Who they were
A former history teacher and journalist, Giap was the self-taught general of Vietnam’s independence wars. In December 1944 he organized the Viet Minh’s first armed propaganda unit of 34 fighters, which grew into the People’s Army of Vietnam.
What they did
As commander at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, he directed the artillery siege that broke the French garrison. He served as defense minister and army chief through the American war; the extent of his operational authorship of later campaigns, including the Tet Offensive of 1968, is debated by historians.
Legacy
In retirement he became a voice on development and environmental issues. He died in 2013 at age 102 and was mourned nationally. Military historians rank him among the outstanding commanders of the twentieth century, remembered as the strategist of “people’s war”.