Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Van Tuong Victory

On the morning of August 18th, Quang Ngai province solemnly held a ceremony to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Van Tuong Victory (August 18, 1965 – August 18, 2025).

Mr. U Huan, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Quang Ngai Provincial Party Committee, delivered a speech, recalling the glorious history of the Van Tuong Victory Battle.

Mr. U Huan, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Quang Ngai Provincial Party Committee, delivered a speech at the ceremony. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Sixty years ago, on August 18, 1965, the US military mobilized a force of 8,000 troops, including the 3rd Marine Division and South Vietnamese soldiers, using more than 100 helicopters, 70 jet aircraft, 6 landing ships, 5 gunboats, 44 artillery pieces, and hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles to launch an operation codenamed "Operation Starlight" into the Van Tuong area.

Overview of the celebration. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

To counterattack, our forces deployed 1,500 troops stationed in the area, including the Ba Gia Regiment, Company 21, Company 31 of local troops, and guerrilla forces. For a full day and night, the army and people of Quang Ngai fought fiercely, demonstrating the strength of people's war, a comprehensive and all-encompassing struggle, completely defeating the American offensive, eliminating 919 enemy soldiers, damaging 22 tanks and armored vehicles, shooting down 13 aircraft, and destroying many enemy war materials.

The victory at Van Tuong became a glorious milestone, marking the beginning of the "Seek out the Americans to fight, seek out the puppets to destroy" movement across the battlefields of Southern Vietnam.

Major General Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Commander of Military Region 5, delivers a speech. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Major General Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Commander of Military Region 5, affirmed: "The victory at Van Tuong proved that our army and people are fully capable of defeating the modern, elite American army, even under conditions where they have a numerical advantage, strong firepower, and rapid mobility."

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Victory at Van Tuong, in this solemn and sacred moment, the Party Committee and people of Quang Ngai province express their profound respect and boundless gratitude to the glorious Communist Party of Vietnam and the great President Ho Chi Minh for outlining the people's war strategy, creating the invincible strength of the Vietnamese revolution.

We pay tribute to the noble sacrifices of the heroic martyrs, comrades, and compatriots who fell to make the historic Battle of Van Tuong possible.

Delegates lay flowers and offer incense at the Van Tuong Martyrs' Cemetery in Van Tuong commune, Quang Ngai province. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Brave soldiers

Visiting the Van Tuong Victory Museum, People's Armed Forces Hero Ngo Thanh Trang (85 years old), former guerrilla commander of Binh Dong commune (now Van Tuong commune), was moved to see the black and white photos, one with the caption "Hero Ngo Thanh Trang - Guerrilla commander of Binh Dong commune, Binh Son district (now Van Tuong commune), together with his comrades, eliminated 25 enemy soldiers in a reconnaissance raid by a US Marine battalion with armored vehicles from Chu Lai base into the Van Tuong area."

The photo, with a caption about the Battle of Van Tuong, includes Hero Ngo Thanh Trang (second from the right). Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Hero of the People's Armed Forces Ngo Thanh Trang shared: "What we had at that time was patriotism and the belief that we could protect every inch of our homeland. Many of our comrades did not return, but the Victory at Van Tuong will live on forever."

Veterans light incense to commemorate their fallen comrades.

The Ngoc Huong red earth hill relic site is located within the Van Tuong Victory relic complex. On August 18, 1965, the 2nd Platoon of the 2nd Company, 60th Battalion, 1st Regiment, fought valiantly here, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, forcing them to retreat to the foot of the hill and eliminating approximately 80 enemy soldiers.

Nguyen Thanh Phuong, former deputy platoon leader of the fire support platoon, Company 21, Quang Ngai Provincial Military Command, recounted: "We waited until the enemy was very close before opening fire, turning a passive situation into an active one, then engaging in hand-to-hand combat to annihilate the enemy infantry."

Veteran Trinh Phu Thien, Deputy Squad Leader, 81st Mortar Battalion, 1st Regiment, Ba Gia Brigade, was a direct participant in the Battle of Van Tuong. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Veteran Trinh Phu Thien, Deputy Squad Leader, 81st Mortar Battalion, 1st Regiment, Ba Gia Regiment, who directly participated in the Quang Ngai battlefield and the Van Tuong battle, shared: “I still vividly remember those days in mid-August – amidst the scorching summer sun of Quang Ngai, we soldiers, most of us very young, carrying unwavering faith in the Party and in the reunification of the country, fought with all our courage and the spirit of ‘fighting to the death for the Fatherland’.”

Major General Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Commander of Military Region 5, shared: “In this battle, Regiment 1 closely coordinated with local armed forces and the people, making maximum use of the terrain of the villages, the system of trenches, fortifications, and bamboo ramparts to hold their ground. The troops proactively engaged in close combat, hand-to-hand fighting, and fought independently in each unit, maintaining the secrecy of their formations. Wherever the enemy advanced, we resolutely blocked them. After a day of fierce fighting, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy, by dawn on August 19, our forces secretly withdrew from Van Tuong in a proactive position.”

The victory at Van Tuong has gone down in the nation's history as a glorious achievement in the resistance war against the US, saving the country. The Van Tuong Victory Monument was classified as a national historical monument by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in 1982. The Van Tuong Victory Monument complex consists of 8 points, including: Ngoc Huong red earth hill, Loc Tu trench, Ngoc Huong thatched hill, Chuoi hamlet intersection, Bang hill, An Cuong beach, Phuoc Thien beach, and the Command Post of the 1st Regiment of the Liberation Army.

>>Many images and artifacts related to the Battle of Van Tuong. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

The map recreates the battle that led to the Victory at Van Tuong.

The wing of an American helicopter was shot down by our troops at Phuoc Thien beach, Binh Hai commune, now Van Tuong commune, Quang Ngai province, during the Van Tuong battle.

The bomb used by the Americans in the Battle of Van Tuong.

The hull of a burnt-out American tank, destroyed by our troops, in the trenches of Loc Tu village.

The wing of an American helicopter was shot down by our troops at Phuoc Thien beach during the Van Tuong battle.

Artifacts such as American soldiers' water bottles and steel helmets from the Battle of Van Tuong are on display.

The Van Tuong Victory Museum currently displays 132 photographic documents, 56 artifacts, and numerous other documents about the battles that led to the Van Tuong Victory.

NGUYEN TRANG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/ky-niem-60-nam-chien-thang-van-tuong-post808919.html