People nationwide mourn for General Giap

A memorial service for General Vo Nguyen Giap was held in Tan Trao commune, Son Duong district, the northern mountainous province of Tuyen Quang , on October 13. Tan Trao commune was dubbed as the “resistance war capital” where General Giap, together with President Ho Chi Minh and other State leaders, lived and worked while preparing for the August Revolution in 1945. Earlier, ethnic minorities in Son Duong district erected an altar for the deceased at the cultural hall of Tan Lap village, Tan Trao commune, which is located near the historic banyan tree where General Giap read the military order commanding the Liberation Army to march towards Hanoi to liberate it in August 1945. The same day, memorial services for the legendry General took place at the headquarters of the Son La provincial War Veterans’ Association and halls of the provincial Border Guard High Command and Military Command. Local officials, soldiers, students and citizens paid their tribute to the revered military leader at the same time as a service was held in the Hanoi-based National Morgue. Eighty-five year-old Quang Van Huyen of the Thai ethnic minority, who used to be a soldier and a commander, said the General inspired him with his resolve and vitality to struggle for national liberation. On the same day, Can Tho municipal officials paid homage to the national hero at the municipal Military Command. Many of them kneeled and burst into tears when watching his coffin on television. Together with people across the country, over the past days people in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang went into mourning. At the 26/3 square in Ha Giang city, hundreds of students and ethnic minorities lit 103 candles in memory of the General.-VNA