Lê Trọng Tấn

Lê Trọng Tấn (; 1 October 1914 – 5 December 1986) was an officer of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) during 1945 to 1986. During this period of his military career, Lê Trọng Tấn held several senior positions of the Army. Lê Trọng Tấn participated in the Viet Minh movement before the August Revolution in 1945 and gradually became one of the most important figures of the Vietnam People's Army during the Second Indochina War. Being one of the key figures of the North Vietnam armed forces in Vietnam War, Lê Trọng Tấn was Deputy Commander of the Viet Cong (VC) and second commander of the 1975 Spring Offensive that effectively ended the war. Afterwards, he became Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Minister of Defence of Vietnam until his death in December 1986. Lê Trọng Tấn was widely appreciated by his comrades, whom of which include general Võ Nguyên Giáp, as one of the finest commanders of the Vietnam People's Army.

Early life

Lê Trọng Tấn was born on 1 October 1914 as Lê Trọng Tố , his father was a scholar who once participated in the Tonkin Free School movement before retiring in the village Yên Nghĩa, Hoài Đức and died when Lê Trọng Tố was 7 years old. Lê Trọng Tố was admitted to the Viet Minh in late 1943 and became the military deputy of the revolution committee in his hometown Hà Đông during the August Revolution (1945). After Viet Minh took over the authorities, Lê Trọng Tố enlisted in the PAVN (Cứu quốc quân) and changed his name to Lê Trọng Tấn. coincidentally it was also a unit of the 312th Brigade commanding by Lê Trọng Tấn which was first came to the French headquarters and captured general Christian de Castries marking the end of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

Awards, decorations and legacy During his military career, Lê Trọng Tấn was awarded various titles, medals and decorations including the Ho Chi Minh Order (Huân chương Hồ Chí Minh, posthumously), the Gold Star Order (Huân chương Sao vàng), the 1st and 3rd grade Military Order (Huân chương Quân công) and the 1st grade Victory Medal (Huân chương Chiến thắng).

Among his comrades in the PAVN, Lê Trọng Tấn was highly appreciated for his skill in commanding and military knowledge. The general Võ Nguyên Giáp considered Lê Trọng Tấn one of the finest military commanders of Vietnam, Fidel Castro once called him "the best general of Vietnam" and in Vietnam he was sometimes dubbed the "Vietnamese Zhukov".