Jenderal Giap mulai dengan kurang lebih 40 orang, mereka bersenjata seadanya saja, berkembang menjadi pasukan mengalahkan tentara Perancis di Dien Bien Phu (1954), kemudian tentara USA dikalahkan dengan jatuhnya Saigon, sekarang Ho Chin Minh City, 30 April 1975.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/vietnam-hero-general-giap-still-around-at-a-hundred-20110825-1jcer.html Vietnam hero General Giap still around at a hundred Lindsay Murdoch August 26, 2011 General Giap, right, in Hanoi last year. Photo: AP TWELVE days ago, Julia Gillard declared General Vo Nguyen Giap, a hero of Vietnam's revolution and one of the greatest military strategists of the 20th century, was dead. The Prime Minister told Australian veterans attending a Vietnam Remembrance Day ceremony the war was now ''just a page in the history books'' and that its chief actors, such as US presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, Australian prime minister Robert Menzies and General Giap, ''are all gone''. But yesterday in a Hanoi military hospital, General Giap celebrated his 100th birthday with family members after Vietnam's communist leaders had decorated him with even more medals, flowers and a basket of lotus, a symbol of beauty and vitality in Vietnam. Advertisement: Story continues below Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh strides ahead of General Giap on a visit to an army unit in 1957. Photo: AP Although frail and suffering from respiratory problems, General Giap is still alert, aides said, although it is not known if he is aware of Ms Gillard's premature announcement of his passing. Aides said General Giap still insisted on being briefed on international and national affairs and, until three years ago, regularly received visiting foreign dignitaries in his French-style villa in Hanoi. The general signed thank you notes to his comrades for their birthday wishes, which poured in from around the country. To mark the occasion, Vietnam has published several books and opened an exhibition of paintings as newspaper editorials hailed General Giap as the ''eldest brother of the Vietnam People's Army''. The right-hand man of Ho Chi Minh, General Giap became known as the general who would never retreat, even against seemingly impossible odds. In 1954, General Giap masterminded the defeat of the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, seen as critical in Vietnam's emergence as an independent nation. Two decades later, his poorly equipped North Vietnamese army and Vietcong guerrillas defeated the US and its allies, forcing them out of the former South Vietnam. ''It can be said some of the country's most glorious and important events are associated with his name and his cause,'' Do Quy Doan, Vietnam's vice-culture minister, told reporters at a reception marking the birthday. After the war, General Giap's political fortunes waned, apparently because hardliners were not happy with his fame. He was ejected from the ruling Politburo in 1982. But General Giap remained active, speaking out in 2009 against a bauxite mine in Vietnam's Central Highlands. He also attended a protest against the demolition of Hanoi's historic parliament building. Both projects went ahead. After the war, he became a strong supporter of friendly ties between the US and Vietnam, despite 58,000 Americans and 3 million Vietnamese dying in the fighting. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/vietnam-hero-general-giap-still-around-at-a-hundred-20110825-1jcer.html#ixzz1W88TRAhV [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
