70TH ANNIVERSARY OF DIEN BIEN PHU VICTORY (May 7, 1954 - May 7, 2024): Majestic Dien Bien Phu

Under the wise leadership of the Party Central Committee, headed by President Ho Chi Minh , 70 years ago, our army and people achieved the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu, which "resounded throughout the five continents and shook the world" and was recorded in the history of the nation as a Bach Dang, a Chi Lang or a Dong Da of the 20th century.

In contrast to the image of the French army's defeat is the image of our army rising up to capture the Dien Bien Phu stronghold, and the highlight is the "Determined to Fight, Determined to Win" flag of the Vietnam People's Army flying on the roof of General De Castries' bunker - the Dien Bien Phu campaign was victorious. Photo: Nhandan.vn

In mid-April, we, along with hundreds of Dien Bien soldiers, youth volunteers, former frontline workers, and many generals, returned to heroic Dien Bien to attend the National Scientific Conference with the theme "Dien Bien Phu Victory and the Cause of Building and Protecting the Socialist Republic of Vietnam".

• THE WHOLE COUNTRY IS UNITE, THE WHOLE PEOPLE FIGHT THE ENEMY

In November 1953, French paratroopers landed in Muong Thanh valley, occupied Dien Bien Phu and built Dien Bien Phu into an unprecedentedly strong base in Indochina with 3 sub-regions, divided into 8 clusters, and 49 fortified bases. On December 6, 1953, the Politburo decided to launch the Dien Bien Phu campaign under the code name Tran Dinh, unanimously approving the combat plan of the General Military Commission. With the highest determination, we devoted all our human and material resources to the Dien Bien Phu campaign. Many classes of people enthusiastically set out to participate in the historic campaign.

70 years have passed, but whenever mentioning the Dien Bien Phu campaign, veterans who directly participated in the campaign cannot help but be proud of their emotional memories. In the poem “Hooray for Dien Bien soldiers”, poet To Huu fully depicted the hardship and heroism: “Fifty-six days and nights of digging mountains, sleeping in tunnels, pouring rain, rice balls/ Blood mixed with mud/ Lives not shaken/ Will not worn out!/ Comrades buried their bodies as gun mounts/ Heads covered with loopholes/ Crossing the barbed wire mountains/ Stormy and fierce/ Comrades pressed their backs to save the artillery/ Their bodies crushed, eyes closed, still holding...”.

Colonel Nguyen Huu Tai, 96 years old, former Political Commissar of Regiment 209, Division 312 during the Dien Bien Phu campaign, sadly said: Many of my commanders and comrades are no longer here. They fought bravely, sacrificed and remained forever on this historic land. "If during the Tran Dynasty, the two words "Sat That" were tattooed on the arms of soldiers before going into battle to repel the invaders, then during the Ho Chi Minh era, we wrote the words "Quyet chien, quyet thang" on the butts of our guns and on the brims of our hats to fight the enemy," said Mr. Tai.

In preparation for the Dien Bien Phu campaign, with the spirit of “the whole country going to war”, according to Colonel, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Sau - Deputy Director of the Institute of Military History, throughout the Northwest, people of the Thai, Muong, Mong, Dao, Ha Nhi ethnic groups... competed to serve the campaign. Many families collected the last seeds of rice, or skipped meals, ate cassava, sweet potatoes to save rice for the campaign. Throughout the country, many women listened to the Party's call, regardless of hardship and danger, eagerly set out, opened roads, carried rice, provided food, and transported the wounded. With determination and courage, with close solidarity, tens of thousands of frontline laborers, youth volunteers, and engineering troops worked day and night, so in just over 3 months (from December 1953 to early March 1954), we completed the repair and opening of Route 41, Route 13, and the road from Tuan Giao to Dien Bien Phu with a total length of about 300 km. During the entire Dien Bien Phu campaign, the people of the whole country "contributed 25,560 tons of rice, 226 tons of salt, 1,909 tons of food, 26,453 laborers, 20,991 bicycles, 1,800 bamboo panels, 756 rudimentary vehicles, 914 pack horses... with the spirit of "the whole country is one, the whole people fight the enemy".

In early March 1954, the time for preparing all aspects for the attack on the Dien Bien Phu stronghold with the motto "fight firmly, advance firmly" was completed. On the battlefield, we launched three attacks on Dien Bien Phu. On March 13, 1954, the first phase of the campaign was officially opened with the battle to destroy the Him Lam stronghold cluster in the outer ring of the Northern Sector of the stronghold. The second phase took place on March 30, 1954, attacking the central sector. The third phase of the campaign took place from May 1 and ended on May 7, 1954, capturing the eastern strongholds and launching a general attack to destroy the entire Dien Bien Phu stronghold.

