Vo Nguyen Giap is dead

[Cain]

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[Eater of Clowns]

Shit he was my favorite

General of the Vietnam People's Army and a politician. Giáp was a principal commander in two wars: the First Indochina War (1946–1954) and the Vietnam War (1960–1975). He participated in the following historically significant battles: Lạng Sơn (1950); Hòa Bình (1951–1952); Điện Biên Phủ (1954); the Tết Offensive (1968); the Easter Offensive (1972); and the final Hồ Chí Minh Campaign (1975).

Giáp was also a journalist, an interior minister in President Hồ Chí Minh's Việt Minh government, the military commander of the Việt Minh, the commander of the Vietnam People's Army (PAVN), and defense minister. He also served as a member of the Politburo of the Vietnam Workers' Party, which in 1976 became the Communist Party of Vietnam.

He was the most prominent military commander, beside Ho Chi Minh, during the Vietnam war and was responsible for major operations and leadership until the war ended.

I'm going to miss him.   

[Cain]

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[Placid Dingo]

He was way more generous about the Vietnam war than anyone else had the right to expect:

We were the ones who won the war and the Americans were the ones who were defeated, but let's be precise about this. What constitutes victory? The Vietnamese people never wanted war; they wanted peace. Did the Americans want war? No, they wanted peace, too. So, the victory was a victory for those people in Vietnam and in the USA who wanted peace. Who, then, were the ones defeated? Those who were after aggression at any price. And that's why we're still friends with the people of France and why we've never felt any enmity for the people of America....

That is such a wonderful quote.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

He was way more generous about the Vietnam war than anyone else had the right to expect:

We were the ones who won the war and the Americans were the ones who were defeated, but let's be precise about this. What constitutes victory? The Vietnamese people never wanted war; they wanted peace. Did the Americans want war? No, they wanted peace, too. So, the victory was a victory for those people in Vietnam and in the USA who wanted peace. Who, then, were the ones defeated? Those who were after aggression at any price. And that's why we're still friends with the people of France and why we've never felt any enmity for the people of America....

That's fucking classy.

[Cain]

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[Don Coyote]

I'm sad he died, and sad I have no idea who he is. Sadder still that I have an idea why I have never heard of him until today.

[MMIX]

I'm sad he died, and sad I have no idea who he is. Sadder still that I have an idea why I have never heard of him until today.

Woah, that was some gut punch Don Coyote. Its good to keep being reminded that I live in a different world than the one I think I do. That world, the world of my teenage, had Vietnam on the news every day and General Giap was frequently mentioned. I have to say that, necessarily, the journalists back then never had anything as classy to say about him as that great quote of his up-thread.

[Kai]

I'm sad he died, and sad I have no idea who he is. Sadder still that I have an idea why I have never heard of him until today.

I feel the same.

[East Coast Hustle]

You could make a case for him as the most brilliant military mind of the 20th century. And, when compared to his contemporaries, he comes off as damn near a humanitarian.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

You could make a case for him as the most brilliant military mind of the 20th century. And, when compared to his contemporaries, he comes off as damn near a humanitarian.

I'd say of the second half of the 20th century.

He was incredible, but you have a lot of heavy competition from 1900-1955.

[East Coast Hustle]

Yeah. But he did more with less than just about any of them.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Yeah. But he did more with less than just about any of them.

Rommel and Zhukov didn't have a pot to piss in AND they had crazy bosses that jogged their elbow.

Also, Pershing.