On May 25th 1954, on the road from Nam Dinh to Thai Binh in Vietnam, a Vietminh guerrilla was killed by shrapnel from a French tank near the Song Mu Khe River between Vong Dien and Nga Khe. On the road from Nam Dinh to Thai Binh in French Indochina (now Vietnam), French troops came across the bodies of Viet Minh guerrillas on the road on May 25th 1954.
Robert Capa, who took the photograph, crossed the Indochina Peninsula from Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, to Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. On May 24, he arrived at Nam Dinh Airport, 72km southeast of Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam. On May 25, he was killed in a landmine explosion in Thai Binh, northern Vietnam. As he started to climb up the small slope leading down to the road and the stream flowing to the right, he stepped on an anti-personnel landmine that the Vietminh had laid during the night. The explosion of the landmine almost completely severed his left leg and caused a large wound to his chest. At 3:10 p.m. on May 25th 1954, French soldiers Mecklin and Lucas arrived at the scene of the explosion. Capa was bleeding profusely and looked in agony. Suddenly, Colonel Lacapelle arrived after hearing the sound of an explosion. He saw Capa lying on the ground and immediately called an ambulance. Capa was taken to the nearest first aid station at the Don Quy Ton Fort, which was 5km away. There, a Vietnamese doctor confirmed Robert Capa's death.
On May 7th 1954, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended in a French defeat. The battle, which began on March 13th, was a fierce one, with 2,200 French troops killed, 8,000 Vietnamese troops killed and 15,000 wounded. The Viet Minh victory led to the Geneva Accords of 1954. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu is regarded as the first time that a non-European colonial independence movement defeated a Western army in an open battle using guerrilla techniques.
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