General Vo Nguyen Giap passed away on October 4. In memory of themilitary commander, Nhan Dan Online features excerpts from the Anthologyof Le Kha Phieu, published in 2010.
In thisarticle, the former Party Secretary General talks of a great personalitywho devoted his whole life to the struggle for national independenceand post-war national construction.
“… General Vo Nguyen Giap, who is usually called intimately Brother Van by our army, was born in the autumn of 1911.
Itis a historical coincidence when Brother Van was at the age of 34, ourcountry witnessed a significant event, the August Revolution in 1945. Heis among the first generation of revolutionaries who motivated thepeople to stand up and oust the colonial and feudal regimes to establishthe Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the first state of the peasants andfarmers in Southeast Asia.
General Vo Nguyen Giap heldmany posts in the provisional revolutionary Government, especiallysince he was appointed Minister of Defence cum Commander-in-chief of theVietnam People’s Army. After the two long and arduous resistance wars,our people scored a great triumph, marking an end to the struggle fornational liberation and unification. That resounding victory is theculmination of the power of our army and people, power of the greatnational unity, sound and creative revolutionary guidelines of the Partyand wisdom of a group of elite staff, among whom is General Vo NguyenGiap.
General Vo Nguyen Giap is one of the mostexceptional disciples of Uncle Ho. He was educated and trained by UncleHo when he was living and working close to him, before and during theAugust Revolution and the nine-year war against the French. Heconsidered this a rare chance in his life so he made a great effort tofollow the spirit, ideology, morality and lifestyle of the great leaderHo Chi Minh. During his revolutionary life, General Vo Nguyen Giap wasvery serious about learning and gaining experience from the real life.Through such contemplation, he developed a deeper understanding ofPresident Ho Chi Minh’s ideology and morality. Later, when our Partydetermined Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology as the foundationof its ideology and lodestar for the Vietnamese revolution, General VoNguyen Giap paid an increasing attention to studying the Ho Chi MinhIdeology in a systematic and comprehensive approach and produced severalvaluable works.
Studying and applying the Ho Chi MinhIdeology on all areas, especially in military campaigns, is GeneralGiap’s consistent guideline during his revolutionary life. General Giapalways reminds us that what is critical to studying the Ho Chi MinhIdeology is following his ideology closely and properly. As a truepatriot who embraced revolutionary ideas at a very young age andeducated by Uncle Ho, General Giap has combined his incessant effortsand innate talent to become a general adept in both arts and militarytactics.
For Vietnam, a poor and backward farmingcountry, to defeat economically and militarily powerful countries withcutting-edge weaponry, the decisive factor is a sound revolutionaryguideline that incorporates the people’s wisdom and spirit of the time.During the two resistance wars, General Vo Nguyen Giap made greatcontributions to the formation of a unique military tactic, known as thepeople’s war. That tactic inherits and brings into play ourforefathers’ experience accumulated over thousands of years ofresistance against foreign aggressors which use humanity to defeatcruelty and small to defeat big. The tactic was born from the uniqueVietnamese culture that emphasises independence and boasts intensepatriotism and determination to win with intelligence and manoeuvres ofthe entire nation.
After the “Dien Bien Phu in the air”victory in 1972, a French historian said: “The SAM missiles are usedfor lofty purposes by the culture of Vietnam and the character ofVietnam.” In November 1995, in response to former US Defence SecretaryMcNamara’s question why the Americans lost the war in Vietnam, GeneralVo Nguyen Giap said “The Americans invaded Vietnam but did notunderstand our country. We have a solid cultural foundation and a uniquemilitary tactic that has been tested in history. So we won.” AfterGeneral Giap’s answer, McNamara exclaimed “You are right.”
General Vo Nguyen Giap is not only a military commander but also athinker, a scientist and a man of culture who always combines reasoningwith reality. He always attaches importance to summarising history,especially important events to draw helpful lessons for senior leadersand himself. He has a broad knowledge and a new way of thinking.
On the country’s economic reforms, with the responsibility and passionof a senior revolutionary for the country’s development, General VoNguyen Giap has offered significant advices to the Party and Stateleaders. He stressed that Vietnam has to determine education andsci-tech as the top priorities for national modernisation andindustrialisation. Vietnam needs to bring into full play the internalpower of the people from all walks of life and economic sectors to movetowards deeper regional and international integration. Only in that waycan Vietnam maintain its independence and lift is position on theinternational arena.
General Vo Nguyen Giap also pays aclose attention to Party rectification and building an all-people’sdefence strategy. On the Party building, General Vo Nguyen Giap alwaysstresses that in order to make the Party strong and healthy, the weaponof criticism and self-criticism must be used effectively and bureaucracyand corruption must be eliminated. On that basis, the idea of a stateof the people, by the people and for the people should be reinforced andeach State official a servant of the people as instructed by Uncle Ho.
On national defence, as his whole life is devoted tothe struggle for national independence, General Giap always urges theentire Party, army and people to be fully aware of two strategic tasks,namely building and defending the Motherland. National construction mustgo hand in hand with national defence, economic development must becombined with defence and security. Building the people’s armed forcesand an all-people defence strategy is the responsibility of the entireParty, army, people and the political system.
General Vo Nguyen Giapalways prompts us to be vigilant to safeguard national independence,sovereignty and territorial integrity. Contempt, conservatism anddogmatism should be avoided. There must be specific and active measuresto implement the guidelines of the Party and State successfully.
Our people highly value General Vo Nguyen Giap’s great contributions.General Vo Nguyen Giap is deservedly the “Eldest Brother” of the VietnamPeople’s Army. International friends, politicians, scholars andmilitary strategists admire and respect General Vo Nguyen Giap andconsider him a talented and adept general…
The General is forever an unfailing source of light for the Vietnamese people, army and communists…”.-VNA
In thisarticle, the former Party Secretary General talks of a great personalitywho devoted his whole life to the struggle for national independenceand post-war national construction.
