Vietnamese Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap , who helped communist forces push French and later U.S. troops to withdraw after decades of war in the southeast Asian country , has died , according to local media reports . He was 102 . Giap helped form Ho Chi Minh 's communist rebels into an army while France tried to hold onto colonial rule in French Indochina after World War II -- and he eventually led the rebels in a key 1954 battle that led to France 's withdrawal . After the French left and Vietnam was partitioned into the communist North and the U.S.-backed South , Giap -- the North 's defense minister and military commander -- helped guide the communists in a bloody 20-year war with the South and U.S. troops . The North took the entire county in 1975 . In 2004 , Giap told CNN that a nation that stands up and knows how to unite will always defeat a foreign invader . Giap made the comments after he was asked about the United States ' involvement in Iraq -- but they also came as Vietnam was marking the 50th anniversary of the battle he led to spark France 's withdrawal . `` When people have the spirit to reach for independent sovereignty ... and show solidarity , it means the people can defeat the enemy , '' Giap told CNN . Born into a family of rice farmers , Giap got involved in politics at an early age . At 18 his politics got him thrown in jail , under suspicion of revolutionary agitation . He earned a doctorate and students remember him as unusually passionate about military strategy . Theory became reality for Giap in the 1940s when he joined Ho Chi Minh and battled French colonial forces . In 1954 , Giap led the communist force in one of his most famous victories -- a 55-day seige of French forces at Dien Bien Phu , in the north of the country . The siege ended when the French troops , worn down by constant artillery barrages and unable to resupply by air , surrendered on May 7 , 1954 . That defeat saw the French withdraw , followed by the partitioning of Vietnam . When American forces became involved in Vietnam , Giap championed guerrilla tactics , which became one of the hallmarks of the conflict . Giap was the North 's defense minister during the Tet offensive against U.S. and U.S.-backed forces in 1968 . The surprise attack during the Vietnamese New Year festival targeted dozens of cities in South Vietnam , and both sides suffered heavy casualties before the offensive was repulsed . The Tet offensive is considered as a turning point in the conflict , with the United States soon reducing the number of its troops in Vietnam as the U.S. public increasingly turned against the war . The bulk of U.S. forces withdrew after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973 . But fighting between North and South continued until April 1975 , when communist forces took over the South 's capital of Saigon , now known as Ho Chi Minh City . The 1954-1975 Vietnam War cost about 2 million Vietnamese military and civilian lives , the deaths of 55,000 U.S. troops , and about 6,000 service personnel from South Korea , the Philippines , Thailand , Australia and New Zealand . Reflecting on the Dien Bien Phu victory , Giap told CNN in 2004 that the Vietnamese could never be slaves to anyone else . `` Nothing is more precious than freedom , '' Giap said . U.S. Sen. John McCain , who as a Navy pilot was held prisoner by the North Vietnamese for more than five years after his plane was shot down , marked Giap 's death on Twitter Friday . `` Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap has passed away -- brilliant military strategist who once told me that we were an 'honorable enemy , ' '' McCain tweeted .
Man who helped form Vo Nguyen Giap rebels into an army reportedly dies . Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap was 102 . Giap masterminded siege of Dien Bien Phu , which led to American withdrawal . Giap also commanded U.S communist forces against North and South , North Vietnam 's .