A general with the soul of an artist

According to the lunar calendar, General Vo Nguyen Giap reaches his centenary this year, 2010. He was praised by the US General Westmoreland as a legendary general and the pre-eminent military genius of the Vietnamese.

General Vo Nguyen Giap, "I am very romatic" (Photo: Tran Hong)

I will never forget the meeting to celebrate his 70^th birth anniversary in Jan. 28, 1973. At that time, I was 30 and worked as an editor in the Literature and Arts Department at Radio Voice of Vietnam (VOV). I wrote the commentary for the documentary “Truong Son Road” to be broadcast over VOV. The script was written by Thep Moi and the documentary was directed and filmed by Nguyen Tu. Journalists Nguyen Trung and Ngoc Tho who worked for VOV’s Youth and Children Programme also joined the meeting.

I studied the script carefully before meeting General Giap. Many shots in the film showed the Commander-in-chief, inspecting the battlefield. In a scene we saw the General standing in front of a transport unit in Truong Son forest. The troops, wearing broad-brimmed caps and rubber sandals were preparing for the southern front in high spirits.

General Giap appeared in a dark blue combat dress. He looked at the soldiers, wished them good health and stressed the importance of the logistics service which took care of food, medicine, ammunition and military equipment for combat units. He encouraged them to follow Uncle Ho’s teachings to defeat any enemy and win final victory. After that, the army streamed forwards in a rhythmic march.

Writer Thep Moi took note of General Giap’s instructions. I asked him to read them again to record for dubbing.

After the recording I told him that the film would be broadcast over the VOV to reach people across the country, particularly soldiers along the Truong Son long range. He congratulated us and his wife invited us to have tea and preserved fruit to welcome the new spring. 

The General’s residence is on Hoang Dieu St. It was very quiet that morning. I ventured to ask him to play a piece of music on the piano. He played Beethoven’s Moonlight sonata in a very relaxed manner. I quietly gazed at and listened to the famous General passionately playing the wonderful melody of the musical genius.

General Giap was born on August 25, 1911 in a Confucian scholar family in An Xa village, Loc Thuy commune, Le Thuy district in the central province of Quang Binh. He received a BA in Law and later taught at the Thang Long high school in Hanoi. He joined the revolution very early. On Dec. 22, 1944, in the Tran Hung Dao military zone in the Viet Bac region, he was appointed by Ho Chi Minh to lead the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army when he was just over 30. The Army consisting of 34 young soldiers and was the forerunner of the Vietnam People’s Army. They were equipped with only 2 pistols, 17 rifles, 14 muskets and 1 machine-gun. However, 3 days later on Dec 25, 1944, they won two historic victories in Na Ngan and Phai Khat, and rendered the enemy panic-stricken.

General Giap firmly commanded the Hanoi people during their 60 day- and-night fight to defend the capital in the winter of 1946, and after that withdrew intact to the military zone to start the protracted resistance war against the French colonialists. On May 28, 1948 when the resistance war reached its fiercest period, he was nominated for the position of General. He was 37 then and became the first General of the Vietnam People’s Army.

General Vo Nguyen Giap visits his home village (Photo: Tran Hong)

The world-famous General who won the world-shaking battle of Dien Bien Phu was now like an artist immersing himself in the sweet melody of the Moonlight piano sonata.

Geneal Giap showed us to his orchid garden in the residence area. He brought the orchids from forests in Khe Sanh, Con Tien, Doc Mieu, eastern and western Truong Son in central Vietnam and even from Laos. He said he liked orchids very much and wished to build an orchid eco-garden here. He was as connoisseur and an ornamental plant expert.

General Giap gentlly talked of flowers and memories. It seemed that the fierce battle against the US air blitz over Hanoi in December 1972, dubbed the “Battle of Dien Bien Phu in the air” as many US B52s were shot down over the capital, was a thing of the past. 

The US had then to sign a peace agreement with Vietnam on the previous day, Jan 27, 1973. However, Vietnam was still divided into two. I asked General Giap about the development of the situation. He affirmed our determination to overthrow the Saigon puppets to reunify the country.

Before leaving, we proposed to have a joint photo with General Giap. He smiled generously. His secretary pinned the general’s military badges on his shoulders and brought a camera in. We were surprise to see the General taking the camera, chosing the angle and adjusting the lens. After that he gave it back to the secretary and stood among us. I have displayed this black and white photo in my desk over the last 37 years. Today, I write this small story to remember the eldest brother of the Vietnamese armed forces and a distinguished disciple of President Ho Chi Minh.

Time has elapsed but the sweet memory of that spring when I had a one hour meeting with the formidable general with the soul of an artist remains with me forever.