SENIOR GENERAL VO NGUYEN GIAP REMEMBERS

Journal of Third World Studies, Fall 2003 by Currey, Cecil B

We were content with the idea that soon we would return to Viet Nam to begin the revolution. Thai co da den! (The good prospect is here) we said to one another.

Question: Before long, Ho Chi Minh sent you and others down into Viet Nam and you lived in the mountains along the Chinese border. What was life in those crude base camps like from 1941 to 1944?

Answer: During that whole time we of the Viet Minh lived clandestinely. Our activities and our movements were done in the most secretive way possible. Around population centers and in certain other situations, we had to observe the four following rules: (1) forbidden to move during daylight, (2) forbidden to wear shoes because they leave prints (3) forbidden to use walking sticks or canes to climb mountain paths for they left marks on stones and moss, (4) forbidden to sleep in villages. As I recall them, these are the chronological order of important events that marked those years.

In December 1940 the first group of Viet Minh cadre was formed six months before the official Congress which founded the Viet Minh party. It was done in a little Nung village close to the Chinese border at the bottom of a quiet valley.

Composed of ethnic minorities, this first group of forty young men full of enthusiasm and courage, spent ten days in accelerated training. Eating corn, sleeping under the stars, each morning they picked up firewood in order to help people of that Nung village. This task of helping people was a fundamental aspect of their political training. The end of their training was celebrated in front of a red flag emblazoned with a five-pointed yellow star.

In this way we began to strengthen and enlarge the existing clandestine area, by organizing communities all along the frontier. We called them Hoan toan or "total villages" because they were totally converted to the Viet Minh cause. Total villages became total cantons and then total districts. By 1942, out of nine districts in Cao Bang province, three were totally converted to the Viet Minh. Although we were still operating clandestinely, the Movement grew. The result was that the Viet Minh came to exercise administrative power first in villages, then in districts.

One of the important elements which allowed this growth was the psychological impact brought by the propaganda of my newspaper, Viet Lap, an abbreviation for Viet Nam doc lap. Published clandestinely for the exclusive use of the Cao-Bac-Lang population, it had a restricted circulation. Nevertheless, it worked well thanks to its appearance and style and the way it was written, clearly and concisely, enabling us to bring our message to all levels of the population.

Question: Is it true General that you and other Viet Minh cadre lived in caves in the northern mountains?

Answer: Yes. On 8 February 1941, Ho Chi Minh moved into the grotto of a cave we called Pac Bo. He later became a legend in the history of Viet Nam's revolution. [Others of us also lived in nearby caves.]

Question: How was the Viet Minh organized?