Solemnly organized the 80th Anniversary of the Founding of the Vietnam People's Army

General Secretary To Lam, Secretary of the Central Military Commission and other leaders and former leaders of the Party and State attended the ceremony.

Attending the ceremony were comrades: Former General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, former Secretary of the Central Military Commission; President Luong Cuong; former Presidents: Nguyen Minh Triet, Truong Tan Sang; Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh; former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung; National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man; former National Assembly Chairmen: Nguyen Van An, Nguyen Sinh Hung, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan; Politburo members: Tran Cam Tu, Standing member of the Secretariat, Chairman of the Central Inspection Committee; Do Van Chien, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; General Phan Van Giang, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defense.

Party and State leaders and former leaders attended the ceremony.

Attending the ceremony were former members of the Secretariat; Politburo members, former Politburo members; Party Central Committee Secretaries, former Party Central Committee Secretaries; General Pham Van Tra, former Politburo member, former Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Party Committee (now the Central Military Commission), former Minister of National Defense; General Ngo Xuan Lich, former Politburo member, former Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, former Minister of National Defense; leaders, former leaders of the Party and State; leaders, former leaders of the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security; representatives of central and local departments, ministries, branches; revolutionary veterans, heroic Vietnamese mothers, heroes of the people's armed forces, heroes of labor, generals of the people's armed forces, etc.

Leaders and former leaders of the Party, State and Army attended the celebration.

International delegates attended the celebration.

Delegates attending the celebration.

International delegates attending the ceremony included the Ministers of Defense of the People's Republic of China, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Cuba, the Kingdom of Thailand, Brunei, and Mongolia; leaders of the Ministries of Defense and the armies of the Russian Federation, India, the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, and the United States; diplomatic corps, military attaché corps, representatives of international organizations in Vietnam, and representatives of veterans of the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation who helped Vietnam in the resistance wars.

Some performances at the Anniversary Ceremony.

On this occasion, the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the National Assembly, the President, the Government, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, central ministries, branches and localities sent congratulatory flower baskets.

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary To Lam, Secretary of the Central Military Commission, read a commemorative speech.

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary To Lam, Secretary of the Central Military Commission, read a commemorative speech. Photo: Tuan Huy

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary To Lam respectfully sends his best regards and best wishes to the leaders and former leaders of the Party, State and Vietnam Fatherland Front; revolutionary veterans, heroic Vietnamese mothers, heroes of the People's Armed Forces, and labor heroes; war invalids, sick soldiers, families of martyrs, and people with meritorious services to the revolution; generals, officers, cadres and soldiers of the armed forces; delegates, distinguished guests, international friends, compatriots nationwide and overseas Vietnamese.

General Secretary To Lam's commemorative speech reviewed the heroic and glorious tradition of the Vietnam People's Army throughout 80 years of building, fighting, winning and growing.

Following the Directive of President Ho Chi Minh, on December 22, 1944, the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army - the predecessor of the Vietnam People's Army was established. Immediately after its establishment, with its ingenious, daring, surprising, and brilliant fighting style, the Army destroyed Phai Khat and Na Ngan forts in the first two opening battles, opening the tradition of "Determined to fight, Determined to win" of the Vietnam People's Army. After only 8 months, the Vietnam Liberation Army, together with local armed forces and people nationwide, carried out a General Uprising to seize power nationwide, successfully leading the August Revolution in 1945, seizing power for the people, establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam - the first people's democratic state in Southeast Asia, opening a new era in the history of the nation, the era of independence and freedom.

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary To Lam, Secretary of the Central Military Commission, read a commemorative speech. Photo: Tuan Huy

Under the leadership, education and training of our Party and President Ho Chi Minh; the nurturing, protection and shelter of the people, our Army has developed rapidly, continuously achieving outstanding feats. From the initial "senior army" with 34 soldiers, our Army has quickly developed into 6 infantry divisions, an artillery division and a number of main regiments, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, continuously winning major campaigns, the peak of which was the Dien Bien Phu victory, forcing the French colonialists to surrender. The army, which had just turned 10 years old, defeated a professional expeditionary army established in the 15th century. That affirmed the height of Vietnamese intelligence and Vietnamese military art, marking the remarkable development of the Vietnam People's Army.

Entering the period of building socialism in the North, creating a solid stronghold to carry out the people's national democratic revolution in the South; implementing the Party's policy: "actively building a strong people's army, gradually moving towards regularization and modernization", the Vietnam People's Army continued to have new steps of maturity, becoming a regular army, increasingly modern, including the Army, Navy, Air Defense - Air Force and the birth of main army corps, meeting the requirements of the mission of the extremely arduous, fierce and sacrificial resistance war against the US to save the country of our people.

Promoting revolutionary heroism to the fullest, our Army fought steadfastly and bravely, together with the entire people, defeating the enemy's war strategies one after another, writing golden pages of history with brilliant feats of arms. These were the victories of Ap Bac, Binh Gia, Dong Xoai, Ba Gia, Nui Thanh, Van Tuong, Plei Me... the victory of the General Offensive and Uprising in the Spring of Mau Than 1968, the victory of Route 9 - Southern Laos, the victory of "Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air", the great victory of Spring 1975, the peak of which was the lightning-fast offensive in the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign, completely liberating the South, reunifying the Fatherland, bringing the country into a new era - the era of peace, independence, freedom, the whole country moving towards socialism.

