Soviet Who is this guy and why is he smiling?

[Chuck In Oregon]

Well, actually I don't why he's smiling, but I do know who he is, and I'll show you the official letter to prove it, once someone gets it right. Yeah, the happy little guy in the center. I don't know who the other guys are, though.

Good luck.

Chuck

[coastie]

Kim IL Sung perhaps?

[Chuck In Oregon]

Kim IL Sung perhaps?

Nope. Interesting guess, though.

[Wild Card]

Gentlemen,

Unless my eyes are really failing, I think that anyone who served in Vietnam should recognize him; and it's not Uncle Ho.

Best wishes,

Wild Card

Edited November 25, 2005 by Wild Card

[Guest Rick Research]

He invented the je..ep.

[Ulsterman]

Not Ho-but maybe General Giap.

My guess is Dungxiaping, but he would not have worn a military unirom.

[Guest Rick Research]

Yass, I am thinking many a GI read about him in the AP.

[Bill Dienna]

I know.

But I'm not saying.

[Chuck In Oregon]

Good Morning Gentlemen

Ulsterman, you got it right.

Bill Dienna, nice to see you here! It was Bill who told me whom he thought this was, several years ago. Then, when I learned how to read a little bit of Russian, I found out that not only was he absolutely right but that my letter even said so.

Georgia was an ultra-secret republic after the war. Outsiders, particularly Westerners, just weren't allowed to enter, end of story. It was a good place for a secret meeting. In 1963, Vo Nguyen Giap attended a war-planning meeting there with senior Soviet military officials on how to conduct the coming war against America in South Vietnam. They didn't want him seen in Moscow at the time. This is an unpublished official photo of him there.

This attachment is a transmittal letter of this photo from the ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the commander of the Trans-Caucasus Military Region. Something that I somehow missed over the years: They actually wrote "ДПР - в СССР". I don't remember ever being told or reading that Vietnam considered itself either a current or pending republic of the USSR. Hmmm. Might that have changed some minds, back in the day? No, probably not.

This photo gives me a strange feeling. I flew with the 1st Cav in 1970-71. I keep thinking that this guy was planning how to kill me back when I was still a junior in high school. Oh well.

I thought there might be a few of you who would be interested in this photo and letter, especially if you are veterans or students of that war.

Chuck

[Dudeman]

Something that I somehow missed over the years: They actually wrote "ДПР - в СССР". I don't remember ever being told or reading that Vietnam considered itself either a current or pending republic of the USSR.

Unusual and rare photo to say the least.

There is nothing wrong with "DRV v SSSR". This just refers to the Peoples Republic of Vietnam embassy being IN the USSR, not OF the USSR or PART OF the USSR.

[Chuck In Oregon]

Unusual and rare photo to say the least.

There is nothing wrong with "DRV v SSSR". This just refers to the Peoples Republic of Vietnam embassy being IN the USSR, not OF the USSR or PART OF the USSR.

* * * * *

Well, THAT makes sense. I tend to overlook the obvious. Thank you.

Chuck

[Ed_Haynes]

Yes, Vo Nugyen Giap. A name to conjure with.

One of the great military thinkers of the 20th century. Better than Mao, better than Che, when it came to the practical application of theory. Regardless of who you supported in the Indochina wars, he was a genius.