Communist Review - Although General Vo Nguyen Giap already rested in eternal peace, the humanity radiated from his virtues, valor and wisdom has exerted profound and far-reaching impacts on the entire Viet Nam People’s Armed Forces. For each officer and soldier of the forces, grasping General Giap’s humanity is not only an honor and pride, but also a great responsibility.

General Vo Nguyen Giap was known as an outstanding and close disciple of President Ho Chi Minh, a "General of the people", and a legend in the modern Vietnamese history. He studied, grasped and creatively applied the Ho Chi Minh's military ideology into the practice of war; concurrently, Giap mobilized the fighting spirit of the whole nation for national liberation on the basis of grasping the principles of people's war and standing on the political foundation of the great national unity bloc. His courage, wisdom, manners, methods, virtues and talents were the fruition of self-cultivating, training, studying and following Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality and style. General Vo Nguyen Giap is seen as a shining symbol of revolutionary morality, a military leader who always put public interests above all for the sake of the country and the people.

Indeed, throughout his revolutionary life, General Giap always wholeheartedly lived and worked for the people, and this created the essence in his virtues. He was an exemplary character and a genius military leader with a burning desire for the people’s peace and happiness. Grasping the role of the mass population, along with inheriting the quintessence of Vietnamese military art and developing it to a new height, General Giap summarized and generalized his strategic thinking on the people's war. Particularly, Giap always believed in the power of Vietnamese people, which was the blend of their patriotism, will, determination, solidarity, bravery and intelligence forged over thousands of years of history, and enormously strengthened during the war of national liberation under the Party’s leadership.

General Giap’s humanity also lies in his reason for life, the morality of an exemplary and loyal communist, his conscience, imparity, and love for the people. Giap’s humanity is also mirrored in his perseverance, patience, calmness, and wisdom, as well as in his agility and vision in evaluating military and diplomatic situations, from which the most proper and sensible decisions could be made. Regarding General’s relationships with his subordinates, as well with officers and soldiers of the armed forces, he was strict, but understanding, tolerant, wholeheartedly loving, and intimate. Giap’s humanity is also reflected in his behavioral humility towards his collective and comrades. He always held that no matter how talented an individual is, without a collective’s proper leadership, without a heroic nation and a heroic army, it is impossible to create an achievement. He said: “…it was Vietnamese people that defeated the US, any military general’s contribution, no matter how notable it is, is just a drop of water in the sea” ^(1).

General Giap’s humility is also displayed in his deep sharing and compassion for his compatriots and comrades, who devoted their life for the national independence, freedom and unification. Hence, in each battle, General always pondered how to minimize the loss of life and blood of his soldiers, comrades and compatriots. He never accepted a victory at the cost of his soldiers’ blood due to arbitrary or reckless decisions. Giap always sympathized with each soldier’s wound pain, and cherished every single drop of his soldier’s blood. For him, the core principle in commanding every battle is to achieve victory, but it must be coupled with the utmost limitation of each officer and soldier’s blood. Take the Ho Chi Minh campaign as an example. Explaining the strategic choices for the decisive battle, General emphasized: "Going around the desk, looking at the map from all sides, I recalled the old days when I was in front of the Dien Bien Phu battlefield model, thinking about how to attack the enemy’s strongholds. The two historical events have a gap of more than 20 years, but they are similar in their intense mental concentration for the strategically decisive battle in order to find the optimal way to win the biggest victory with the least loss” ⁽²⁾. Furthermore, General Giap perceived peace and reconciliation as his motto, which was clearly demonstrated through his sympathy and forgiveness for prisons of war. He claimed that those who served for the foe were just affected by adverse consequences of the colonialist regime. This, indeed, can be deemed as the highest manifestation of humanity of “General of the people” Vo Nguyen Giap, demonstrating his delicate and flexible behaviors and manners according to the Ho Chi Minh’s teachings.

