General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Lê Trọng Tấn (3 October 1914 – 5 December 1986) was an officer of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) during 1945 to 1986. During this period of his military career, Lê Trọng Tấn held several senior positions of the Army. Lê Trọng Tấn participated in the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

movement before the

August Revolution The August Revolution ( vi, Cách-mạng tháng Tám), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution launched by the Việt Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) against the Empire of Vietnam and the Empire of Japan in ...

in 1945 and gradually became one of the most important figures of the Vietnam People's Army during the Second Indochina War. Being one of the key figures of the North Vietnam armed forces in

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, Lê Trọng Tấn was Deputy Commander of the

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

(VC) and second commander of the

1975 Spring Offensive The 1975 spring offensive ( vi, chiến dịch mùa Xuân 1975), officially known as the general offensive and uprising of spring 1975 ( vi, Tổng tiến công và nổi dậy mùa Xuân 1975) was the final North Vietnamese campaign in the Vie ...

that effectively ended the war. Afterwards, he became Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Minister of Defence of Vietnam until his death in December 1986. Lê Trọng Tấn was widely appreciated by his comrades, whom of which include general

Võ Nguyên Giáp Võ Nguyên Giáp (; 25 August 1911 – 4 October 2013) was a Vietnamese general and communist politician who is regarded as having been one of the greatest military strategists of the 20th century. He served as interior minister in President ...

, as one of the finest commanders of the Vietnam People's Army.

Early life

Lê Trọng Tấn was born on 3 October 1914 as Lê Trọng Tố, his father was a scholar who once participated in the

Tonkin Free School Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...

movement before retiring in the village Yên Nghĩa, Hoài Đức and died when Lê Trọng Tố was 7 years old. In his youth, Lê Trọng Tố studied at Bưởi High School and was known for his football skill that gained him a position in the Eclair football club in Hanoi. Lê Trọng Tố was admitted to the

in late 1943 and became the military deputy of the revolution committee in his hometown Hà Đông during the

(1945). After Viet Minh took over the authorities, Lê Trọng Tố enlisted in the PAVN (''Cứu quốc quân'') and changed his name to Lê Trọng Tấn.

Military career

At the beginning of the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

, Lê Trọng Tấn acted as commander of the E206 Regiment ( Sông Lô Regiment). In the Biên giới Campaign (1950), Lê Trọng Tấn was the deputy commander of the PAVN at Đông Khê front, later he became the first commander of the 312th Brigade and led his brigade engaging in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. From 1954 to 1960, Lê Trọng Tấn was appointed Director of the Vietnam Academy for Infantry Officers and Deputy Chief of the General Staff (''Phó Tổng tham mưu trưởng'') from March 1961 to 1962. Lê Trọng Tấn began to directly involve himself in the

from 1962 when he was chosen as Deputy Commander of the

. During two years 1970 and 1971, Lê Trọng Tấn was the special envoy of the PAVN at the Laos front where he commanded troops in

Plain of Jars The Plain of Jars ( Lao: ທົ່ງໄຫຫິນ ''Thong Hai Hin'', ) is a megalithic archaeological landscape in Laos. It consists of thousands of stone jars scattered around the upland valleys and the lower foothills of the central plain of ...

battlefield. In 1972 he was appointed commander of PAVN in the First Battle of Quảng Trị, one year later he returned to the position of Deputy Chief of the General Staff and held at the same time the position of commander of the 1st Corps (''Quân đoàn 1'') and Director of the Military Science Academy. In 1975, Lê Trọng Tấn was commander of the Hue-Da Nang Campaign in March 1975 and second commander (''Phó tư lệnh'') of the

. During the last days of the 1975 Spring Offensive, Lê Trọng Tấn was responsible for the east wing of the PAVN attacking Saigon. It was the 4th Company of 1st Regiment, 2nd Corps under his command that arrived first at the

Independence Palace The Independence Palace ( vi, Dinh Độc Lập), also publicly known as the Reunification Convention Hall ( vi, Hội trường Thống Nhất), is a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), Vietnam. It was designed by archite ...

, the workplace of the President of the South Vietnam, and arrested the president Duong Van Minh coincidentally it was also a unit of the 312th Brigade commanding by Lê Trọng Tấn which was first came to the French headquarters and captured general Christian de Castries marking the end of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. After the war, Lê Trọng Tấn continued to hold the position of Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Director of the Advanced Military Academy (''Học viện Quân sự cấp cao''). At the beginning of the

Cambodian–Vietnamese War The Cambodian–Vietnamese War ( km, សង្គ្រាមកម្ពុជា-វៀតណាម, vi, Chiến tranh Campuchia–Việt Nam), known in Vietnam as the Counter-offensive on the Southwestern border ( vi, Chiến dịch Phản ...

, Lê Trọng Tấn was commander of Vietnamese armed forces in the southern border of Vietnam from December 1978 to February 1979. From June 1978 to his death in 1986, Lê Trọng Tấn was Deputy Minister of Defence of Vietnam and Chief of the General Staff of the PAVN, succeeding general

Văn Tiến Dũng Văn Tiến Dũng (; 2 May 1917 – 17 March 2002), born Co Nhue commune, Từ Liêm District, Hanoi, was a Vietnamese general in the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), PAVN chief of staff (1954–74); PAVN commander in chief (1974–80); mem ...

. He died on 5 December 1986 at the age of 72.

Awards, decorations and legacy

During his military career, Lê Trọng Tấn was awarded various titles, medals and decorations including the Ho Chi Minh Order (''Huân chương Hồ Chí Minh'', posthumously), the

Gold Star Order Gold Star Order ( vi, Huân chương Sao vàng) is the highest decoration in Vietnam awards and decorations awarded by the Government of Vietnam for a military or civil "personnel who completed exceptional service or organization established excel ...

(''Huân chương Sao vàng''), the 1st and 3rd grade Military Order (''Huân chương Quân công'') and the 1st grade Victory Medal (''Huân chương Chiến thắng''). Several streets and places in Vietnam are named in honour of Lê Trọng Tấn. Among his comrades in the PAVN, Lê Trọng Tấn was highly appreciated for his skill in commanding and military knowledge. The general

considered Lê Trọng Tấn one of the finest military commanders of Vietnam, Fidel Castro once called him "the best general of Vietnam" and in Vietnam he was sometimes dubbed the "Vietnamese

Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Trong Tan North Vietnamese military personnel of the Vietnam War 1914 births 1986 deaths People from Hanoi Generals of the People's Army of Vietnam Communist Party of Vietnam politicians Government ministers of Vietnam