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Shit he was my favorite
Quote from: WikipediaGeneral 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. :cry:
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Quote from: Cain on October 05, 2013, 07:39:47 AM
He was way more generous about the Vietnam war than anyone else had the right to expect:
QuoteWe 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.
Quote from: Cain on October 05, 2013, 07:39:47 AM
He was way more generous about the Vietnam war than anyone else had the right to expect:
QuoteWe 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.
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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.
Quote from: Don Coyote on October 05, 2013, 06:35:36 PM
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.
Quote from: Don Coyote on October 05, 2013, 06:35:36 PM
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.
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.
Quote from: Jet City Hustle on October 05, 2013, 08:27:58 PM
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.
Yeah. But he did more with less than just about any of them.
Quote from: Jet City Hustle on October 06, 2013, 10:49:53 AM
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.