That attitude defined Hồ Chí Minh’s last years. He was already in his late 70s. His comrades asked after his health. ‘Bring down more US aircraft,’ he said, ‘and I’ll be in the best of health.’
In 1968, the Vietnamese national liberation forces launched a major assault on the United States and its allies. This is known as the Tết Offensive, and it – although militarily unsuccessful – politically broke the back of the US war. Four years before this war, General Giáp said of the US authorities, ‘They are no longer discussing whether they will lose or win, but when their defeat comes’. This was the attitude of Hồ Chí Minh, which is clear in the various speeches and writings from 1964 onward [Document 46].
That attitude defined Hồ Chí Minh’s last years. During the worst of the US bombing of the northern part of Vietnam, Hồ Chí Minh went on a tour of air defences. He was already in his late 70s. His comrades asked after his health. ‘Bring down more US aircraft,’ he said, ‘and I’ll be in the best of health.’ Hồ Chí Minh died in 1969 before his country was free, but he already knew the inevitable.
“Victory has a hundred fathers, and defeat is an orphan,” US president John F. Kennedy once said (paraphrasing the Roman historian Tacitus).
Tribute
"Truly, times have changed. When we defeated the Mongols, we sent them back on our own horses & boats, always with generous tribute and our excuses for defeating their armies after they crossed our borders. Now the invader sends his own transport and even an emissary to discuss the tribute amount."
Soulmates
“I realized that in the world there are two peoples who are similar in their heroic spirit and are very good at fighting the enemy. Those are the Russians and the Vietnamese.“
Hồ Chí Minh
President Hồ turned his sun helmet upside down on the table. Running his slim fingers around the outer rim, he said, “This is the situation. Down there is the valley of Điện Biên Phủ – that’s where the French are with the best troops they have in Indochina. They will never get out.”
Subscribe to Newsletter
Join me on this exciting journey as we explore the boundless world together.
