In this Vietnamese name, the surname is Văn, but is often simplified to Van in English-language text. In accordance with Vietnamese custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Dũng.
Born in Cổ Nhuế commune, Từ Liêm District, Hà Nội of Tonkin (French protectorate) to a craftsman family, Văn Tiến Dũng took part in some democracy movements and public struggles of Hà Nội workers since 1936, joined the Indochinese Communist Party in 1937. He was imprisoned by French colonial authorities three times and escaped from prisons successfully two times between 1939 and 1944.[2]
He commanded the vital Tri-Thien-Hue Front during the 1972 Easter Offensive, replacing his mentor as PAVN commander in chief in 1974, when the Vietnam War against the Americans and South Vietnamese evolved from a guerrilla struggle into a more conventional war. [4][5][6][7]
^"China "Should Learn from its Losses" in the War against Vietnam" from "August 1" Radio, People's republic of China, 1400 GMT, February 17, 1980, as reported by BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 22 February 1980
Van Tien Dung, Our Great Spring Victory: An Account of the Liberation of South Vietnam. Trans. by John Spragens, Jr. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1977.
Tobin, Thomas G., Arthur E. Laehr, and John F. Hilgenberg, Last Flight from Saigon. Maxwell Air Force Base AL: Air University Press, 1979.
Military History Institute of Vietnam (2002). Victory in Vietnam: A History of the People's Army of Vietnam, 1954–1975. Translated by Pribbenow, Merle. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press. ISBN978-0700611751.
