the ground...

[Bruce_in_Oz]

BAR:

As the song goes:

"Every day above ground is a good one".

[browningautorifle]

Agreed...

[Sentryduty]

The Cu Chi tunnels are an incredible story in themselves.

Years ago I had read a pair of books about that very topic, both were paperback and novel sized, the Tunnels of Cu Chi and The Tunnel Rats respectively, each gave a very interesting account of the tunnel complexes and the misery of clearing them out.

All sorts of booby traps like tripwires attached to grenades or poisonous snakes, and clever designs such as gas traps dug and filled with water in the manner of the pea-trap in a household sink.

[browningautorifle]

the Tunnels of Cu Chi

I too have that book.