The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1954-05-17
|Dien Bien Phu
Survivors Tell
|OfFinalStand
Defenders Hung On
Until Ammunition
Supplies Failed
By LARRY ALLEN

HANOI, lndOchlna R-The val
liant French Union defenders of
Diem Bien Phu fought their Com
munist-led assailants furiously and
without letup until all their ammu-
milton was gone.
Then, as one by one their guns
fell silent over the remnant of the
fortress bunkers, they carried out
Brig. Gen. Christian de Castries'
last order-"Give up when you can
no longer fight"
This account of the fortress last
hours on May Z was given to news
men last night by three badly
wounded survivors of the epic
siege, part of the contingent of II
casualties released by the Wet
mimi rebels before the airlift evac-
uation was suspended Saturday.
General Is Captive
At Hanoi's overcrowded Lanes
san Military Hospital they said
both Brig. Gen. Christian de Cas-
tries, their heroic garrison COM
and the only woman in
the fortress, air force nurse Gene.
We've de Galard Terraube of Paris,
both were captives of the Wet
mini.
Neither was wounded, the trio
said.
ALI three men lay badly wounded
with some 1,4O0 others in the bat
tered, shen-torn fortress under
ground hospital while the human
tidal waves of rebels swept over
in the final engulfing blows.
His right leg badly shattered by
Vietminh fire, Pfc. Marco Cham
pougny said he thought the last
hours of fighting would never end.
ut seemed like there were thou
sands of shells and machine-gun
bullets hitting against the hospital
bunker.
"Some of them buried some of
the wounded alive as the Vietminh
just fired over everything they
had.
Vicious Battle
"From outside we could hear
the wild screaming of the Vietminh
and the answering cries of the
French as everybody fought vi
ciously, hand to hand.
cat times a soldier would tum-
BILE into the hospital bunker, badly
and say he was out of
ammunition" --
That was the way every defend
er fought, said Champougny-until
he no longer had anything to fight
with. s.s....-.
''De CaStries' last order to the
men in his bunker" Champougny
continued, twas Give up when
you can no longer fight To do
anything else. would have been
butchery."
The private said about 6 o'clock
that Friday night the shooting sud-
denly died out on the battlefield
and "then everyone knew the bat
tie was over"
Nurse Praised
Miss de Galard, he continued,
was still bravely ministering to
the wounded in the hospital bunker
as the rebels rushed in.
There was no attack made on
the wounded men, he continued.
Instead, the Vietminh announced
all were captives of Ho Chi Mimi,
the rebels Moscow-trained chief.
Their captors, said Champougny,
were almost apologize. One Wet
mimi officer declared in French:
"Ho Chi Mini and we are fight
ing for our country. There are
things worse than that, and we
are no worse than others. You are
now prisoners and will get the at
bention prisoners of war deserve.
Some of the rebel soldiers in
their mud-caked uniforms were
Historically, but none at
tempted to mistreat amy of the
French wounded.
Nor did Champougny, after he
was carried out to the battlefield,
see any rebels mistreat any of the
unwounded-reportedly 8,0OO-they
rounded up.
Champougny said Miss de Gal
ard disappeared for awhile after
the invaders entered the hospital
section "but I saw her come back
to help the wounded, and later she
was taken away by the Vietminh."
"She looked as brave and I'M
afraid and courageous as ever"
Later, Chmpougny said, he was
carried out of the bunker to the
battlefield.