The monument for French soldiers who died in the Dien Bien Phu is located in the Muong Thanh Ward of Dien Bien City. A stele on the monument reads: "This monument is built by the initiative of Mr. Rolf Rodel, a French veteran, the commander of a commando team of the 3rd Infantry Regiment stationed in Hong Cum".

Mr. Pham Quang Trung, 35, a local man, took his 8-year-old son to visit the monument. Trung says he has known about this tomb of the French soldiers since he was a little boy. “The elderly told me that many French soldiers were buried here," he says.

The stele of a German remembering his brother who died in Dien Bien Phu in 1954 at the age of 20. The number of steles like this increases with time.

Many steles bearing the symbols of the armed forces and associations of French veterans are placed at the foot of the monument. Ms. Thanh, director of the Office of the Dien Bien Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, says that her agency was assigned to manage this monument in 1994. "I heard that this place used to be a health station in the Dien Bien Phu campaign 60 years ago. So there are many French soldiers (some sources say about 3,000) buried here. During the construction process some remains of French soldiers were found," Thanh says.

The one who has been taking care of the monument for 14 years is Mr. Nguyen Thang Binh, 45.

All steles at the monument are cleaned by Binh every day. Binh is a native of Lai Chau Province, but he has been living in Dien Bien for over 15 years. Binh is not a soldier, but his father joined the two wars of resistance against the US and France.

During his 14 years working at the monument, Binh has met with many groups of French visitors. “Many French people cried,” he says.

Binh says foreign visitors never forget to thank him for looking after this place. "I still remember a French man who visited the monument about 5-6 years ago. He said he was a veteran and he was very good at Vietnamese. He cried and told me that if the French government did not bring troops to Vietnam, his comrades would have not died here," Binh says.

At the end of the day, Binh hangs a chain across the entrance of the monument to "give the soldiers a break," he explains.

Binh stays in this small room, which is not far from the monument.

The gate of the monument is closed by Binh in late afternoon. Binh says he admires General Vo Nguyen Giap, who greatly contributed to the victory of Dien Bien Phu campaign. "I wish to have a chance to visit Mr. Giap’s home in Hanoi," he says.