Additionally, throughout his life as a military commander, General Giap always respected collective opinions, i.e. all decisions were made based on the combined wisdom and combat command experience of military generals and officers. His working ethics were established on the basis of upholding the principles of leadership and building the solidarity in the Party and in the armed forces. Getting aged, General Giap always concerned and encouraged officers and soldiers of the armed forces to regularly study, train, preserve and promote traditional qualities of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" and the image of a soldier of the People's Public Security. Giap also stressed the importance of building officers with collective spirit, who put collective interests above their personal interests, who always love and share with their subordinates, who help the people and count on the people.

General Vo Nguyen Giap has gone, but his image, humanity and enormous contributions to the revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation still live on in the country’s history and in Vietnamese people's hearts. He was not only a prominent historic military figure, but also one of the noble symbols of the Vietnamese culture in the Ho Chi Minh era. General's virtues, talents, as well as his ethic of “putting public interests above all”, his purity and loyalty have won trust and love of the Party, the people and international friends, which is why he has been honored as “one of the few living legends” ⁽³⁾. General Giap’s humanity is the blend of wisdom, faith, courage, benevolence, integrity, and loyalty in the spirit of the Ho Chi Minh’s ideology. Giap, thus, has become a shining example of intelligence, revolutionary resilience, independence and self-control, as well as of tolerance, forgiveness, solidarity and gratitude to comrades and compatriots. The humanity of General Giap is also highlighted through his exemplary revolutionary morality, and he is seen as profound embodiment of human values of the Vietnamese nation, culture and people, as well as a representation of fine qualities of "Uncle Ho's soldiers". Hence, the humanity of General Vo Nguyen Giap - an excellent disciple of our beloved President Ho Chi Minh, has become a lasting value for Vietnamese people in general and the Viet Nam People's Armed Forces in particular.

In response to the task of Homeland protection in the new situation, the Vietnamese armed forces are required to: show absolute loyalty to the Fatherland, Party and the people; stand ready for combat, combat for the defense of independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland, national security, social order and safety; protect the people, the Party and State, the socialist regime and revolutionary gains; and join the entire people to construct the country and fulfil international obligations. To that end, the forces must be built with high overall quality and combat power, in which spreading General Giap’s humanity constitutes an approach to building the forces’ comprehensive strength, especially political willpower. Grasping and promoting Giap’s humanity among the armed forces also contributes to the realization of our Party's viewpoint on "Protecting and fostering fine and sustainable values of Vietnamese cultural traditions…, educating Vietnamese people in the new era on the basis of harmonious combination of traditional and modern values" ^(4). Additionally, each officer and soldier should be strongly motivated in cultivating bravery, stance, determination and creativity, in acquiring scientific knowledge, and in developing practical mindsets and capacities in combating, working and building forces, thereby contributing to national defense and security, and fatherland protection in the new situation. Grasping and spreading General's humanity will also create an impetus for each officer and soldier to strive, train, work, and mature, to successfully fulfil assigned tasks, thereby contributing to the success of national defense and security, and the establishment of an increasingly firm defense posture in the spirit of the Resolution of the 13^th Party Congress.

What is more, fostering Giap’s human values among officers and soldiers of the armed forces is manifested in grasping and transforming his values into their perceptions, morality and manners, which are subsequently realized in their daily routines, and in their relationships with comrades and people. Specifically, promoting Giap’s humanity involves their cultivation of fine qualities of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” and “soldiers of the People's Public Security” with more emphasis on political qualities, morality and lifestyle, on culture and knowledge, on democracy and discipline, as well as on internal, civilian-military and international solidarity.

In memory of the “Eldest Brother of the army" with absolute respect and gratitude, each officer and soldier of the armed forces should proactively raise their awareness in acquiring and spreading General Giap’s humanity in performing their duties, including training, practicing combat readiness, maintaining political security, social order and safety, as well as preventing and handling with natural disasters, epidemics and environmental incidents. Particularly, on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of officers and soldiers “went to every alley, knocked every door, and checked every person", rigorously monitored immigration, encouraged citizens to strictly follow the Government's directives on pandemic prevention and control, and ensured security and order in concentrated isolation areas. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, officers and soldiers of the Viet Nam People’s Army have displayed fine qualities of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" and promoted the humanity that General initiated and pursued during his lifetime. As a matter of fact, army generals, officers and soldiers have not been afraid of hardships and sacrifices. With orders from their hearts "the people in front", they have been promptly present in the most arduous and dangerous places to carry out duties of "war in peacetime". Their sacrifices have embellished the images of "Uncle Ho's soldiers", and “Public Security soldiers” in the people’s hearts, contributing to increasing their confidence in the Party, the State and the armed forces.