After 56 days and nights of fighting, hardships and sacrifices, our army and people destroyed the entire Dien Bien Phu stronghold with: Over 21 battalions and 10 companies, including more than 16,000 elite enemy troops, including all of their command agencies at the Dien Bien Phu stronghold, including 1 major general, 16 cadres, 1,749 officers and non-commissioned officers; shot down and destroyed 62 aircraft of all types, captured all weapons, warehouses, ammunition, military uniforms and equipment.

Take good care of families of the meritorious

At the meeting to pay tribute to Dien Bien soldiers, Youth Volunteers, and frontline workers who directly participated in the Dien Bien Phu campaign, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that we will never forget the heroic, intelligent, and creative examples that have made our nation's passionate patriotic tradition famous, such as heroes To Vinh Dien, Phan Dinh Giot, Be Van Dan..., along with thousands and thousands of soldiers and compatriots who were resilient, brave, and not afraid of sacrifice and hardship with the spirit of "determined to die for the Fatherland to live".

The Prime Minister requested all levels, sectors and localities to continue to further promote the care of war invalids, sick soldiers, families of martyrs and people with meritorious services to the revolution, ensuring that people with meritorious services and their families have a living standard of average or higher in the area; and that no person with meritorious services is left without preferential policies of the Party, State and People.

• THE Epochal Significance of the Dien Bien Phu Victory

In the poem “Hooray for the Dien Bien Soldiers”, poet To Huu wrote: “On Pha Din slope, you carry the load, I carry it/ On Lung Lo pass, you sing and call/ Though bombs and bullets shatter bones, flesh and bones are torn/ My heart is not discouraged, I do not regret my youth...”.

Please engrave in your heart the merits of the wounded soldiers, sick soldiers, youth volunteers, and frontline laborers who did not fear difficulties and hardships, rushing into the fire and smoke of the battlefield. Comrade Do Van Chien - Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, affirmed that we will forever be grateful for the efforts of the people in all parts of the country with more than 240,000 people directly participating in the Dien Bien campaign with the slogan "all for the front, all for victory". How can we forget the more than 30,000 bicycles in the campaign that transported more than 23,000 tons of rice, 266 tons of salt, nearly 2,000 tons of food to the battlefield... How can we not be moved and choked up when Mr. Trinh Dinh Bam in Dinh Lien commune, Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province, who was poor and did not have a bicycle, made a wheelbarrow to go as a laborer. Still missing a wheel, he informed his ancestors, removed the altar to complete the cart to go to Dien Bien to transport goods to serve the battlefield. "Our ancestors used bones to make bricks, used blood to make mortar, to build the citadel of the Vietnamese Fatherland. Generations of Vietnamese people must not forget that for even a moment" - said comrade Do Van Chien.

The Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front affirmed that our Fatherland, our People, and our descendants will forever be grateful to the heroes, martyrs, and the nation's outstanding children who sacrificed their youth "to die for the Fatherland and live". After 70 years, the blood and bones of the soldiers have been turned into the sacred land of the Northwest, Dien Bien, so that today the country can blossom with independence, bear fruit of freedom, and the People can live in peace, prosperity, and happiness.

General Luong Cuong - Member of the Politburo, Standing Member of the Central Military Commission, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, affirmed that the Dien Bien Phu victory opened a new page in human history, encouraging and motivating oppressed peoples to rise up and fight for self-liberation; marking the complete collapse of old colonialism on a global scale, just as President Ho Chi Minh once assessed the victory of the Dien Bien Phu campaign: It was a great victory of our people, but also a common victory of all oppressed peoples in the world.

Comrade Nguyen Trong Nghia - Secretary of the Party Central Committee - Head of the Central Propaganda Department, stated that the Dien Bien Phu victory "is recorded in the history of the nation as a Bach Dang, a Chi Lang or a Dong Da of the 20th century and goes down in world history as a brilliant feat of breaking through the stronghold of the colonial slavery system of imperialism", is the pioneering flag encouraging colonial peoples around the world to fight for independence and freedom. It is the victory of the strength of "the whole people fighting the enemy" under the talented and wise leadership of the Party, headed by the great President Ho Chi Minh; is a symbol of revolutionary heroism; represents the intelligence, bravery, and determination to fight and win for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland.

“70 years have passed, but the great stature and historical significance of the Dien Bien Phu victory still holds true, and is a great source of encouragement for all our people in the current cause of building and defending the Fatherland,” said comrade Nguyen Trong Nghia.

Source