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Gen. Giap, Vietnam war hero, dies at 102
The Hindu ^

Posted on 10/04/2013 7:22:37 AM PDT by kronos77

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.

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. The victory over the French led to the partition of the country and the beginning of a fresh outbreak of hostilities, this time between the communist North and U.S.-backed South.

Gen. Giap was also known as the initiator of the final offensive against South Vietnam in 1975.

Keywords: General Vo Nguyen Giap death, Vietnam War, battle of Dien Bien Phu, First Indochina War


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: communism; giap; military; obituary; vietnam; vietnamwar
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1 posted on 10/04/2013 7:22:37 AM PDT by kronos77
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To: kronos77

Related, posted earlier, different source:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3074800/posts


2 posted on 10/04/2013 7:25:51 AM PDT by upchuck (nobamacare must be stopped before it can live down to our expectations.)
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To: kronos77

RIH


3 posted on 10/04/2013 7:27:17 AM PDT by WayneS (Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos...)
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To: kronos77

I remember when the CIA declared both Che and Gen Gaip dead. Then they showed up very much alive.

Several years ago I found on a YAHOO web page, an excerpt of Gen Giap’s book on the VN war and how they won.

They were totally defeated after the TET offensive and were ready to negotiate with the US and South VN.

Then the treasonous son-of-a-bitch WALTER CRONKITE came on TV and declared we could not win the war.

Giap decided to try again and kept up till he negotiated the US out of SVN and then attacked.

That YAHOO page has since disappeared.


4 posted on 10/04/2013 7:32:39 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Sometimes you need 7+ more ammo. LOTS MORE.)
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To: WayneS

BIH!


5 posted on 10/04/2013 7:36:03 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (FROM MY COLD, DEAD HANDS!)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar

“Viet Nam, The 10,000 day War” has an episode where they said they were going to give up with the bombing of Hanoi with B-52’s, but JANE FONDA and other war protesters, gave them hope to hang in there awhile longer. They were strengthened by watching the protests in the US.


6 posted on 10/04/2013 7:41:33 AM PDT by chuckles
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To: kronos77
War hero? He's now resting along side of a number of his fellow “war heroes”....”heroes like “Mao,Stalin,Hitler and Kim Il Sung.
7 posted on 10/04/2013 7:45:58 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Osama Obama Care: A Religion That Will Have You On Your Knees!)
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To: kronos77
John F'king Kerry is saddened.

Release your SF 180 Kerry, you pos.

5.56mm

8 posted on 10/04/2013 7:46:42 AM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: chuckles

***They were strengthened by watching the protests in the US.***

Giap said it was Walter Cronkite AND the student protests that made him decide to continue the fight. That page has disappeared as the link I had no longer works.


9 posted on 10/04/2013 7:47:10 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Sometimes you need 7+ more ammo. LOTS MORE.)
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To: kronos77

A worthy adversary... who in spite of his brilliance, his biggest military blunder was the 1968 Tet offensive... which NVA and Vietcong forces were devastated by American power. So wrecked was his armies, he pleaded to his Hanoi leaders… there must be a ceasefire and armistice!

The NVA and Viet Cong were no longer an effective fighting force… before such could be done, he and Hanoi were rescued by Walter Cronkite, who pronounced on national TV, this absolute military reversal was a “victory” for the Commies. Handed this HUGE propaganda gift, Giap and the Commies determined to slowly rebuild their forces… and president Lyndon Johnson did not seek re-election.

It’s been said the Vietnam War was “won” three times before it was lost. After Tet was one, the invasion of Cambodia in 1970, where just miles from main NVA headquarters, Nixon under protest pressure recalled U.S. forces on the verge of its capture. In December 1972, Nixon unleashed the B-52a over Hanoi and Haiphong… forcing the North back to Paris. After the ceasefire, we all know Watergate happened… Nixon forced to resign. Democrats in Congress refused to enforce the peace agreement, giving green light to the North to conquer the South. Look it up… it’s not in the “official” media history… but truth can be found if you want it!


10 posted on 10/04/2013 7:48:49 AM PDT by FiddlePig
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To: FiddlePig
The NVA and Viet Cong were no longer an effective fighting force… before such could be done, he and Hanoi were rescued by Walter Cronkite, who pronounced on national TV, this absolute military reversal was a “victory” for the Commies. Handed this HUGE propaganda gift, Giap and the Commies determined to slowly rebuild their forces…

Just needed repeating...

5.56mm

11 posted on 10/04/2013 7:52:43 AM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: LibLieSlayer

I was thinking “Rot”...


12 posted on 10/04/2013 7:54:34 AM PDT by WayneS (Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos...)
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To: WayneS

Will Jon F’n Cary represent us at the funeral ?


13 posted on 10/04/2013 7:59:43 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks ("Say Not the Struggle Naught Availeth.")
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
Here's a related story of an interview with Col. Bui Tin, member of Giap's staff, who accepted the surrender of Saigon.

Published in 1995 in the Wall Street Journal:

How North Vietnam Won The War

14 posted on 10/04/2013 8:05:17 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: WayneS

Rot and Burn!!!!!!!!


15 posted on 10/04/2013 8:05:48 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (FROM MY COLD, DEAD HANDS!)
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To: kronos77

A formidable enemy and a worthy opponent. He shaped an army out of sticks, bicycles, and peasants.


16 posted on 10/04/2013 8:06:16 AM PDT by IronJack (=)
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To: kronos77

I thought his “crowning moment” was when the NVA marched into Saigon.


17 posted on 10/04/2013 8:47:58 AM PDT by Hugin
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To: kronos77
The good die young.
18 posted on 10/04/2013 8:54:11 AM PDT by FredZarguna (With bell, book, and candle, please.)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
RE: "Giap said it was Walter Cronkite AND the student protests that made him decide to continue the fight. That page has disappeared as the link I had no longer works."

"General Thi believes that the [American] media played a major role in the final downfall of South Vietnam. He quotes North Vietnam General Vo Nguyen Giap as stating in a French TV broadcast that Giap’s 'most important guerrilla during the Vietnam War was the American press.'"

Here That one is still there.

19 posted on 10/04/2013 8:54:33 AM PDT by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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To: IronJack
His book, Peoples Army, Peoples War, is a good read. And might have lessons for many in the US in our present circumstance.
I feel and felt at the time that there was no good reason for the US to be involved in the Vietnam War. I understand the pain and the passion of many of my fellow veterans and the bitterness about being asked to do difficult, pointless things, accomplish the job, and then get betrayed on the home front.
After the war ended, Vietnam is now a pretty quiet place in the world with the attention of the Vietnamese focused on their traditional enemy, China.
TWB
20 posted on 10/04/2013 8:58:36 AM PDT by TWhiteBear (Sarah Palin...The Flame of the North)
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