Hommes Incroyables (Et Une Femme)

Pierre Charles Albert Marie Langlais.  The effective ground commander at Dien Bien Phu.  Fearless.

In 1986 he killed himself by jumping through a window in the town of Vannes.  Trained as a paratrooper age 45.

Pierre Langlais, by Dino Carancini.

This guy probably looked like this in grade school, cigarette and all.  The soldier behind him looks a great deal like a certain 20 year old Marine I knew once, staring off into space without two brain cells to rub together.  The Marine, of course, the guy in the picture is a badass by definition.  The French soldiers, most of them, at Dien Bein Phu were some of the best that have ever existed and were just thrown away by their high command.  The amazing thing is not that the French lost but that it took the Viet Minh so long to win.  That is because a person like Langlais does not understand defeat or the concept of until there is no other option.  None.

See what the main strip at DBP was made of?  To fix holes in it men had to cut out and weld in pierced steel plate, under the direct observation of the enemy.  Every single night.  

 

 Marcel Bigeard, another fantastic commander, in the middle.  He didn't carry weapons in combat, and he was in a lot of combat.

 

The 'Paratrooper Mafia', in charge at Dien Bien Phu.

"Toward the end when the collapse of  Dien Bien Phu became inevitable, Colonels Bigeard and Langlais repeatedly requested that an attempt be made to break out of the 'fort' and head for Laos, thus saving at least some of garrison. These requests were refused both by De Castries and Navarre. When the whole picture began to fall apart De Castries retired into himself and would spend long hours in headquarters bunker going over maps and playing bridge with some of his staff. Bigeard and Langlais carried the burden, continually exposing themselves to heavy artillery bombardments as they moved from strong point to strong point. De Castries left shelter once during the last days to visit wounded, but his trip was quick and for most part through the communications trench from headquarters bunker to hospital. During the last days Langlais in effect took complete operational command seldom bothering even consult De Castries.”

Pierre Schoendorffer.

 

 Generals Rene Cogny and Henri de Navarre, the two men who planned the Dien Bien Phu operation.  They ended up suing each other after the war for slander.  The man who can be seen between them is General Jean Gilles, a one eyed soldier who commanded the French Airborne Forces in Indochina.  He was the first commander on the ground at DBP.  His son was killed in this war.  The paratroopers had the best of the best in the way of personnel.

The sine qua non of a good commander is that he does not lead his people into an avoidable disaster.

 

Last but by no means least, Geneviève de Galard, the French nurse who stayed throughout the battle. Geneviève was awarded the Légion d´honneur and the Croix de Guerre .  While it is reported she was the only woman there, that is incorrect.  There were some Vietnamese and Algerian prostitutes, 18 in all, that served as nurses to the staggering amount of wounded during the battle.  The Algerians shared the men's captivity, the Vietnamese girls were never seen again.  

The Mobile Field Bordello is a great idea that would never be allowed here in the U. S. due to the stupidity of our politicians and generals, although it is reported Patton considered it.  In the nineties I received letters from Marcel Bigeard and  Mme. de Galard, I'm positive they must have thought I was crazy.  I don't speak French but that was the language I wrote to them in, ha ha ha!  Amazingly, I addressed the letters care of Les Invalides and they were delivered.  I was in a bar when I wrote General Bigeard and it was complete multi lingual gibberish, but I feel sure that didn't bother him a bit.