Seventy years after the battle of Dien Bien Phu, which ended on May 7 and 8, 1954, the ground still sparingly continues to return the bodies of those lost in the conflict. This gradual recovery of bodies, coupled with ongoing diplomatic efforts, signifies the slow process of memorial reconciliation between Vietnam and France. With Hanoi's approval, the bodies of six French soldiers who disappeared in the field and have been rediscovered will be repatriated in the next few days. The secretary of state for veterans and remembrance made the announcement on Friday, March 29.

They were two European-style officers from the 4^th Morrocan Infrantry Regiment (RTM), on whom regimental insignia were found. Three paratroopers were also identified by the insignia on their berets. And one last soldier is, for the time being, completely anonymous. Over time, skeletons are sometimes reduced to a few bones, clad in uniform shreds.

Only one body, that of a paratrooper, was accompanied by his nameplate. The identity of the other five bodies remains to be determined. Upon arrival in France, they will undergo DNA analysis and comparison with military records, specifically health records. This work will be carried out by the French National Office for Combatants and Victims of War. The hope is to give them a name and a dignified burial. They will then either be returned to their families or buried in the national necropolis at Fréjus (in the department of Var in the south of France).

The two soldiers of the 4^th RTM were found in 2022 when Dien Bien Phu airport was extended. The three paratroopers had been discovered by a local resident in 1996, along with a few belongings – boots, a weapon, sachets of sterilizing powder and a bottle of Ricard. Two of the bodies were wrapped in parachute canvas. The owner had placed the remains in urns and buried them at the bottom of his garden. In 2004, they were dug up and reburied in a local cemetery. The last soldier to be buried was also found by a Vietnamese man doing some work on his house. The six bodies were exhumed again on Tuesday, March 26, at an official ceremony attended by the French ambassador and local government officials, before their return to France, 70 years after leaving.

The return of these six bodies has a symbolic value, in the run-up to the anniversary of the battle that precipitated the end of French domination in what was then Indochina. The French authorities see it as an encouraging sign from the Vietnamese government. For the last surviving veterans, it is above all a sign that their country has not completely forgotten the comrades who disappeared in the pyre of Dien Bien Phu. "Those who fell for their country deserve to be honored," said the secretary of state. "Neither distance nor time should be an obstacle."

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