I once had the honor and privilege of working with the most decorated soldier in South Vietnamese history.  Silver Star, Bronze Star, Vietnamese Medal of Honor.  5’4″ 120 lbs, a giant of a man.  12 years in a VietCong  prison in the jungle, many in solitary confinement.  Allowed to see his wife 15 minutes a year.  His name shows up in the history books – Cau Le, look him up, the articles do him better justice than my words can.

The other Vietnamese soldier I would like to write about fought for the North, General Vo Nguyen Giáp.  

I used to keep a collection of strategic texts at work as references and also as a warning for those who wanted to mess with me (I did read most of them).  Sometimes, I would even leave the exact stratagem or tactic I would use on my desk in plain view (highlighted many times) as a deterrent to others.  I knew people liked to snoop.  At some point, I decided to keep only the essentials around (Jesuit discernment, Taoist texts, Boyd).  

And a copy of Giáp’s biography.  I knew this raised eyebrows in an office filled with patriotic types.  My captain, who did like me, was intrigued and puzzled.

Giáp was truly a master strategist.  With no formal military training (a lawyer and teacher by trade), he defeated the French, Americans, and Chinese (indirectly).  All of whom were militarily and financially superior.

He understood the concept of not playing someone else’s game.  That you have to understand your resources and know how to deploy them.  To understand your enemy.  The primacy of moral and psychological warfare.  That losing many times doesn’t matter, so long as you win at the end.

At the Paris Peace Accords, a US general told a North Vietnamese diplomat that every major battle was lost by the North.  The diplomat replies “So?  Who’s signing here today?”

Many examples outside of war and politics.

Learned a lot from both men.