On March 8, 1949, after the Elysee accords, the State of Vietnam was recognized by France as an independent country ruled by Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại. The Vietnamese National Army or Vietnam National Army (Vietnamese: Quân đội Quốc gia Việt Nam, "National Army of Vietnam", French: Armée Nationale Vietnamienne, "Vietnamese National Army") was the State of Vietnam's military force created shortly after that. It was commanded by Vietnamese General Hinh and was loyal to Bảo Đại. The VNA fought in joint operations with the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps against the communist Viet Minh forces led by Ho Chi Minh. Different units within the VNA fought in a wide range of campaigns including but not limited to the Battle of Na San (1952), Operation Hautes Alpes (1953), Operation Atlas (1953) and the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954).
With the departure of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO) from Indochina in 1956, following a French-American secret war in South Vietnam, and subsequent end of France's influence in the area replaced by the United States (Ngo Dinh Diem and the Republic of Vietnam replaced Bảo Đại and the State of Vietnam), the VNA was reorganized to an Americanized version; which included the creation of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.
Read more about Vietnamese National Army: Operations (1949–1955), Military Ranks, Weaponry & Equipment, Planned Participation in Europe
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Kill me if I retreat
Avenge me if I die.”
—Mary Matalin, U.S. Republican political advisor, author, and James Carville b. 1946, U.S. Democratic political advisor, author. All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President, epigraph (from a Vietnamese battle cry)
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“Like an army defeated
The snow hath retreated,”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)