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French Military Cemetary

At the top of the Mang Yang Pass, and clearly visible from as far away as Bridge 26, was the French Military Cemetery where the bodies of the members of Groupment Mobile 100 are buried.

This French armored unit was ambushed on June 24, 1954 by elements of the Viet Minh 803rd Regiment. The French were outnumbered, and the battalion size unit was severly mauled in the engagment and ceased to exist as a fighting formation. The actual ambush occurred in the area between what was, in 1968, Bridge 25 and Strongpoint 5, approximately 15 kilometers west of the airfield at An Khe. The French were NOT ambushed in the Mang Yang Pass. It has been reported that the Vietnamese Communists removed the white headstones shortly after the fall of Saigon in 1975. The report indicated they wanted to remove every reminder of French and American presence in the south.


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Creation Date: Monday, November 10, 1997
Last Modified: Sunday, July 18, 1999
Copyright © Ray Smith, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
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