He continued to serve under the French during World War II until Vietnam surrendered to Japan. At that point he joined a resistance group which was soon quashed. The young officer was taken prisoner for two months and tortured, having half of his teeth knocked out. For the rest of his life, his gold tooth-lined grin would be his trademark. Standing 5 foot 10 inches tall and athletic, he developed a pronounced stoop, supposedly from constantly leaning over to talk to his shorter companions. Minh was known fondly as "Beo" (fat boy) to his fellow soldiers. Americans later dubbed him "Big Minh" to distinguish him from another South Vietnamese official by the same name.
After his release by the Japanese, Minh returned immediately to the French, but was imprisoned for joining the resistance. He was jailed for an additional three months, this time in a crowded dark cell with no toilet. Driven nearly to insanity by the subhuman prison conditions, Minh won his freedom with the help of another prisoner, Nguyen Ngoc Tho, who would later become the premier of his country.
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