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<font size=3>Vietnam's Hero Still Grateful to Anti-War Americans<br>
Fri Apr 30, 2004 08:57 AM ET <br><br>
By Christina Toh-Pantin <br><br>
HANOI (Reuters) - Twenty-nine years after the end of the Vietnam war,
communist military mastermind General Vo Nguyen Giap remains grateful to
the Americans who opposed it. <br><br>
The Vietnam War, known in Vietnam as the American War, has become a hot
issue in the U.S. presidential race with Democrat John Kerry drawing
attention to his service and President Bush's Republicans disparaging
Kerry's later anti-war stand. <br><br>
"I would like to thank them," the 93-year-old veteran said on
Friday of those Americans who opposed the war. <br><br>
Giap was speaking during a two-hour interview with foreign and domestic
media on the 29th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, capital of the then
U.S.-backed South Vietnam, that marked the end of the war. <br><br>
The four-star general, who also led Vietnam to a stunning defeat against
the French army 50 years ago at Dien Bien Phu, declined to be drawn on
comparisons between the U.S. war in his country, that ended in 1975, and
the U.S. involvement in Iraq. <br><br>
But he sounded a note of warning. <br><br>
"Any forces that wish to impose their will on other nations will
surely fail," he said. <br><br>
"Each nation should have the right to independence," he said,
wagging a finger at reporters and Foreign Ministry staff in an ornate
French colonial style government guest house in the capital, Hanoi.
<br><br>
The frail, snowy haired general, who was a teacher and dabbled in
journalism before becoming revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh's top
commander, peppered long stories about Dien Bien Phu with anecdotes and
jokes. <br><br>
Giap spoke mostly in Vietnamese, replying to questions submitted in
advance as well as to four asked on the spot. But he broke into fluent
French when a question was posed in that language. <br><br>
Regarded as Vietnam's most famous living figure, Giap appears in public
for a few national events, and this year has been promoting the
anniversary of the victory of his Viet Minh forces, a coalition of
communists and nationalists, over a much better equipped French force.
<br><br>
The culmination of the 56-day siege of Colonel Christian de Castries'
forces in the valley town of Dien Bien Phu, about 490 km (300 miles)
northwest of Hanoi, came on May 7, 1954. <br><br>
Giap will be the star of the 50th-anniversary celebrations, which are
expected to draw thousands of Vietnamese and foreign visitors to the
battlefield.<br><br>
</font><font size=4><b>Ho Chi Minh's Poem to a Milestone<br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>Neither high, nor very far<br>
Neither emperor, nor king,<br>
You are only a little milestone<br>
That stands at the side of the highway.<br>
To people passing by<br>
You point the right direction<br>
And stop them from getting lost.<br>
You tell them of the distance<br>
For which they still must journey.<br>
Your service is not a small one<br>
And people will always remember you.<br><br>
<br>
</font><font size=4><b>Rewritten with Vietnam as Milestone<br>
</b></font><font size=3><x-tab> </x-tab><br>
Neither large, nor very rich<br>
Neither emperor, nor dictator,<br>
You are only a small nation<br>
Standing at the gates of Asia<br>
To people struggling on<br>
You point the right direction<br>
And stop them from getting lost<br>
You tell them of the distance<br>
For which they still must journey<br>
Your service is not a small one<br>
And people will always remember you.<br><br>
<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
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