INDOCHINA
A French Red Cross helicopter clattered out of a slate-grey sky, and put down at Dienbienphu. Two khaki-clad officers and an angular French civilian stepped gingerly down to the muddy, shell-torn airstrip, and a Communist liaison officer came forward to greet them. "You are one hour ahead of schedule, messieurs," said the Communist. "You should know that our Democratic Republic's time is one hour behind your own. Now, if you will please follow me." The French had come back to Dienbienphu to settle terms for evacuating their 1,500 wounded, as vouchsafed by...
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