General Vo Nguyen Giap.
Suddenly remembering 44 years ago, also on an autumn day, the weather had started to get a little chilly, the rain was pouring down, when I heard the news of President Ho Chi Minh's death, I also experienced a similar feeling. Only at that time, unlike now, I was still very young, not just entering high school age, a whole generation of rural students like us at that time, when hearing the news of Uncle Ho's death, insisted on "arguing" that a person like Uncle Ho could not "die". A childish and absurd belief of a time. However, the pain that enveloped the entire nation at that time, was indeed real. Now that I have enough experience to see the truth of life, I understand that a person, no matter how much we love him, still cannot overcome the truth of life and death. Although I can’t do anything at the moment, witnessing the crowd pouring into house 30, Hoang Dieu street, to bid a final farewell to a man who spent his entire life attached to the survival of the nation, I think it’s hard for me to stay calm. Anyway, I still have to find some reason to think about him: he is indeed a great general, but once upon a time, he was also a teacher like me. And so, the flow of emotions in me flows endlessly…
First of all, I can still be proud to know that General Vo Nguyen Giap was once a simple teacher like us (Vo Nguyen Giap was a History teacher at Thang Long Private School in 1938 and 1939). Later on, he also sincerely confided that if there were no changes in life, if the country had not been invaded, he would have remained a normal teacher like many other teachers. Why not? No matter how much a person has the ability to control and direct his own life, sometimes he is still pushed and arranged by fate. Moreover, that pushing puts a person with innate talent and a kind heart like Vo Nguyen Giap in a position that cannot be "criticized". That history teacher accepted to tie his life to the lives of many people, even higher, to the fate of an entire nation. Vo Nguyen Giap, after his shining moments, to the point that the whole world recognized him as one of the few most talented generals of humanity in the 20th century, then, or outside of those moments, he still returned to the qualities of a normal teacher: always kind to everyone, paying attention to personality education, and all his life worrying about one thing: "Education and training not only have the mission of improving people's knowledge, training human resources, nurturing talents... but also have the mission of creating valuable orientations on culture, ethics, aesthetics and spirit that are meaningful in promoting the progressive development of society, because education and training are the purpose of life, for people and for life...". If he did not hide deep in his soul the personality of a teacher, I think he could not have been so great.
I was fortunate to have been a student and colleague of a teacher who had a close relationship with the family of General Vo Nguyen Giap (Meritorious Teacher, Associate Professor Dang Thi Hanh, sister of General Dang Thi Ha's wife), so even though I did not intend to, observing the style, lifestyle and thinking of the family of Lieutenant General Hong Cu - the "sister" of General Vo Nguyen Giap and Lieutenant General Hong Son - the husband of Associate Professor Dang Anh Dao (sister of Ms. Dang Thi Hanh), I also understood more about him. For example, the story about the day he was a close comrade of President Ho Chi Minh, who was loved and trusted by the head of the country, and was given the nickname "Anh Van". It is difficult to know which is stronger in Vo Nguyen Giap, the "martial" or the "literary" quality. Regarding military talent, perhaps at this point, we no longer need to argue much. Not only the people, comrades, friends, but also the enemies, who once faced each other on the front lines, had to admit his innate military talent. The French newspaper Le Monde, after his death, devoted two pages to publishing an article about General Giap, including one titled: “Vo Nguyen Giap – Napoleon of Vietnam has passed away”, with sincere condolences. It can be said that there are few generals who have such a “position” in the hearts of everyone, even those on different front lines. Why was General Vo Nguyen Giap able to create such good feelings? If someone takes the time to learn about him, from the first days of his first steps in steering the Vietnamese revolutionary armed forces, to when he became a general, Minister of Defense, and even when he returned to being an ordinary citizen (after leaving all positions), Vo Nguyen Giap still maintained the ordinary features of a simple man with such a noble human heart. The French compared him to Napoleon - a talented general whom they admired wholeheartedly. Such a comparison, I think, is also a source of pride for a Vietnamese general, but if I think a little deeper, I see that perhaps Napoleon only won admiration from everyone for his military talent, while Vo Nguyen Giap not only won admiration, but also respect. The qualities of a potential teacher in him created a Vo Nguyen Giap like that. Many Vietnamese soldiers who had the opportunity to be close to General Vo Nguyen Giap recounted that, in the role of Commander-in-Chief of the army, the People's General always put the lives of soldiers above victory. This quality is probably very close to the soul and personality of leader Ho Chi Minh. A poet once wrote about Ho Chi Minh with these beautiful verses: "Uncle did not praise the battles that killed many people as beautiful battles / I hid my beautiful words like hiding the narrow-mindedness in my heart...".
The potential of a humanistic teacher in General Vo is almost never exhausted. That quality almost dominates all his work, thoughts, and actions, even when he has returned to ordinary life, without position, without power. However, I think that few people have more power than him. Just looking at the long lines of people, and the tears flowing as soon as he passed away, surely no one will disagree with me. And those are the endless emotions on the last day of autumn about a great personality who used to be a teacher, I want to dedicate to him.
USSH– During these days, Vietnamese people across the country are overwhelmed with grief and pain at the news that General Vo Nguyen Giap, the legendary general of the Vietnamese people, has passed away forever. Domestic and foreign media have devoted thousands of pages to solemnly writing about him, praising one of the most outstanding generals of the 20th century, who not only changed the history of the nation and the world with his heroic battles; but above all, he left a deep affection in the hearts of the Vietnamese people and friends around the world with his outstanding intelligence and rare humane qualities. Many tears have been shed, as well as sorrow, contemplation, and reflection for those who remain. The life and career of General Vo Nguyen Giap is obviously a great example for everyone to reflect on, learn from and look back at themselves... In that flow of emotions, many teachers, scientists, veterans, students and trainees of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities have sent to the school's website articles containing deep feelings about the People's General. We would like to respectfully introduce them to our readers.