VIETNAM: Hundreds gather in Hanoi to bid farewell to General Vo Nguyen Giap on the second day of his state funeral

Record ID: 859311

  • Title: VIETNAM: Hundreds gather in Hanoi to bid farewell to General Vo Nguyen Giap on the second day of his state funeral
  • Date: 13th October 2013
  • Summary: HANOI, VIETNAM (OCTOBER 13, 2013) (REUTERS) PEOPLE STANDING OUTSIDE HANOI OPERA HOUSE PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS VARIOUS OF MILITARY TRUCKS DRIVING PAST PEOPLE STANDING PEOPLE STANDING VEHICLE WITH COFFIN DRIVING PAST (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) VIETNAMESE NATIONAL, PHUONG HUYEN LE SAYING: "I don't know what to say, the only words I would say is I feel very sorry." PEOPLE PRAYING (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) STUDENT, BUI THI PHUONG ANH SAYING: "After he died, I read more and love Vietnam history more. I feel very moved when I watch documentary films produced by both Vietnamese and foreigners about the wars. He is a talented leader. I feel very touched, this is our nation's big loss and also it is like our own family's and my own loss." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING ALONG THE ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) 47 YEAR-OLD VIETNAMESE RESIDENT, PHAM QUOC HUY SAYING: "Up to now, only Uncle Ho and General Giap are inside the hearts of the Vietnamese people. I'm very touched now." VARIOUS OF MILITARY VEHICLES CARRYING GUARDS DRIVING PAST VEHICLE MOVING COFFIN DRIVING PAST
  • Embargoed: 28th October 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Vietnam
  • City:
  • Country: Vietnam
  • Topics: Obituaries,Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVATE4C5VKLGS5RMO8J875ZC2MT
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Vietnamese poured into the capital on Sunday (October 13) to bid farewell to Vo Nguyen Giap, the general who masterminded historic defeats of France and the United States to become one of the 20th century's most important military commanders.
    Crowds lined the streets of Hanoi cheering, crying and holding up pictures of "Red Napoleon", a national legend with a domestic standing second only to the leader of Vietnam's struggle against colonialism, Ho Chi Minh. Giap died on Oct. 4, age 102, after four years in a Hanoi military hospital.
    Hundreds of thousands thronged to catch a glimpse of Giap's coffin as it was driven by military vehicle past an unbroken line of mourners to an airport 30 km (18 miles) away. Giap's body will be flown to his home province of Quang Binh for burial.
    One woman cried as the coffin passed.
    "I don't know what to say. The only words I would say now is I feel very sorry," said Phuong Huyen Le.
    Student, Bui Thi Phuong Anh said the loss was a personal one as well as a national one.
    "After he died, I read more and love vietnam history more. I feel very moved when I watch documentary films produced by both Vietnamese and foreigners about the wars. He is a talented leader. I feel very touched, this is our nation's big loss and also it is like our own family's and my own loss," she said.
    Forty-seven year old, Pham Quoc Huy said Giap would be in the hearts of the Vietnamese people.
    "Up to now, only Uncle Ho and General Giap are inside the hearts of the Vietnamese people. I'm very touched now," he said.
    The funeral has brought a show of unity that Vietnam's current generation of leaders have struggled to foster in a country where three quarters of the 90 million population were born long after Giap's battlefield victories.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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