Civilians search through rubble of their destroyed homes. Civilians walk past wrecked buildings. ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) soldiers pass by in jeep. Civilians in rubble walk past wrecked buildings. ARVN soldiers in ditch alongside road. Soldier walk on wooded road. ARVN bring in Vietcong prisoner. ARVN soldiers run for cover as they come under sniper fire. Soldiers in ditch alongside road. Civilians take cover. (Vietnam War period).
French Union Para-troopers attack the outer ring of Communists besieging Dien Bien Phu in a new measure to relieve pressure on the isolated garrison during Operation Castor. Troops move ahead through fields. A map shows the area of battle. French Para-troopers jump from planes and ascend. Troops advance amidst machine gun and mortar fire. A soldier in position on the ground shoots. Smoke from firing and explosions. Soldiers fire from behind barricades. Soldiers discuss a map. View of the conflict area. Airplanes in the sky.
B-26C takes off. Planes drop bombs in the conflict area. The bombers are followed by C-47 planes marked with crosses and loaded with food and medical supplies for the wounded in the hospitals. Pilot talks on the radio. Men attach supplies to parachutes and drop them from the plane. Air planes flying to evacuate the most critically wounded fighting men captured by the Reds at Dien Bien Phu. People watch as a Sikorsky H-34 helicopter lands. Taking the wounded people on the stretchers to safety in Hanoi. Soldiers and medical personnel help transfer the wounded from the helicopter to hospital tents. Patients receive treatment at the hospital.
Aircraft AC-47 takes off from runway at Bein Hoa Air Base. AC-47 in flight. Camouflaged AC-47 parked at air base. Crewmen aboard AC-47. Pickup trailer loaded with parachute flares arrives. Trailer is detached from truck. Crewmen place parachute flares in flare rack aboard AC-47.
Men at Long Binh ammunition dump. Officers and soldiers examine barbed wire fence where Vietcong broke through to enter Longbinh ammunition dump. Lookout tower in the background. Ripped apart barbed wire. Jeep parked along road. Sand bags near barbed wire fence. Shoe of soldier on ground. Barbed wire torn apart by Vietcong who infiltrated through Longbinh ammunition camp. (Vietnam War period).
Supplies are parachuted to French troops battling Viet Minh in Diên Biên Phu. A bulldozer is air dropped using five parachutes, on November 21, 1953. A French fighter bomber dives low over a Viet Minh position. French troops fire field artillery piece. Smoke rises all around the battlefield. French infantry fight their way up a wooded hillside (many trees broken from combat effects). They fire small arms and mortars. They cook over open fires. Aerial view of French encampment at Diên Biên Phu, in February, 1954, with smoke rising from many small fires.