Vietnam buries hero general

Vietnamese people lined the streets in their thousands for the funeral of the general they consider a national legend.

Vo Nguyen Giap died ten days earlier at the age of 102.

He's hailed as the mastermind behind the defeat of Vietnam's French colonial rulers in 1954.

Two decades later he forced the retreat of the U.S. from what was then South Vietnam.

And when China invaded in 1978 Giap helped organise the defence, driving back the Chinese with heavy losses.

But then he fell from favour.

He was replaced as defence minister two years later, and dropped from the powerful polituburo two years after that.

But that hasn't dented his standing, second only to Ho Chi Minh who led Vietnam's fight against colonialism.

(SOUNDBITE)(Vietnamese) RETIRED TEACHER PHAN THI XUAN SAYING:

"Uncle Ho and Uncle Giap are the people I will never forget. They are the ones who sacrificed for others but did not have anything for themselves."

Giap was bur