| Show a ge 1 age of Spirit ranee Goes AI Out Outi i j jor or pr Forgotten Men r By y y Morley l Cassidy France Jan 19 19 forgotten men are com- com their own at last rf f a sudden it seems as discovered that it has hases roes es fighting on the other otherie ie c world has mi- mi lU ar in Indo-China Indo y turned glamorous The tUes ales and the defense of i begin to read like chap- chap 0 Beau Geste starring Iman offices are s suddenly u d den I y with food packages for fighting Ho Chi Minh o per campaign for gifts fliers has swept across Hundreds of centers for books clothes and toilet lave ave been set up in town veterans veterans' veterans veterans' clubs han age inge e of or Spirit front pages banner- banner pictures from Hanoi the news from Korea startling evidence of the I ch changing ngin spirit of France It makes mak-cs you blink I For four years ears the W war r In IndoChina IndoChina IndoChina Indo- Indo China was the war nobody in France talked about Communists called it the filthy war war la la guerre sale They made the name stick A lot of France had a guilty feeling that Indo-China's Indo natives had a genuine genuine genuine ine grievance and that maybe Ho HoChi HoChi HoChi Chi Minh had some justice on his side The Communists played skillfully skillfully skillfully skill skill- fully on the French conscience Every ery defense measure in the chamber of deputies ran into howls of protest against la guerre sale I Yellow Communist posters cried for sabotage of every arms shipment shipment shipment ship ship- ment to Indo China The Communist Communist Communist Com Com- papers were filled with pictures of burned native villages and the pIcas pleas of mothers to bring sons son home from the filthy war warin in the jungles Didn't Dare to Speak The campaign filtered upward Government Go officials who knew Ho Chi Minh's long Communist record hardly dared to speak out in defense of the war against ag him tried instead to pretend that it wasn't happening Appropriations Appropriations Appropriations for weapons and supplies supplies supplies sup sup- plies for the French and French Union troops fighting there were slipped into the budget as inconspicuously as possible When the wounded came home and and they have run into the thousands thou thou- sands they sands they were smuggled into port It angered a friend of mine the head of an American picture agency He wanted to make male pictures pictures pictures pic pic- tures of them The ministry of defense said no But youre you're crazy said my friend These men are heroes Why not honor them Would Be e Bad ad adNo No no said the ministry of defense through a spokesman It would be bad We Ve cannot permit it it He meant of course that pictures pictures pictures pic pic- tures of the wounded would help the Communist campaign providing providing providing provid provid- ing new arguments against laguerre la laguerre guerre sale But F France r ran a n c e is no longer ashamed of its heroes Several things have changed its attitude from one of embarrassment to something akin to fervor Frances France's conscience feels better better better bet bet- ter for one thing since new agreements agreements agreements agree agree- ments have given greater liberty to the people of Indo A change in command has I helped With the appointment of General Jean de Lattre de Tas- Tas signy as h high i g h commissioner Frenchmen see hope of results which will end Indo-China's Indo record as the graveyard of reputations He is not Frances France's most popular general among army people His nickname a play on his name is isLe isLe isLe Le Theatre a tribute to his taste for the spectacular But he has from his record record record rec rec- ord in World War Var II and a reputation reputation reputation tation for getting things done Comes From Korea But the change in the French spirit comes most of all from events in Korea Korea and and in Washington Wash Wash- ington The North Korean invasion went wenta a long ways to kill the myth of communism's love of peace Chinese Chinese Chinese Chi Chi- nese intervention brought the whole Asian picture into a new sharp focus Washington was not alone in discovering disco that the war in IndoChina IndoChina IndoChina Indo- Indo China was just one phase of communism's communism's communism's com com- drive to conquer all Asia France discovered it too Frenchmen Frenchmen Frenchmen French French- men who had been embarrassed by taunts about la guerre sale suddenly realized that Frenchmen for four years had been fighting and dying to help contain communism communism communism com com- in one corner of the world |
