On March 5, in Buon Ma Thuot City, the Ministry of National Defense coordinated with the Dak Lak Provincial Party Committee to organize a Ministry of National Defense-level scientific conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Central Highlands Victory (1975 - 2025), with the theme "The 1975 Central Highlands Victory and half a century of building and developing Dak Lak".

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Senior Lieutenant General Le Huy Vinh, Deputy Minister of National Defense, said that at the end of 1974, the war situation in Vietnam changed rapidly in a direction increasingly favorable to the revolution.

In late 1974 and early 1975, the expanded Politburo Conference resolved to "Mobilize the greatest efforts of the entire Party, the entire army, and the entire people in both the North and the South to launch an offensive and uprising to completely liberate the South in the two years 1975-1976"; at the same time, it affirmed that if the opportunity came, the South would be liberated immediately in 1975.

The Politburo approved the strategic combat plan drafted by the General Staff (after 8 revisions), and unanimously chose the Southern Central Highlands as the main direction of attack.

On January 9, 1975, the Central Military Commission Standing Committee met and decided to launch the Central Highlands Campaign, taking the Southern Central Highlands as the main direction of attack, with the key initial target being Buon Ma Thuot town. After a period of actively deploying preparations, conducting diversionary tactics and creating a situation, on March 4, 1975, the Central Highlands Campaign officially began...

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Senior Lieutenant General Le Huy Vinh, Deputy Minister of National Defense. Photo: Hai Duong
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Elephants transporting food for the 1975 campaign. Photo: archive

The victory of the Central Highlands Campaign shook the entire enemy defense system.

Senior Lieutenant General Le Huy Vinh emphasized that the sudden, daring, and brave attacks... our army and people successively destroyed the enemy's defense system, liberated Duc Lap and Buon Ma Thuot, defeated the enemy's counterattacks and liberated the entire Central Highlands and several provinces of the South Central Coast. In just a short period of time from March 4 to April 3, 1975, we destroyed and disintegrated the 2nd Army Corps - Military Region 2 of the Saigon army.

The victory of the Central Highlands Campaign shook the entire enemy defense system on the Southern battlefield, creating an unprecedented favorable position and force in the history of the resistance war against the US to save the country, directly paving the way to the day of total victory on April 30, 1975...

“This is also an opportunity for the army and people of Dak Lak to evaluate and look back on the path of building and developing the province after 50 years of the Central Highlands Victory, to propose new policies and solutions to build and develop a civilized, rich and unique Dak Lak province. At the same time, to foster the spirit of patriotism, the will to be self-reliant and self-reliant for generations of Vietnamese people today to build the country firmly forward into a new era...”, Deputy Minister Le Huy Vinh shared.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Trung, Secretary of Dak Lak Provincial Party Committee, affirmed that the 1975 Central Highlands victory and the Buon Ma Thuot victory are always the pride of the army and people of all ethnic groups in Buon Ma Thuot City, Dak Lak Province, and the people of the Central Highlands as well as the whole country.

"This is also an occasion to honor and show gratitude to the heroic martyrs, those who contributed their blood and sweat to the Central Highlands Victory and the cause of national liberation...", Mr. Trung said.