Van Thien Dung ( Vietnamese. Văn Tiến Dũng , Van Thien Dung; May 2, 1917 - March 17, 2002 ) - General of the Vietnam People’s Army . Known primarily for the planning and successful conduct of the Spring Offensive of 1975, which ended the war in Vietnam .
| Van Thien Dung | |||||||
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| Văn Tiến Dũng | |||||||
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| Head of the government | Pham Wang Dong | ||||||
| Predecessor | Wo Nguyen Zap | ||||||
| Successor | Le Duc An | ||||||
| Birth | May 2, 1917 Hanoi , French Indochina | ||||||
| Death | March 17, 2002 (84 years old) Hanoi , Vietnam | ||||||
| The consignment | Communist Party of Vietnam | ||||||
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| Military service | |||||||
| Affiliation |  Vietnam | ||||||
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| Rank | army General | ||||||
| Commanded | Vietnam people's army | ||||||
| Battles | The Battle of Dienbienf Easter Offensive 1975 Spring Offensive | ||||||
Born into a peasant family in Hanoi . In 1936 (according to other sources - in 1937) he joined the Communist Party of Indochina . He spent some time in a French prison, from where he fled in 1944. At the end of the Indochina War, he was appointed to the post of chief of staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, was in this position during the Battle of Dienbienf , as well as during the Vietnam War. In 1972, commanded the Northern Front (Chi-Thien-Hue) during Operation Nguyen Hue (Easter Offensive); it was his front that managed to achieve the largest victory of the North Vietnamese forces in this campaign, taking the capital of the northernmost province of South Vietnam, the city of Kuangchi and holding it for four and a half months.
In 1974, Van Thien Dung replaced Vo Nguyen Zyap as commander of the North Vietnamese army. He developed and successfully implemented the Spring Offensive plan of 1975, which resulted in the capture of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. Following the reunification of Vietnam, the army, led by Van Thien Dung, carried out military operations in response to the Khmer Rouge border provocations, invaded Cambodia and overthrew the Pol Pot regime, and also repelled the 1979 Chinese invasion .
In 1980-1987 he was Minister of Defense. During this period, he was criticized for his authoritarian style of work, and there were rumors of family corruption [1] .
He died at the age of 84 at the Central Military Hospital in Hanoi. He left two sons and three daughters. Van Thien Dung is one of the most famous North Vietnamese commanders during the Vietnam War (possibly second only to Zyap ). The author of the memoirs “The Great Victory in the Spring of the 75th” (1976).