General Giap

"Gen. Giap achieved his crowning moment as a commander in the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, which marked the end of the First Indochina War and France’s colonisation of Vietnam.

General Vo Nguyen Giap, a key figure in securing Vietnam’s independence and winning the Vietnam War, died on Friday at 102, senior military officials and a relative said.
The general died at the 108 Military Hospital in Hanoi, a senior military official at the facility said.
“He died of old age, not because of any illness,” said the official, who requested anonymity. “The news about his death will only be made public after the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam approves,” one of his close relatives said.
The general had been in hospital for several years because of ill health."
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/gen-giap-vietnam-war-hero-dies-at-102/article5201303.ece

 

A great man and a respected opponent .May he rest in peace. My deepest regret is that I never asked for his signed picture while he was still alive

 

End of an era. I think he was the last flag-grade officer from the Vietnam War still with us. He was certainly the last major commander.

 

To be honest I thought he had already passed.

 

I did too until I read Hal Moore's sequel to We Were Soldiers a few years ago. Its safe to say that he outlived every other important Vietnam-era figure.

 

Correct George. He was a self taught strategist and used Napoleonic tactics adapted to jungle and mountain warfare. He fought both the French and the Americans. He spoke fluently several languages. I heard his last interview in French and he spoke it with an academic accent as if it was his native language. His view about corruption of the Communist party showed how despite his age he was still as sharp as ever.

 

A brilliant strategist and opponent. And to think he and Ho Chi Minh first approached OSS Officer Lansdale ( who was busy putting down the Huk Rebellion in P.I.) in 1946 or 47 to enlist U.S. aid and we turned them down like we did to Fidel. All part of the State Department's well documented failed Sino Policy. An interesting story indeed. Truman and Churchill were too busy after the war with The Balkans, France, Germany, Italy, Greece etc. to pay much attention to little Vietnam and so it became Hell in a Very Small Place. A crying shame for all those who "gave all" there. :S!