Vo Nguyen Giap was born in the province of Quangbinh in 1912. He studied law at the University of Hanoi and received a doctorate afterwards in 1937. During the 1930s, Giap joined the Indochinese Communist Party. After the organization was outlawed in 1939, he fled to China where he became a military aide to Ho Chi Minh. He returned with a Vietnamese army in 1945 and liberated Hanoi from the Japanese. An expert general of guerrilla war tactics, he later planned and directed the military operations against the French that resulted in their defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

During the 1960s Giap took charge of guerrilla operations against South Vietnam and the United States. He also planned the Tet Offensive of 1968, which dealt a severe psychological blow to the American forces. Giap resigned his position as minister of defense in 1980 and lost his seat in the politburo in 1982, after he became the chief of the Science and Technology Commission. General Giap was awarded the Gold Star Order in July 1992.

Photos Courtesy of Vietnam Photos