General Vo Nguyen Giap

General Giap.
Who defeated the French at Dien Bien phu.
And forced a political defeat on combined
Forces in the Vietnam War.
In fairness to the combined forces [largelyAmerican]
they won every major land battle that was fought
in the Vietnam War including the Tet Offensive.
They were indeed military victorious but lost the
political initiative.
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A small village in North Vietnam,
Is where the Great Generals life began,
In village huts with muck packed floors,
The French commanded and made the laws.

An Xa village was quite unknown,
For hundreds of years rice was grown,
Goats and animals moved around,
Muck and dung covered the ground.

But young Giap wasn't the same,
Inside his head was an excellent brain,
He didn't like the French in command,
It wasn't their culture it wasn't their land.

Off to Hoa to school he went,
On intellectual progress he was bent,
At just 13, his nationalist mind,
Was causing trouble- a mature kind.

This precociuos child the French noticed,
The Surete added him to their list,
Not knowing then he would bid them adieu,
At the battle of Dien Bien Phu.

A degree in economics he would attain,
His countries freedom his earnest aim,
Military tactics he studied with zeal,
The intelligence to master, and turn, for real.

At Dien Bien Phu he made his name,
A place in government he did attain,
With Directive 15 the North made its claim,
Unification was their ultimate aim.

So General Giap was placed in command,
The mandate- to unite and free his land,
Political adventure the stuff of dreams,
Only unification- by military means.


All through the sixties the battle raged.
To set piece battles the North rarely engaged,
A guerrilla campaign Giap wanted and got,
Time was irrelevant in his little plot.

But time was important on the American scene,
American dead on the TV screen,
After Tet they knew it was lost
Giap had won at enormous cost

Vietnam is free as ever its been,
Whether its better remains to be seen,
The best laid plans of mice and men,
At least they put Humpty together again.
Jb 3 para.

The other Side of the Coin, 1956 Anglo-French " Suez War" - A Bravenet.com Forum
Vo