If substance abuse posed major problems for the American army during the Vietnam conflict, alcoholism plagued the French army during the Indochina War. Although army medical statistics never established a specific rubric for this pathology, 2,242 repatriations from Indochina for “alcoholism” (éthylisme) during nine years of war suggest that there was a problem. Indeed, this number accounts for almost 10 percent of all medical repatriations during the war. Alcohol, such as wine, beer, and apéritifs (the provençal pastis for example) were in abundant supply to soldiers during the Indochina War. On a number of occasions, the Air Force parachuted alcohol to its troops engaged in battle, including those besieged at Dien Bien Phu. Opium abuse rarely accounted for repatriations during the Indochina War. It was relatively more expensive and harder to prepare, let alone inhale easily while on mission. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Associated States of Indochina have not published statistics on alcoholism or substance abuse during the war.