“… General Vo Nguyen Giap, who is usually called intimately Brother Van by our army, was born in the autumn of 1911.
Itis a historical coincidence when Brother Van was at the age of 34, ourcountry witnessed a significant event, the August Revolution in 1945. Heis among the first generation of revolutionaries who motivated thepeople to stand up and oust the colonial and feudal regimes to establishthe Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the first state of the peasants andfarmers in Southeast Asia.
General Vo Nguyen Giap heldmany posts in the provisional revolutionary Government, especiallysince he was appointed Minister of Defence cum Commander-in-chief of theVietnam People’s Army. After the two long and arduous resistance wars,our people scored a great triumph, marking an end to the struggle fornational liberation and unification. That resounding victory is theculmination of the power of our army and people, power of the greatnational unity, sound and creative revolutionary guidelines of the Partyand wisdom of a group of elite staff, among whom is General Vo NguyenGiap.
General Vo Nguyen Giap is one of the mostexceptional disciples of Uncle Ho. He was educated and trained by UncleHo when he was living and working close to him, before and during theAugust Revolution and the nine-year war against the French. Heconsidered this a rare chance in his life so he made a great effort tofollow the spirit, ideology, morality and lifestyle of the great leaderHo Chi Minh. During his revolutionary life, General Vo Nguyen Giap wasvery serious about learning and gaining experience from the real life.Through such contemplation, he developed a deeper understanding ofPresident Ho Chi Minh’s ideology and morality. Later, when our Partydetermined Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology as the foundationof its ideology and lodestar for the Vietnamese revolution, General VoNguyen Giap paid an increasing attention to studying the Ho Chi MinhIdeology in a systematic and comprehensive approach and produced severalvaluable works.
Studying and applying the Ho Chi MinhIdeology on all areas, especially in military campaigns, is GeneralGiap’s consistent guideline during his revolutionary life. General Giapalways reminds us that what is critical to studying the Ho Chi MinhIdeology is following his ideology closely and properly. As a truepatriot who embraced revolutionary ideas at a very young age andeducated by Uncle Ho, General Giap has combined his incessant effortsand innate talent to become a general adept in both arts and militarytactics.
For Vietnam, a poor and backward farmingcountry, to defeat economically and militarily powerful countries withcutting-edge weaponry, the decisive factor is a sound revolutionaryguideline that incorporates the people’s wisdom and spirit of the time.During the two resistance wars, General Vo Nguyen Giap made greatcontributions to the formation of a unique military tactic, known as thepeople’s war. That tactic inherits and brings into play ourforefathers’ experience accumulated over thousands of years ofresistance against foreign aggressors which use humanity to defeatcruelty and small to defeat big. The tactic was born from the uniqueVietnamese culture that emphasises independence and boasts intensepatriotism and determination to win with intelligence and manoeuvres ofthe entire nation.
After the “Dien Bien Phu in the air”victory in 1972, a French historian said: “The SAM missiles are usedfor lofty purposes by the culture of Vietnam and the character ofVietnam.” In November 1995, in response to former US Defence SecretaryMcNamara’s question why the Americans lost the war in Vietnam, GeneralVo Nguyen Giap said “The Americans invaded Vietnam but did notunderstand our country. We have a solid cultural foundation and a uniquemilitary tactic that has been tested in history. So we won.” AfterGeneral Giap’s answer, McNamara exclaimed “You are right.”
General Vo Nguyen Giap is not only a military commander but also athinker, a scientist and a man of culture who always combines reasoningwith reality. He always attaches importance to summarising history,especially important events to draw helpful lessons for senior leadersand himself. He has a broad knowledge and a new way of thinking.
On the country’s economic reforms, with the responsibility and passionof a senior revolutionary for the country’s development, General VoNguyen Giap has offered significant advices to the Party and Stateleaders. He stressed that Vietnam has to determine education andsci-tech as the top priorities for national modernisation andindustrialisation. Vietnam needs to bring into full play the internalpower of the people from all walks of life and economic sectors to movetowards deeper regional and international integration. Only in that waycan Vietnam maintain its independence and lift is position on theinternational arena.
General Vo Nguyen Giap also pays aclose attention to Party rectification and building an all-people’sdefence strategy. On the Party building, General Vo Nguyen Giap alwaysstresses that in order to make the Party strong and healthy, the weaponof criticism and self-criticism must be used effectively and bureaucracyand corruption must be eliminated. On that basis, the idea of a stateof the people, by the people and for the people should be reinforced andeach State official a servant of the people as instructed by Uncle Ho.
On national defence, as his whole life is devoted tothe struggle for national independence, General Giap always urges theentire Party, army and people to be fully aware of two strategic tasks,namely building and defending the Motherland. National construction mustgo hand in hand with national defence, economic development must becombined with defence and security. Building the people’s armed forcesand an all-people defence strategy is the responsibility of the entireParty, army, people and the political system.
General Vo Nguyen Giapalways prompts us to be vigilant to safeguard national independence,sovereignty and territorial integrity. Contempt, conservatism anddogmatism should be avoided. There must be specific and active measuresto implement the guidelines of the Party and State successfully.
Our people highly value General Vo Nguyen Giap’s great contributions.General Vo Nguyen Giap is deservedly the “Eldest Brother” of the VietnamPeople’s Army. International friends, politicians, scholars andmilitary strategists admire and respect General Vo Nguyen Giap andconsider him a talented and adept general…
The General is forever an unfailing source of light for the Vietnamese people, army and communists…”.-VNA