In honor of the 110^th birthday of General Vo Nguyen Giap, taking pride in the human legacy that he left for present and future generations, officers and soldiers of the armed forces pledge to uphold self-reliance and revolutionary heroism, and join local Party committees, authorities and people in building a revolutionary, regular, elite, and step-by-step modernized army to consolidate Viet Nam’s all-people defense and people’s security postures. It is also essential for them to foster solidarity and close-knit relationships with the people, fight and work for the people’s happiness, and promote their self-cultivation so that General's human values keep spreading, flourishing and perfecting in their courage, intelligence, morality and manners.

In order that General Giap’s humanity can generate more widespread impacts, first and foremost, Party committees and leaders need to attach great importance to innovative dissemination methods. Furthermore, studying Giap’s humanity should be carried out regularly so that every officer and soldier can develop their awareness of its origin, fundamentals, contents and noble meanings. By so doing, these values can be instilled into their personality and transformed into their practical revolutionary actions. Furthermore, grasping and promoting Giap’s humanity imply that the forces need to embrace criticism and self-criticism, to raise their voice for the right and the positive, and fight against the wrong and the negative. This will help party organizations to proactively prevent signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within for their mutual progress.

Grasping and transforming General Giap’s humanity need to be concretized into striving criteria for each unit, each officer and each soldier to follow. To be specific, “Ten Oaths of Honor” and “Twelve disciplines” of army soldiers, as well as “6 Uncle Ho’s teachings for People's Public Security soldiers” must be strictly observed. Moreover, officers and soldiers need to love and share with their comrades, encourage and help each other, thereby creating solidarity and unity in the unit, and ultimately fulfilling all assigned tasks. It is also of great significance for officers in charge to become role models and truly reliable support for their soldiers, as General Giap advised that leaders need to set examples for their subordinates to follow, to maintain harmonious relationships with the people, and constantly strive, self-cultivate and mature.

Spreading Giap’s humanity among the Viet Nam People’s Armed forces is also associated with two drives in the army, namely “Learning and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality and style” and “Promoting traditions, devoting talents, deserving to be “Uncle Ho's soldiers”. Meanwhile, for the Public Security forces, General Giap’s humanity is highlighted in the campaign “Building Public Security soldiers of courage, humanity and devotedness to people" and in the motto “Active, exemplary, disciplined, responsible, and effective”. On the whole, fostering Giap’s humanity involves every officer and soldier: showing steadfastness, firmness, purity, responsibility and courtesy; promoting morality and healthy lifestyle, thrift, integrity, righteousness, justice and impartiality; boasting scientific knowledge, qualifications, working ethics and good health; appreciating democracy, self-discipline and strictness; building solidarity, respect and close-knit relationships with the people, and  developing a pure international spirit. With these fine qualities, they will make their great contributions to building revolutionary, regular, elite and step-by-step modernized Viet Nam People’s Army and People’s Public Security Forces, among which a number of services and branches will move straight forward to modernity, meeting the requirements of defending the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam in the new situation./.

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(1) Tran Trong Trung: Commander-In-Chief General Vo Nguyen Giap, Truth National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2006, p. 835, 836

(2) General Vo Nguyen Giap with the anti-US resistance war, People's Army Publishing House, Hanoi, 2005, p. 964

(3) Tran Trong Trung: Commander-In-Chief General Vo Nguyen Giap, ibid, p.5

(4) The Document of the 13^th National Party Congress, Truth National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2021, vol.1, p. 143

The Communist Review, online version ( August 18, 2021)