The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1954-05-17
Agreement On Evacuation OF
Wounded From Diem Bien Phu
Cancelled By French Command
] About Air Attacks
On Rebels Will Be
Resumed Shortly
By LARRY ALLEN

French high command announced
today it had Cancelled its agree
ment with the Vietminh for evac-
alton of wounded French Union
forces from Diem Bien Phu. The
French said they shortly would re-
sumo about air attacks on the
rebels streaming eastward from
the fallen fortress toward the vital
Red River delta.
Only II of the French casualties
have been evacuated. The Wet
mini had agreed to let 753 "seri-
ously wounded" 60 but the French
said they refused to repair the fall
en- fortress two wrecked airstrlps
so. larger planes could land and
speed up the operation.
In exchange for removal of their
own wounded, the French had
stopped bombing the 7O-mile road
between Diem Bien Phu and Son
La so that Communist Gen. Vo
Nguyen Clap could transport his
own casualties from the battlefield
he conquered May Z.
Agreement Not Kept
But Clap, the French charged,
was using the road to transfer ar
tillery, antiaircraft guns, other
war material and combat troops
along with the wounded toward the
delta. The command in Hanoi
fears that vital area and Hanoi
will be the target for another ma
jor rebel offensive, perhaps In
June.
The French estimated it would
take at least a month to move out
the 753 seriously wounded by
helicopter and small single-engine
planes, the only aircraft that now
can land at Diem Bien Phu. The
French figured Clap during that
time could move his entire battle
tested force from Diem Bien Phu
unmolested, a price the French
military judged too high to pay.
Estimates of the total French
Union wounded captured at Diem
Bien Phu range between 1900 and
1000.
Controls Asked
Reliable sources in Saigon said
the French had demanded they be
allowed to set up controls on the
Diem Bien Phu-Son La highway to
prevent movement Of other than
rebel wounded, but Clap refused.
The sources in Saigon said bomb
ing of the highway would be re-
sumed at 6 pm. today.
The French in Saigon indicated
more negotiations would be sought
with the Communists in a further
effort to arrange for removal Of
the wounded, to which the rebels
agreed in principle at the Geneva
conference. These sources insisted
the evacuation plan had only
''broken down locally but is still in
effect in general"
The French had charged earlier
that Clap had refused to release
any Vietnamese wounded along
with the other French Union
troops, though Soviet Foreign Min
lister v. M. Molotov had agreed
specifically to this in Geneva.
Indoefrination Feared
The French feared the Red rebel
leaders were holding on to their
countrymen in an effort to indoc-
trinate them with communism.
Two French officers flew by hell
copter to Diem Bien Phu yesterday
to negotiate further with the Wet.
mimi. The French Press Agency
said they reported back that to re-
pair the airstrips so they could &C.
commodate 4O-place Dakota trans
ports would require hundreds. OF
workers and a de-mining opera
ton.
One of the officers was quoted
as saying French medical person
mel captured with the garrison had
been barred from treating their
own wounded and Vietminh doc
tors only were taking care of them.
They have been grouped around
the former battlefield in tents
made from parachutes dropped in
by the French air force along with
food and medical supplies.
Three of the II casualties al
ready arrived in Hanoi, in their
first interview with newsmen last
night, said air force nurse Gene
We've de Galard Terraube, the
only woman in the fortress, had
survived the fall of Diem Bien Phu
unhurt but later had been taken
away a prisoner.
These men reported that Brig.
Gen. Christian de Castries, the
commander of the fortress, also
had been captured unhurt.