Entering the period of national construction and defense, the Army strives together with the people of the whole country to overcome the consequences, heal the wounds of war, develop the economy, culture, society, and fight steadfastly to maintain every inch of the sacred land of the Fatherland and fulfill its noble international obligations. In this new period, the Army has always performed well the function of "the fighting army - the working army - the production labor army", making worthy contributions to the great and historic achievements of the Vietnamese revolution. Throughout its history, the Army has always upheld the spirit of revolutionary vigilance, acting as the core with the entire people to protect independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, protect the Party, protect the government, protect the people and the socialist regime, protect the cause of innovation, maintain, consolidate and enhance the peaceful environment for national construction and development, contributing to maintaining peace and stability in the region.

General Secretary To Lam affirmed: As an army born from the people, fighting for the people, serving the people, and closely attached to the people, the Army always shares the hardships with the people at all times and in all places; acting as the core and vanguard in preventing, combating, and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and epidemics, and in search and rescue, the Army is always present in key and dangerous places to protect the lives and property of the people, truly a solid "support" for the people in times of danger and hardship. Many officers and soldiers have heroically sacrificed in the fight against natural disasters and epidemics, further illuminating the noble qualities of Uncle Ho's Army in the new era.

General Secretary To Lam emphasized that in the new revolutionary period, the prerequisite for the People's Army to continue to excellently fulfill all tasks, together with the entire Party, the entire people and the entire army to create new miracles in building and defending the socialist Fatherland is to maintain and strengthen the absolute and direct leadership in all aspects of the Party, the centralized and unified management and administration of the State over the People's Army and the cause of consolidating national defense and security; constantly promote the strength of great national unity. Firmly uphold the goal of national independence and socialism, firmly uphold the line of all-people national defense and people's war, strive to build all-people national defense associated with people's security, all-people national defense posture associated with people's security posture and a solid "people's hearts posture"; closely combining national strength in the spirit of “self-reliance, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-strengthening, national pride” with the strength of the times, the sympathy, support, and cooperation for development of international friends. General Secretary To Lam affirmed that, reviewing the glorious tradition of 80 years of building, fighting, winning and growing, we are even more proud of the Vietnam People's Army - a heroic Army of a heroic nation; a political force, a fighting force absolutely loyal and trustworthy to the Party, State and people; an army that has fought and won hundreds of battles, together with the people has established many glorious feats; always ready to fight and sacrifice for the Party's ideal goals, for the happiness of the people. To firmly enter the era of prosperity, prosperity and development with the whole country, the Party, State and people believe that the Vietnam People's Army will continuously promote its glorious tradition, continue to achieve outstanding feats, and together with the entire Party and people firmly protect the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland.

Representing Vietnamese veterans, Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Phiet, Hero of the People's Armed Forces, former Deputy Commander of Politics, Air Defense - Air Force, spoke. Photo: Tuan Huy

Representing the Vietnamese veterans, Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Phiet, Hero of the People's Armed Forces, former Deputy Commander of Politics, Air Defense - Air Force, expressed: Today, living in a peaceful atmosphere, attending the 80th Anniversary of the Founding of the Vietnam People's Army, 35 years of National Defense Day, I am always deeply aware that every step and maturity of mine in more than 40 years of military service and nearly 50 years of participating in the revolution, from the resistance war against the US, saving the country to protecting the Fatherland's borders, from being a soldier to holding leadership positions in the Army, like many other comrades, all originated from the leadership, education, training of the Party, of beloved Uncle Ho, of the Army, and the help, protection, care, and nurturing of the people.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Phiet affirmed: “Returning to civilian life, we always keep in mind that as veterans, we must live a life worthy of the heroic Vietnam People's Army's tradition of determination to fight and win, steadfast in political will, pure in moral qualities, lifestyle, exemplary in actions, speaking and acting in accordance with the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's laws, actively participating in protecting the achievements of the revolution, protecting the Party, the government, the socialist regime, and protecting the people. We veterans always remind ourselves to live a life worthy of the comrades and teammates with whom we fought side by side and heroically sacrificed, worthy of the noble honor of Uncle Ho's soldiers. Actively contribute to maintaining and promoting the heroic Vietnam People's Army's tradition of determination to fight and win and the praise of President Ho Chi Minh”.

Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Tuan Dung, Assistant to the Technology Department, Factory Z131, General Department of Defense Industry, spoke at the ceremony. Photo: Tuan Huy

Speaking at the ceremony, Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Tuan Dung, Assistant of the Technical and Technology Department, Factory Z131, General Department of Defense Industry, representing the young generation, expressed: “We, the young generation, always remember and are deeply grateful for the great contributions and sacrifices of the heroic martyrs, wounded and sick soldiers, officers and soldiers of the Vietnam People's Army through the revolutionary struggles. We respect and are extremely grateful to the heroic Vietnamese mothers who silently endured painful losses to bring the most precious thing to the nation, which is “independence and freedom”.

Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Tuan Dung affirmed that the young generation of Vietnam, vows not to let down the efforts and trust of the Party, the State and the people, promises to be absolutely loyal to the Party, the Fatherland and the people; steadfastly follow the path chosen by the Party, Uncle Ho and our people; ready to fight and sacrifice; worthy of being the generation that continues to write the golden history of the Vietnamese nation; contributing to beautifying and making more radiant the glorious tradition of the heroic Vietnam People's Army and the beautiful image of Uncle Ho's soldiers in the new era...

* In recognition of the great contributions and outstanding achievements in recent years, on this occasion, the President decided to award the Ho Chi Minh Medal to the Vietnam People's Army. On behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary To Lam presented the Ho Chi Minh Medal to the Vietnam People's Army.

Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/chinh-tri/tin-tuc/to-chuc-trong-the-le-ky-niem-80-nam-ngay-thanh-lap-quan-doi-nhan-dan-viet-nam-807899