The General of Wisdom and Compassion

VNA

 

General Vo Nguyen Giap

 

In 1972, when the US used B52 bombers to bomb Hai Phong and the capital Hanoi, I was stationed in Quang Binh. There was an incident that I will never forget. One day, while on a mission to collect news from Western stations, I received a piece of news that shocked me, my whole body was almost paralyzed. I could not believe my ears. Then, not just one station, but several news agencies took turns broadcasting the bad news: General Vo Nguyen Giap had died from a B52 bomb during a trip to inspect a missile site... None of us believed this (or rather, we did not want to believe it), but for some reason, we all burst into tears, sobbing as if we had lost our closest loved one. The Central Committee must have known this, so the very next day, the Voice of Vietnam Radio continuously broadcast news that the General was inspecting units... The joy that came to us was immeasurable, and the joy even turned into optimism as if we were about to liberate the South. That's how we know the General's position in the hearts of the soldiers.

Exactly ten years later in Moscow, I had the honor of meeting the General in his capacity as Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Science and Technology. At that time, I was sent to do research at Lomonosov University. For some reason, after a general meeting with representatives of PhD students and senior interns, the General asked me to stay and meet him privately. And it was a great joy, in that extremely valuable meeting, I was instructed and advised by the General, and it was also a lucky chance, in a meeting that for me was a big event in my life, to meet Professor Dang Bich Ha, the General's wife. What I remember to this day is that when I told the General and his wife about the story of my unit crying like rain because of the news that the General was bombed, I thought the General would laugh as if it was a funny story, but no, the General showed emotion that surprised me. The General was truly touched by a very real story about the soldiers' feelings for him.

The whole world knew General Vo Nguyen Giap after the earth-shaking Dien Bien Phu victory. I also knew by heart many details about this great historical event, in which I was very fond of the idea of ​​certain victory and the decision to take the motto "fight surely, advance surely" instead of "fight quickly, win quickly". But if I had not heard the General tell me directly why he made this decision, I would only understand that this was a wise decision reaching the artistic level of a military genius. It turned out that what made the General stay up many sleepless nights to come to this decision was not only the two words "surely win" but also his pity for the blood and bones of his soldiers. Rarely has a famous general had such a compassionate heart and loved his soldiers, because "nhất tướng công thành thần cốt hạc" (for a general to become famous, it takes the sacrifice of tens of thousands of people) is an accepted philosophy, a law of war.

Perhaps because of the General's heart and compassion, after the war ended, he thought a lot about culture.

In 1988, I was fortunate to help Professor Phan Huy Le organize the first International Conference on Vietnam Studies. It was an honor for the Conference to have the General accept to participate and read a paper in the plenary session. Thanks to that, I had the opportunity to go to 30 Hoang Dieu to listen to the General's guidance. During one such occasion, I learned a great idea of ​​his: "Vietnamese military art is a field belonging to the cultural category". At first, I did not really understand, but the General calmly explained, in general: Culture is all human creations for the purpose of existence and development of the community. In Vietnamese history, building the country always goes hand in hand with defending the country, continuously from generation to generation we have to stand up and take up arms, using all our talents and intelligence to protect national independence. All creations in the military field are for the survival of the nation, of the country, if it is not culture, then what is it? I have told this to many people and everyone has the same thought: The General is not only a famous general but also a great thinker and cultural figure.

During the preparation for the Conference, the General also explained to us things that, according to him, Vietnamese scholars both domestically and internationally have not yet found satisfactory answers to, and he even said that they "cannot explain".

First of all, it is the phenomenon of the Vietnamese people losing their independence, then being placed under the rule of feudal dynasties that were strong in military, rich in potential, high in civilization… for a long period of thousands of years without being assimilated. That is something that, according to the General, is unique in human history. This needs to be raised for further research to explain.

Second, it is the miraculous power of the Vietnamese people in the resistance wars against foreign invaders. Almost all the armies that invaded our country in history were very powerful and aggressive, including armies that were considered capable of shaking the world. In the 13th century, there was the Yuan-Mongol army, an army that conquered the entire Asian and European continents, creating the largest contiguous empire in human history. That army was defeated three times by the Vietnamese people. The General said that this phenomenon cannot be explained simply. Only by deeply understanding history can we explain why we defeated the US, the most powerful empire in the world, a force that before being defeated in the Vietnam War, any country, including those considered to be great powers, had to fear and avoid.

The General's instructions gave me the feeling of being taught by an erudite historian and I suddenly felt an indescribable pride. All the General had, besides his innate talent, was the accumulation of knowledge, training, and proper education. He was a student of the Indochina University, the predecessor of Hanoi National University, the cradle of nurturing and training talents. The pride also lies in the fact that the General loved history and chose history as a career. He often said, if there was no war, he would be a history teacher! Perhaps that is why he accepted the position of Honorary President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association. Historians across the country consider this a great honor. The General's intellectual and humane qualities probably partly stem from this.

I know that life and death are natural, but when I heard the news of the General's death, my heart sank. I suddenly remembered a saying that I don't know when it was coined, but it has been passed down from generation to generation: "Live as a famous general, die as a god." Throughout history, there have been national heroes who have become gods in the hearts of the people, such as Hai Ba Trung, Ly Thuong Kiet, Tran Hung Dao, Tran Nhan Tong, Le Loi, Nguyen Trai, Quang Trung, etc.

In my heart, I think General Vo Nguyen Giap will live forever and become a divine image in the hearts of the people.