Word: dien
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...value, but it has become a symbol of victory or defeat to both the North and South. "As it slowly disappears under the combined weight of allied bombing and Communist bombardment," reported TIME Correspondent Rudolph Rauch, who visited the area last week, "its symbolic importance grows ever greater. Like Dien Bien Phu, which also had no particular importance until stubborn men made it a symbol, An Loc cannot be allowed to fall by either side. One U.S. adviser describes the effort to capture the town this way: 'While the North Vietnamese have to do it, they...
...insolent" as Nixon had charged. The National Liberation Front's Paris negotiator, Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, scoffed: "While we are in a military situation which is favorable to our struggle, he calls for an immediate cease-fire." Celebrating the 18th anniversary of his victory over the French at Dien Bien Phu, North Viet Nam Defense Minister Vo Nguyen Giap defiantly declared over Hanoi radio: "We are now defeating and definitely will defeat the Nixon war-defeat completely all the adventurous and cruel escalations of the United States imperialists." But after the initial bluster, Hanoi...
...Nixon policy in any case. Strategically, the fall of Hué would put Communist artillery within range of nearby Danang and its sprawling U.S. airbase. Psychologically, Hué's loss could lead to demoralization and collapse of South Viet Nam. "The impact would be like that of Dien Bien Phu," a high South Vietnamese official told TIME Correspondent Herman Nickel last week. "It would make clear that not even the best ARVN troops can defend the major cities and population centers. That's why the whole war may be decided in the next two or three weeks." Thieu...
...Giap, now 60, the capture of Hué would be almost as great a victory as the fall of Dien Bien Phu 18 years ago last week. The man the French called the "snow-covered volcano" -because his calm exterior masks a fiery temperament-once again dominates the war in the South, something no South Vietnamese leader has ever been able to do. Maintaining the military initiative, Giap has called each turn of how and when a battle will be fought. The question that remains, and may be decided at Hué, is whether, as one U.S. general puts...
...Poko Valley's peace was shattered by a 30,000-man North Vietnamese force that included the 320th Division, a veteran outfit that had fought at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. One by one, the ARVN bases fell to the North Vietnamese; the losses included a string of seven artillery positions on aptly named Rocket Ridge, which looks down on Kontum 25 miles away. None of the terror-stricken ARVN units put up much of a struggle, but few faded as ignobly as the 1,200-man garrison at Tan Canh, the forward headquarters of the troubled 22nd...