'Proud of the beautiful days'

On the morning of April 26, at the Youth Cultural House, the exchange program with characters associated with 50 outstanding events and activities of Ho Chi Minh City organized by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union took place very emotionally.

Guests at the exchange included Hero of the People's Armed Forces Nguyen Van Tau (Tu Cang); Mr. Pham Chanh Truc - former Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, former Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council; Ambassador of Reading Culture of Ho Chi Minh City - historical researcher Nguyen Dinh Tu; Mr. Pham Dut Diem - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Xuan - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Gio District...

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tu (2nd from left) with Hero of the People's Armed Forces Nguyen Van Tau (3rd from left) , former Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Pham Chanh Truc (4th from left) and guests at the exchange session.

Photo: Quynh Tran

Mr. Pham Chanh Truc remembers clearly the boiling atmosphere of the historic day of April 30, 1975: "The whole city, everywhere, the masses rose up to seize power. The main forces of our army and tanks rumbled into the center with great enthusiasm, everyone was excited". After the joy of complete victory, the city began to enter a new phase. "The City Party Committee mobilized people to flee the enemy to return to their old hometowns to make a living. Young volunteers went to clean up, removing the remnants of the old regime, becoming a large movement, the peak of which was the Youth Volunteer Force with more than 10,000 soldiers, working side by side with the City leaders to break through and find a bright path...", he recalled: "The image of the City Youth Volunteer Force at that time became a symbol of national harmony for the first time, very beautiful and enthusiastic. We defeated the enemy, and the only way left was to be economically self-reliant".

At the age of 105, researcher Nguyen Dinh Tu witnessed many ups and downs of history. He confided: "On April 30, 1975, I was just a commoner like other citizens. The city experienced war and shortages in every way. I even had to eat corn, sweet potatoes and cassava for meals, and it was difficult to buy a needle and thread. But thanks to our innovation in thinking and the abolishment of the outdated subsidy mechanism, the economy developed. That's why at that time there were phrases like: "running for rice", "breaking the fence and breaking out" that not everyone knows when they say them now."

As a witness to history, Mr. Nguyen Van Tau (Tu Cang) - former Head of the H.63 Strategic Intelligence Group, said: "The victory of April 30 was the result and effort of many people, but I praise our soldiers for their excellent work. I remember during a trip to the Truong Son forest before 1975, I met the younger brother of Duong Van Minh (later the president of the Republic of Vietnam). He said roughly that the political organization sent him to study soldiers' work. This shows that our preparations were very thorough, calculating everything in advance."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tu-hao-nhung-ngay-thang-dep-185250426213539901.htm