7/28/2019 Prints, Paintings, Puppets - Exploring the Art of
Vietnam
1/2
Prints, Paintings, Puppets - Exploring the Art of Vietnam
Even though his army was small he felt it was a good time to
establish relations with the
allies. In return he asked for weapons and finances. The Chinese
immediately arrested him
as a spy and kept him in prison for over a year before being
released.
Meanwhile, his friends Pham Van Dong and Vo Nguyen Giap stayed
busy expanding thecommunist party and building the Vietnamese army.
Of all the Vietnamese leaders, Giap
probably had more reason to hate the French than any one
else.
In 1944 Giap was 33 years old, 20 years younger than Ho, and
people said that he never
smiled. People knew him as an intelligent man of action. He
constantly studied the
campaigns of Napoleon and understood the teachings of Clausewitz
and had studied at a
guerilla warfare came in China. He returned with Ho to the caves
at Pac Bo with 40men and
their families.
Giap was born into a family for French militants. His father
died in prison. His sister died
shortly after being released from prison. His sister-in-law was
arrested after a visit to Russia,
sentenced to death and shot. Giap studied for his final school
exams while in jail then
attended law school but failed to pass the bar. He became a
teacher of history. His luck did
not change as he grew older. His wife was arrested and sentenced
to 15 years in Hanoi
Central Prison. She died there while Giap was training his
forces near the caves.
Ho Chi Minh's chance to work with the Americans came when
Lieutenant Randolph Shaw
experienced engine trouble in his airplane over Vietnam and
bailed out. Some of Giaps'
soldiers brought him to Ho.
Ho realized this was his opportunity to make contact with the
Americans and he personally
escorted Shaw to China. Ho refused money for rescuing Shaw and
he waited patiently at the
Dragon's Gate caf to be contacted. What he wanted was American
recognition for his
League of Independence, medicine, and arms. An agreement was
soon worked out and
Major Allison Thompson and several soldiers returned with Ho to
Vietnam to establish an
American unit named the Deer Team.
Ho moved from the cave to the small village of Tan Trao near the
provincial capital of Thai
Nguyen. While there he fell gravely ill. More soldiers arrived
for the Deer team including a
medic named Paul Hoagland. He examined Ho and found him
suffering from either malaria,
dengue, or dysentery (he was not sure because he was not a
doctor) and near death. He
treated Ho with quinine, sulfa, and other drugs for several
days. Ho was soon back on his
feet and ready to resume work. In a small bit of irony it is
possible that an American savedthe life of Vietnam's leader.
Major Thompson and his small force of Americans help General
Giap train a specialized
