Celebrity Death Thread

[Drew]

RIP Mr. Clancy.

[Tony G]

Legendary Vietnamese general Vo Nguyen Giap dies at 102

By CNN Staff
updated 11:52 PM EDT, Fri October 4, 2013


Vietnamese Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap dies




STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Man who helped form Ho Chi Minh's rebels into an army reportedly dies
• Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap was 102
• Giap masterminded siege of Dien Bien Phu, which led to French withdrawal
• Giap also commanded North Vietnam's communist forces against South, U.S.

(CNN) -- 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.
Photos: People we lost in 2013


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.

[Malto Marko]

Hmmmmmmm.

What is an honorable enemy?

[Tony G]

It's something men that have fought over the same ground and known the great loss of combat can share. Look up Sherman and Joe Johnston if you want an example

[DanO]

Good example, Tony.

[Panoptes]

Forgive me if this was previously posted but DEB just posted this in another thread and I found it to be a confirmation of what I feared for some time.

He was not a hollywood celeb but he was was known by this forum.

RIP MR. BOULDIN, you have been and will now forever be missed:

Jerry Dale Bouldin, 53, Daytona Beach, passed away September 1, 2009

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/news-journalonline/obituary.aspx?pid=132257403#fbLoggedOut

pands

Funny how photos rarely match the on-line persona. I imagined JB as burly, cigar chomping biker dude seeing how he routinely posted about riding his bike and chewing on cigars.

[Drew]

Wow, RIP Jerry. We suspected something had happened to you.

[YT]

RIP Jerry!

When you get to heaven look for all the other Lions fans that have gone before. They'll have a cold beer ready for you!

[DeanUK]

R.I.P. Astronaut Scott Carpenter

US Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter dies at 88

US astronaut Scott Carpenter, one of the last surviving members of America's original space programme, Mercury, has died aged 88, his family has announced.

In 1962 Mr Carpenter became the second American to orbit the earth, piloting the Aurora 7 spacecraft through three revolutions of the earth.

After retiring in 1969 he took up oceanographic activities.

John Glenn, who flew the first orbital mission, is the last surviving member of the Mercury team.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24485864

[YT]

That sucks.

RIP Commander Carpenter

[Drew]

RIP to a pioneer!

[YT]

Carpenter kind of got a raw deal from Chris Craft after his flight.

Craft felt Carpenter screwed the pooch during the flight, as they had given Carpenter too many experiments to conduct and some didn't get done and the capsule landed off-target. Turns out it was a targeting error that caused the problem. But Carpenter was to blame in Craft's eyes.

Craft, who at the time held more power than God, reputedly said that he (Carpenter) would never fly another mission as long as he was in charge. And he didn't.

[Tony G]

That's different than what Wolfe says in The Right Stuff. Where did you learn that?

[DeanUK]

According to Gene Kranz (In his book "Failure is not an Option"), Kraft thought Carpenters control techniques wasted fuel. Kranz felt that they (the ground crew) were not forceful enough in ensuring checklists were carried out on time after Carpenter was distracted by taking pictures of "fireflies" he also felt that they had introduced too many experiments also. Carpenter didn't endear himself to some (John Llewellyn mainly) when, after overshooting the landing spot, he said "I didn't know where I was and they didn't either!"

[Tony G]

Thanks Dean!