Celebrating the 78th anniversary of the provincial armed forces' traditional day (August 25, 1945)

Proud of glorious tradition

The tradition of the provincial armed forces is closely linked to an important historical event of the Vietnamese revolution. History records that at 2:30 p.m. on August 25, 1945, about 5,000 people from the meeting points at the train stations marched past the provincial governor's palace (the provincial court) and then headed to the stadium, in bright flag colors and filled with joy and excitement. Among thousands of people, a neat team stood out, wearing uniforms, with grass-colored berets, a five-pointed star in the middle, guns firmly in hand, and radiant faces - that was the liberation army, the people's army, the armed forces of the revolution, and August 25, 1945 became the traditional day of the Binh Thuan provincial armed forces.

The Provincial Military Command and a working delegation from the Military Region 7 Command inspected the preparation for training new soldiers at the 812th Infantry Regiment.

During the resistance war against the French colonialists, the provincial armed forces fought, built up their forces and matured rapidly. The province's concentrated forces were built up to the regimental level; local district troops and commune guerrillas developed widely throughout the province. In particular, in 1952, the special forces were formed, with secret, daring fighting styles, penetrating deeply, hitting hard, and attacking dangerously, making the enemy terrified. It can be said that during the 9 years of resistance war against the French colonialists, almost no enemy stronghold or outpost in Binh Thuan was not attacked and destroyed by our armed forces. The victories at Lau Ong Hoang, Duong, Camp E se pic, Muong Man, Nga Hai, Song Quao, Suoi Kiet, Thach Long, Mui Ne, Tanh Linh, La Day, Gia Bat,... are powerful evidences of the steadfast and brave fighting spirit and the flexibility and creativity in applying combat methods to destroy the enemy of the provincial armed forces. The more we fight, the more we win, the more we mature, and the more we fight, they will forever be imprinted in the memories of the cadres, soldiers and people of Binh Thuan.

During the 5 years from 1960 to 1965, the provincial armed forces were constantly consolidated, built and developed, organized many battles in the province, destroyed a part of the enemy's forces, destroyed hamlets to open liberated areas, contributed to the failure of the enemy's strategic hamlet policy, defeated the special war strategy of the US - puppet. In 1965, the Command of the Armed Forces of South Vietnam presented a flag to the provincial armed forces with the words "Self-reliance, self-strengthening, heroic fighting, glorious victory" - that is also the tradition of the provincial armed forces. After the liberation day, the provincial armed forces actively participated in the task of military management, protecting the coast and islands, promoting production to improve people's lives. In compliance with the directive from above, a number of units of the provincial armed forces participated in the fight to protect the southwestern border and help the Cambodian people escape the brutal genocidal regime. After 10 years of performing international duties to help Cambodia, the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers of the provincial armed forces have overcome hardships and difficulties, fought thousands of large and small battles with the friendly country, both fighting the enemy to protect the people and saving the people from hunger and pain. During that process, many comrades heroically sacrificed for the people and the friendly country. With the achievements in the resistance war and in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland, on December 20, 1979, the army and people of Binh Thuan province were awarded the title "Hero of the People's Armed Forces"by the President . All of them have enhanced the precious tradition of "Self-reliance, self-strengthening, heroic fighting, glorious victory".

In March 2023, two provincial 76.2 mm artillery militia companies stationed in Tuy Phong and Ham Tan districts were established with the core tasks of training, combat readiness and protecting the safety of defense areas.

Two strategic missions

78 years of construction, fighting, winning and growing up, a journey full of difficulties, hardships, sacrifices, losses, but also countless glories. Under the direct leadership and direction of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Committee, the Military Region 7 Command and the love, nurturing and protection of the people, the Binh Thuan Provincial Armed Forces have continuously grown and developed in all aspects. In the current period, the Provincial Party Committee and Military Command always focus on thoroughly grasping the guidelines and policies of the Party and State, striving to perform well the advisory function for local Party committees and authorities to lead and direct the implementation of local military and defense work; build a national defense foundation, build a solid defense zone.

In addition, the provincial armed forces also performed well in mass mobilization work, participated in economic, cultural and social development, helped people eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, implemented well social policies, military rear policies, and built a strong political base in the locality. Notably, the emulation movement "Provincial armed forces join hands for the poor - leaving no one behind" and the model "Provincial armed forces strengthen solidarity with ethnic groups and religions", contributing to stabilizing and improving people's lives... In particular, when the Covid-19 epidemic broke out strongly, threatening the health and lives of people, with the spirit of "fighting the epidemic like fighting the enemy", the provincial armed forces mobilized thousands of officers, soldiers, and militiamen to directly participate in the task of epidemic prevention and control, leaving many good feelings in the hearts of the people.

With the qualities and traditions of "Uncle Ho's soldiers", the glorious tradition and the noble title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces conferred by the Party and the State, in the coming time, the cadres and soldiers of the provincial armed forces are determined to excellently fulfill the assigned tasks; continue to build a comprehensively strong provincial armed forces, contributing to the successful implementation of two strategic tasks: building and defending the Fatherland of Vietnam in the new situation. In that spirit, in the coming time, the provincial armed forces will focus on building a clean and strong Party organization; well implement the Central Resolution 4 "Some urgent issues on Party building today" in conjunction with Directive 05 of the Politburo on promoting the study and following of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style and the Campaign "Promoting tradition, dedicating talent, worthy of being Uncle Ho's soldiers", building comprehensively strong agencies and units "Exemplary, typical".

At the same time, heighten vigilance against the plots and sabotage tricks of hostile forces; improve the quality of training tasks, combat readiness according to the motto "Basic, practical, solid", synchronous, specialized, close to the combat object, close to the characteristics and situation of the base area; master and exploit well the newly equipped weapons. Perform well the civil defense tasks, focusing on improving the capacity to prevent and overcome the consequences of natural disasters, epidemics, catastrophes, search and rescue. At the same time, proactively propagate and raise the awareness of revolutionary vigilance and sovereignty over seas and islands for all classes of people; well implement the democratic regulations at the grassroots level and ethnic and religious work, actively contributing to building a solid "people's heart position"...

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