Pierre Latanne, an officer under machine gunfire
It all started with military service as 2nd class in Pau. At 22, Pierre Latanne passed his paratrooper certificate and took a liking to it. He took an officer's course and volunteered to fight in Korea,
"to find out what he was up to."
Finally, it will be Indochina within the 3rd BPC (colonial parachute battalion) which carries out operations from the Annam center to the Plain of Jars in Laos.
His battalion was dissolved to be reborn under the name of 5th BPVN (Vietnamese parachute battalion) also called 5th Bawouan. In November 1953, he jumped for the first time on Diên Bien Phu as part of Operation Castor. On December 11, Pierre Latanne took part in Operation Pollux, north of the valley.
“We lost dozens of men, some burned alive in the elephant grass.”
Then it's back to Hanoi.
On March 13, the day of the attack, they were awakened at midnight and the 5th Bawouan jumped at 3 p.m. on Diên Bien Phu.
“It was shooting everywhere, with heavy DCA”