The Greek was 16 when he was sent to the German army in 1943. After World War II, he could not return home for having no identity documents and later joined the French Foreign Legion and was mobilized to Indochina.  

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Kostas Sarantidis (right) meets with then Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh in 2018.

Since Sarantidis set foot on Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in 1946, he decided to follow the Viet Minh (the short name for Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh or Vietnam Independence League) as he had witnessed invaders’ crime to innocent Vietnamese and realized the aspirations of the Vietnamese revolution.

The soldier, with the Vietnamese name of Nguyen Van Lap, made various accomplishments during his service and was presented with awards from the Party and State.

He was honored with the Friendship Order and received Vietnamese citizenship in January 2011.

In 2013, Lap was awarded with the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces of Vietnam.

He lived with his family in Athens, Greece.

Source: VNA