Millions of people from all over the country flocked to the capital, staying up all night queuing to pay their respects to General Vo Nguyen Giap, during those days when the whole nation shared the same grief.
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| On the evening of October 4, 2013, people across the country were shocked to learn of the passing of General Vo Nguyen Giap, at the age of 103. Despite their age, health, and geographical location, people from all over the country flocked to the capital, forming long queues for days on Hoang Dieu Street to pay their respects to the beloved general. |
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| Throughout the week-long funeral, an endless stream of people stretched along Hoang Dieu and Dien Bien Phu streets to the Bac Son intersection and then to Hoang Van Thu. For many, this was both a shared national grief and a personal loss, as they had just lost a loved one. |
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| I couldn't hold back my tears as I raised my hand to bid farewell to the General. |
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| On the morning of October 13th, after two days of national mourning with flags flown at half-mast, the memorial service and funeral procession for the General were held solemnly. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Truong Tan Sang, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, and many other high-ranking officials accompanied the General's coffin. |
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| Foreign news agencies noted that this was the largest state funeral since President Ho Chi Minh's death in 1969. A convoy carrying the portrait and hearse of the General slowly rolled through the streets of the capital to take him to the airport to be repatriated to his homeland in Quang Binh. |
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| People in the capital poured into the streets to bid farewell to the general who had inflicted historic defeats on both the French and the Americans and who became one of the most important military commanders of the 20th century. |
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| Crowds lined the streets of Hanoi, holding images of the general and weeping as they bid farewell to him – a national legend. |
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| Along both sides of the road from the funeral home to Noi Bai airport, tens of thousands of people bid farewell to the General. |
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| The ATR-72 aircraft was tasked with transporting the General's remains back to his hometown in Quang Binh at noon that same day. |
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| On the afternoon of October 13th, General Vo Nguyen Giap arrived at Vung Chua (Quang Dong commune, Quang Trach district, Quang Binh province). A large crowd of people, carrying flowers and portraits of the General, waited at the airport and along the roads leading to his final resting place – the legendary General. |
Source: Zing
