Wednesday, June 8, 2011, at 11 a.m. at the War Memorials of Rauba Capeu.
The national day of tribute to the “Morts pour la France” (Those Who Died for France) in Indochina was established by decree in 2005. Since then, every year, June 8 is the day of commemoration for the victims in Indochina.
The massacre of the Indochina War
Indochina included Cochinchina, Annam, Tonkin, Laos, and Cambodia. All these territories were colonized by France in 1884. At the end of World War II, in 1945, the Vietnamese sought to declare their independence.
This was the beginning of the Indochina War, with France sending a large number of soldiers to maintain its control over its Indochinese colony.
In 1954, communist forces defeated the French army at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, where France had sent troops into a basin with flat ground allowing for an airstrip to be set up for a conventional confrontation without having sufficient firepower. The colonies then gained their independence.
From 1945 to 1954, nearly 100,000 soldiers of the French Union fell in Indochina.
More than 76,000 were wounded. 40,000 were taken prisoner. Among them, 30,000 never returned.
Program of this tribute:
11:00 a.m.: Gathering of Associations with their Flags at the War Memorial
11:15 a.m.: Welcoming of the Authorities – Laying of wreaths
