General Vo Nguyen Giap and the deep love with Nghe An province

Ho Duc Phoc - Party chief of Nghe An province

The young teacher dedicated his pure first love at the age of 20 to a Vinh city’s daughter, Nguyen Thi Quang Thai. After the death of his lover and his companion during the revolution Quang Thai, he gave his deep and simple love until the end of the life to associate professor Dang Bich Ha, professor Dang Thai Mai’s daughter. A miraculous coincidence is that 2 wives, 2 companions during General Vo Nguyen Giap’s life that he spent to serve his country and his people are both Nghe An province’s oustanding people. This is a great honor for Nghe An province to have such an excellent son-in-law, a legendary general in both military and literary fields, the one that all Vietnamese people love and respect.

In 2004, Lieutenant-general Nguyen Hong Cu (General Giap’s brother-in-law) published a book named «General Vo Nguyen Giap’s youth» with the special collaboration of Mrs. Dang Bich Ha. An interesting part of the book presents special memories of «General Vo Nguyen Giap at the age of 20», one of them is the fateful encounter of General Giap and Ms. Nguyen Thi Quang Thai, revolutionary activist Nguyen Thi Minh Khai’s sister. General Giap met her in a train from Vinh to Hue city: «Mother Thai in ao-dai, with falling hair, rosy white skin and bright eyes had deeply impressed father. At that time, father was playing the role of a dandified journalist. Later, mother told him her very first impression: A scholar with a «swashbuckler’s look», mother replied pleasantly only after having heard that he was a journalist» (Professor Vo Hong Anh, General Giap and Mrs Nguyen Thi Quang Thai’s only daughter, recalled her parents’ first encounter that she has once been told by father Giap, in a press interview in 2003). The next encounter of General Giap and his first wife took place in an outlandish house in Hue citadel. At that time, Quang Thai went to present her referral to participate to the Party’s activities. Then, Quang Thai came to study in Hue, tried to contact with the Party and to receive missions. As time goes by, a period of working and struggling together sowed love between 2 people. They got married when Quang Thai was 20 years old but they had to wait about 10 years later to have their first child in order to participate to escapist activities together. At the end of 1939, French colonials strenghthened their suppression. Vo Nguyen Giap had to move on covert operations and was sent to operations in China.

In 1942, Mrs Quang Thai was arrested and sentenced for 16 years in jail. During that time, she often was tortured but kept her loyalty toward the Party. In 1944, Mrs Quang Thai died of exhaustion while taking care of the patients in Hoa Lo prison and catching a cold.

Due to the secret character of the operations, General Vo Nguyen Giap did not receive any information about Mrs Quang Thai’s arrest and death. Only when he returned to Vietnam and participated to The North revolutionary military force’s conference in Hiep Hoa (Bac Giang) in April 1945, General Giap was informed about the death of his beloved young wife. Leader of the Propaganda for liberation army’s team Vo Nguyen Giap stunned silence while leaning against a tree,...

The one who has companioned with General Vo Nguyen Giap from the days following August revolution until the end of his life is Mrs Dang Bich Ha, professor Dang Thai Mai’s daughter (originated from Thanh Xuan, Thanh Chuong). General Giap had been professor Dang Thai Mai’s comrade and colleague from the very first day of Tan Viet Party. He had a great affection for Professor Mai’s family and was esteemed by Professor’s daughters as a big brother. During the operations from 1931 to 1941 in Vinh city, General Vo Nguyen Giap had lived in Professor Dang Thai Mai’s domicile. He had always considered Bich Ha a little sister that he had to cherish and take care of.

In 1945, they met again, the revolutionary path of national liberation transformed their adoration and respect into love. At the end of 1946, Professor Dand Thai Mai’s family held Vo Nguyen Giap and Dang Bich Ha’s wedding ceremony. Their wedding was as simple as the love they have shared in decades, simple and quiet but deep and optimistic.

General Vo Nguyen Giap visited the hometown of Uncle Ho (1994)

General Giap’s 2 wives are both Nghe An province’s people, they certainly have great influence to the legendary general’s life. This is the reason for the special and close link between Nghe An province and General Giap. Nghe An is at the same time the homeland of President Ho Chi Minh, of his wives and of many of his friends - comrades like Le Hong Phong, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Phan Dang Luu, Phung Chi Kien, Ho Tung Mau. This land stores many precious memories of his first steps in the revolutionary path: cycling from Vinh to Thanh Chuong to visit his first daughter Vo Hong Anh, burning incense in the altar house of Dang family, praising the ancestors, visiting his wife’s homeland,...In his life, General Giap has visited Nghe An province many times, not only with the status of a General, a senior leader of the Party and State but with the sentiment of a son-in-law toward his second homeland, a comrade toward a revolutionary land. In every visit, he kindly asks people, advices them to work hard and to develop local advantage. The elderlies in Xuan Ngoc (Thanh Xuan, Thanh Chuong) still remember the close conversation with General Giap, the village’s son-in-law about difficulties as crop failure, sickness, famine...The General famously known as an excellent stategic genius has found the solution for this poor land, based on local geography (hilly lands with grass to feed goats). Yet, planting jackfruit and raising goats have still been effective in many areas of Thanh Chuong. Especially, «Nhut Thanh Chuong» (a local dish made from jackfruit) has become a traditional specialty that can only be found in Thanh Chuong.

The sentiment of Nghe An province’s people toward General Vo Nguyen Giap is not only respect and adoration for a military genius but also affection for an excellent, sincere and grateful son-in-law. Every year, many people from Nghe An visit General’s residence at 30 Hoang Dieu street (Ha Noi) and are kindly welcomed by General Giap.

These days, as the information about General Giap passing away has been officially diffused, Nghe An province’s people and people around the country are in extreme sorrow, despite the fact that death is unavoidable. Waves of people come to Kim Lien relic to burn incense and praise our dear Uncle Ho and the legendary general, also known as President Ho Chi Minh’s excellent disciple. In the homeland Thanh Xuan, local people recall together memories of his visits. General Giap went to the realm of eternity, left Nghe An in a pain of losing a son, a brother that we all respect and belove.

This enormous lost should become a motivation for Nghe An province’s people to stand together in the dockyard in which a rich and exemplary Nghe An province is under construction in order to deserve its status of President Ho Chi Minh’s homeland.