The aspiration for independence and freedom is the source of victory.

April 30, 1975, was a glorious historical day for the Vietnamese nation when the Ho Chi Minh Campaign liberated Saigon-Gia Dinh, completely liberating the South and unifying the country. From this point on, Vietnam was united after 30 years of division.

1. It seems history chose the moment at 5:50 PM on April 14, 1975, when the Politburo of the Central Committee of our Party decided to "agree that the campaign to liberate Saigon should be named the Ho Chi Minh Campaign" - a campaign named after our beloved Uncle Ho.

Uncle Ho embodied the eternal aspiration for independence and freedom of the Vietnamese people. At that moment on April 30, 1975, every main army corps, every single soldier of the swift and daring liberation army, rushing forward to liberate the South, carried within them Uncle Ho's command: "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom." That will amplified the strength of the entire nation in the final battle to complete the reunification of the country.

In this battle, the main army corps advanced swiftly amidst the roar of tank tracks, the special forces regiments silently marched forward, and patriotic masses poured into the streets, seemingly echoing in the powerful beat of their hearts the declaration of Ly Thuong Kiet on the day of the decisive battle against the Song invaders (1077): “The rivers and mountains of the South belong to the Southern king / Clearly defined in the book of heaven / Why do the invaders dare to trespass? / You will be utterly defeated.”

And they also carried in their hearts Nguyen Trai's "Proclamation of Victory over the Wu": "One battle, completely annihilated the enemy / Two battles, scattered like birds and beasts." The will for national liberation, the will for independence and freedom for the country, inherited from their ancestors, in the historic moment of April 30th, was passed through the hearts of the soldiers, becoming the strength to win on the path to liberation.

The aspiration and will for independence and freedom of the Vietnamese people have always flowed in the veins of every citizen, nurtured and passed down from generation to generation throughout a thousand years of history. This unwavering will and fine tradition were cultivated, developed, and disseminated by President Ho Chi Minh , encapsulated in a truth with a special appeal: "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom."

From the depths of slavery, that aspiration spurred the young Nguyen Tat Thanh to cross the seas and travel across five continents in search of a path to national salvation. Returning to his homeland to lead the revolution after 30 years, one night in early July 1945, at the Na Nua hut ( Tuyen Quang ), President Ho Chi Minh, while seriously ill, spoke to Comrade Vo Nguyen Giap with immense weight, a command as sharp as a knife cutting through stone: “Now the opportune moment has arrived. No matter the sacrifice, even if we have to burn down the entire Truong Son mountain range, we must resolutely fight to achieve independence.”

That sacred aspiration served as a rallying cry, calling on the entire nation to rise up simultaneously in a earth-shattering general uprising to drive out the French colonialists and Japanese fascists, abolish the thousand-year-old feudal regime, and establish the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with President Ho Chi Minh's powerful Declaration of Independence: “Vietnam has the right to enjoy freedom and independence and is truly a free and independent nation. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to dedicate all their spirit and strength, lives and property to safeguard that right to freedom and independence.”

And from September 2nd, 1945, a new sovereign nation was born. The name Democratic Republic of Vietnam was established along with the unchanging motto "Independence - Freedom - Happiness"!

The aspiration and will for independence and freedom of the Vietnamese people have always flowed in the veins of every citizen, nurtured and passed down from generation to generation throughout a thousand years of history. This unwavering will and fine tradition were cultivated, developed, and disseminated by President Ho Chi Minh, encapsulated in a truth with a special appeal: "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom."

In the campaign to liberate Saigon-Gia Dinh, known today as the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, in every gunshot, in every soldier who fell before the day of complete victory, the indomitable will of our nation, embodied in President Ho Chi Minh's Call for National Resistance on December 19, 1946, was evident: "We would rather sacrifice everything than lose our country, than be enslaved."

Surely, at this very moment, countless mothers in the "long-haired army," countless guerrilla soldiers, countless patriotic citizens rising up and taking to the streets to coordinate with the army in the attack still carry with them the heartfelt call of Uncle Ho in 1946: "The people of Southern Vietnam are citizens of Vietnam. Rivers may dry up, mountains may wear away, but that truth will never change."

2. The will for independence and freedom of the nation, of President Ho Chi Minh, not only manifested itself in leading the victory in the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign. That will burned brightly, becoming a miraculous force for victory throughout the 30 years of the nation's march to repel foreign invaders. That will multiplied the invincible strength of the entire people in driving out the French colonial invaders during the nine-year protracted resistance war, achieving the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954, a victory that "shook the world and resonated across five continents."

For 21 long years afterward, the will to achieve independence, freedom, liberation of the South, and national reunification constantly motivated the actions of every patriotic Vietnamese. The will for independence and freedom became a shining truth, a powerful and righteous force, like the most advanced weapon of the era, as exemplified by President Ho Chi Minh's call to arms against the US and for national salvation on July 17, 1966: “The war may last 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, or even longer. Hanoi, Hai Phong, and some cities and factories may be destroyed, but the Vietnamese people are not afraid! Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom. On the day of victory, our people will rebuild our country in a more dignified and beautiful way!”

That appeal, published in the Nhan Dan newspaper and broadcast on the Voice of Vietnam radio station, served as a rallying cry, a vivid expression of the indomitable spirit of a peace-loving nation that refused to kneel and bow its head when its country was lost, its homes destroyed, its right to self-determination violated, and the independence and freedom of the Fatherland and its people challenged by bombs and bullets of tyrannical power.

Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom; that will, that unwavering determination, became the immense strength that defeated the belligerent armies of the US and its allies, and defeated the US Air Force's intention to carpet-bomb with B52s, with the belligerent declaration of "sending North Vietnam back to the Stone Age."

In the gentle melody of a Hanoi child mourning her mother, echoing through the night as our missiles soared into the sky, destroying B52s and protecting Hanoi, the burning will for independence and freedom blazed. In the mourning veil of a young militiawoman, suppressing the pain of her lover's sacrifice on the battlefield, she aimed her gun at the enemy and fired, the bullet tracing the trajectory of independence and freedom…

The campaign to liberate and unify the country, named after Ho Chi Minh, was a campaign that multiplied the strength of the will to achieve independence, freedom, and the lofty humanism of the entire nation, of which Uncle Ho was the embodiment of truth.

In the final moments of the liberation war, the nation's will for independence and freedom, the truth that "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom," the truth that "The people of Southern Vietnam are citizens of Vietnam...", and that no force can separate North and South, as exemplified by President Ho Chi Minh, had the power to persuade those on the other side to lay down their weapons, contributing to the preservation of Saigon and making the overall victory of the nation even more complete.

That's why, right at the moment of the complete liberation of South Vietnam, the highest leaders of the Vietnamese Party and State declared this a common victory for the Vietnamese nation!

Yes, it was also a shared victory of the aspirations and will for independence and freedom of the Vietnamese people! From this victory, unified Vietnam entered a new era of peace, building an independent, free, and happy nation.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/khat-vong-doc-lap-tu-do-coi-nguon-chien-thang-post870609.html