Hero Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap laid to rest in Da Nang
A memorial service was held in central Da Nang city on August 2 for Hero of the People’s Armed Forces Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap, a man who held Greek and Vietnamese nationalities and joined the Vietnamese people in the resistance war against the French colonialists.
Remains of Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap is laid in state at the funeral house of Military Region 5 in Da Nang city on August 2. (Photo: VNA)
Da Nang (VNA) – A memorial service was held in central Da Nang city on August 2 for Hero of the People’sArmed Forces Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap, a man who held Greek andVietnamese nationalities and joined the Vietnamese people in the resistance waragainst the French colonialists.
Representatives from the Ministry ofForeign Affairs, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the GeneralDepartment of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army, Military Region 5, the DaNang administration, along with local people came to pay tribute to the deceased who passed away in Athens on June 25, 2021, at the age of 94.
Maj. Gen.Truong Thien To, Deputy Political Commissar of Military Region 5, said Kostas Nguyen Van Lap was born in Greece buthe spent his entire youth living and fighting besides his comrades in Vietnam which became his homeland.
The death of the revolutionary soldierhas left a great grief to his family, friends, as well as comrades and peoplein Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Party and State have lost an exemplary “Uncle Ho” soldier who made enormous contributions to thenational liberation, construction and defence, To added.
At his and his family's wish, the hero’s remains were brought to Vietnam.
Comrades of Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap pay tribute to him at the funeral on August 2. (Photo: VNA)
Born in 1927, Kostas Sarantidis -Nguyen Van Lap was forced to serve as a soldier for Nazi Germany in 1943. He wassent to the foreign legion of France after the Second World War ended.
In February 1946, he was brought toVietnam as a soldier in the French army. However, witnessing the Frenchcolonialists’ barbaric crimes against Vietnamese people and realising the justnature of the fight against France, in June 1946, he fled from the French army to a liberated area in Binh Thuan province and joined the Viet Minhforce in the resistance war. Since then, he became a friend and a comrade ofVietnamese people who called him by the name Kostas Nguyen Van Lap.
He was repeatedly honoured by the Vietnamese Party and State, including the first-class FeatOrder, the Friendship Order, the third-class Victory Order, and thesecond-class Resistance Order. In particular, he was granted the Vietnamesenationality in 2010 and then the "Hero of the People’s Armed Forces" title in2013, becoming the first and only foreigner to be bestowed with this title sofar.
After the memorial service, remains ofKostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap were buried at the cemetery of MilitaryRegion 5 in Da Nang city./.
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and former President Nguyen Minh Triet on June 26 sent profound condolences over the Hero of People's Armed Forces Kostas Sarantidis passing.
Head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung, on behalf of the leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam, sent a letter of condolences to the Communist Party of Greece over the death of Greek Hero of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces Kostas Sarantidis whose Vietnamese name is Nguyen Van Lap.
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Remains of Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap is laid in state at the funeral house of Military Region 5 in Da Nang city on August 2. (Photo: VNA) 
Comrades of Kostas Sarantidis - Nguyen Van Lap pay tribute to him at the funeral on August 2. (Photo: VNA) 
