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[[File:Dien_Bien_Phu_1954_French_prisoners.jpg|thumbnail|left|600px300px|French Soldiers captured after Dien Bien Phu. Of the 10,000+ prisoners taken captive, only a little over 3,000 were survived and were known to be repatriated.]]
In the late 1940s, the French struggled to control its colonies in Indochina - Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Despite financial assistance from the United States, nationalist uprisings against French colonial rule began to take their toll. On May 7, 1954, the French-held garrison at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam fell after a four-month siege led by Vietnamese nationalist Ho Chi Minh. After the fall of Dien Bien Phu, the French pulled out of the region. Concerned about regional instability, the United States became increasingly committed to countering communist nationalists in Indochina. The United States would not pull out of Vietnam for another twenty years.
