Editing Trần Văn Trà (section)

==Early life==
The son of a bricklayer, Trần Văn Trà was born in [[Quảng Ngãi]] Province in 1918.<ref>Spencer C. Tucker The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History. Oxford University Press, USA (November 1, 2001) p175 "Trần Văn Trà", also 2011 - Page 1140 "Trần Văn Trà, whose true name was Nguyễn Chấn, was born to middle-class parents in 1918 in Quang Ngai, ..."</ref> He joined the [[Indochinese Communist Party]] in 1938 and spent the years of the Second World War in a French prison. Between 1946 and 1954, Trà fought against the French in the [[Vietnam People's Army]] and became a general in 1961, commanding communist forces in the southern half of [[South Vietnam]]. During the days of The [[First Indochina War]] with the French, the [[Viet Minh]] recruited more than 600 defeated Japanese soldiers to fight with them.

In June 1946, some of these Japanese followers became instructors in a military school set up by the Viet Minh in Quang Ngai Province, Trà's birthplace, to teach fighting skills to more than 400 Vietnamese trainees. It is not known if Trà was one of the organisers or attendees at this military training school. He was Commander of [[7th Military Region (Vietnam People's Army)|7th Military Region]] (1949-1950) and Vice Commander of [[Cochinchina]] (1951-1954).