‘Be men!’: Fighting and Dying for the State of Vietnam (1951–54)

Abstract

From its creation with the strong support of General de Lattre until the end of the Indochina War in 1954, the National Army of Vietnam (‘Quan doi quoc gia Viet Nam’) underwent impressive development. This ‘new unified army’ (entitled Forces Armées du Viet Nam, FAVN) was present in all the battles from 1951, especially in the North in operations against the main Viet-Minh divisions. Its five Vietnamese paratrooper battalions, known as the ‘Bawouan’, distinguished themselves in major military operations in the Red River delta as well as the historic battle of Dien Bien Phu. Other military formations, such as the capital battalions in the North or the local armies in the South (Binh Xuyen, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, and UMDC) played important roles in the pacification of the two deltas. This article explores the emergence, development, and transformation of this defeated army and considers what the experience of war might have been from the point of view of its soldiers, offering a glimpse into a neglected social dimension of this conflict for the decolonization of Vietnam.