Attending the conference were General Pham Van Tra, former member of the Politburo, former Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Party Committee (now the Central Military Commission), former Minister of National Defense .

General Pham Van Tra, former member of the Politburo , former Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Party Committee (now the Central Military Commission), former Minister of National Defense, spoke.
Senior Lieutenant General, Dr. Le Huy Vinh, member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Minister of National Defense delivered the opening speech.
Comrade Thai Dai Ngoc, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of Gia Lai Provincial Party Committee delivered a welcome speech at the workshop.

A brilliant milestone in the resistance war against America to save the country

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Senior Lieutenant General, Dr. Le Huy Vinh, member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Minister of National Defense affirmed: The Plei Me victory was of extremely important significance, opening up the possibility of defeating the American expeditionary invaders, affirming the effectiveness of the motto "grabbing the enemy's belt and fighting" of the army and people of the South; strengthening the determination to fight and defeat the US of our people; was a sign of the failure of the "Local War" strategy of the US imperialists; marked a remarkable step forward in the determination, command level, and combat capability of the armed forces, and was a great contribution of the local armed forces and ethnic people of Gia Lai, Quang Ngai, and Dak Lak provinces.

Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, spoke.
Senior Lieutenant General Truong Thien To, Deputy Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, spoke.

The Deputy Minister of National Defense emphasized: Today's workshop is one of the meaningful activities to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Plei Me Victory; an opportunity for the entire Party, people and army to review the heroic fighting tradition of generations of fathers and brothers, and to remember compatriots and comrades who fought and sacrificed for the victory of the cause of national liberation and reunification.

In his welcome speech at the conference, comrade Thai Dai Ngoc, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Gia Lai Provincial Party Committee, said that 60 years have passed, but the Plei Me Victory remains a bright spot in the history of the revolutionary struggle of the nation, the Party, and the resistance war against the US to save the country of the Party Committee, army and people of all ethnic groups in Gia Lai province. The spirit of the Plei Me Victory remains ingrained in every Gia Lai person, a source of pride, inspiration and strong motivation for the Party Committee and people of all ethnic groups in Gia Lai province in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland.

In his report to introduce the conference, Senior Lieutenant General Truong Thien To, Deputy Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, concluded: The victory of the Plei Me Campaign had great historical significance in both politics and military terms, and was a victory of the art of organizing and implementing the first offensive campaign in the period of fighting the Americans on the mountainous battlefield, marking the first defeat of the American empire on the Vietnam battlefield. From the reality of the confrontation with the American expeditionary force at Plei Me, our troops effectively neutralized the strength of the American airborne cavalry, that is, promoting the strength of close combat, aiming to limit the enemy's strengths in firepower and mobility, forcing the American troops to be passive in our way of fighting.

“Up to now, 60 years have passed, but the stature and historical significance of the Plei Me Victory has always been the pride of the ethnic people and armed forces of the Central Highlands in particular, and of the Army and people of the whole country in general. It was a victory of spirit, indomitable will, bravery and intelligence, and readiness to sacrifice for the cause of national unification,” Senior Lieutenant General Truong Thien To emphasized.

Conference delegates take a group photo.

The development of the art of offensive operations

The conference organizing committee received 80 reports and presentations from central agencies, leaders, former leaders of the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defense, localities, generals, officers, historical witnesses, scientists inside and outside the Army. In particular, the conference listened to the speech of General Pham Van Tra, former member of the Politburo, former Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Party Committee (now the Central Military Commission), former Minister of National Defense. General Pham Van Tra said that the Plei Me Campaign was a major battle on the Indochina battlefield and had a strong impact on American public opinion. After this campaign, the US sent the Minister of National Defense to inspect, check, and find out why the US army suffered so many losses.

The presentations deeply analyzed and explained each issue of the Plei Me Campaign, thereby affirming: The victory of the Plei Me Campaign not only affirmed the Party's strategic vision, correct, creative and timely decisions, creating a new strategic situation, but also marked the beginning of victories for our army and people on the Central Highlands battlefield in the resistance war against the US to save the country.

Conference presidium.

With the speech "The victory of Plei Me affirms the determination to find the Americans to fight, find the puppets to destroy", Major General Luong Dinh Chung, Political Commissar of Military Region 5, said that from Nui Thanh to Plei Me, the determination to "find the Americans to fight, find the puppets to destroy" was demonstrated in practice. If Nui Thanh demonstrated the will to "dare to fight", Van Tuong demonstrated the ability to "know how to fight", then Plei Me affirmed the determination to "win" with the art of complete campaign: Surrounding the point to destroy reinforcements, pulling the enemy out of the fortifications, "grabbing the enemy's belt to fight". That series of victories is the crystallization of determination, creative military art and the combined strength of the Vietnamese people's war.

Sharing the same viewpoint, the paper “Plei Me Victory - A Development Step in the Art of Offensive Campaigns” by Lieutenant General, Dr. Do Minh Xuong, Director of the Army Academy emphasized: Plei Me Victory marked a development step in the art of offensive campaigns. In particular, the art of determining the target of combat; the art of applying combat methods; the art of determining the scale and force of the campaign; the art of applying tactical fighting methods stands out.

“On the basis of correctly identifying the target and combat method, attacking the puppet army first, then the American army; encircling the point to destroy reinforcements, using tricks to lure the American army into the right battle area we chose and preparing the battle in advance to limit their strengths in firepower and mobility, while at the same time promoting their strengths in close combat, quickly destroying each part of the American army,” Lieutenant General, Dr. Do Minh Xuong analyzed.

Lieutenant General, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Cuong Quyet, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Defense Strategy and History, spoke.

The speech of Major General Bui Duc Hien, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Air Defense - Air Force, clarified the role of the air defense troops in the Plei Me Campaign. According to Major General Bui Duc Hien, the victory of the Plei Me Campaign marked the strong development of the art of using air defense forces in campaign operations, which are: Regularly studying, mastering and developing the art of campaign operations; choosing appropriate fighting methods and the art of deception and deception of the enemy; coordinating operations and promoting the strengths of the forces in the campaign; taking advantage of terrain and terrain factors; consolidating and building confidence and the will to fight and win for the troops.

Although not the core force, the participation of the air defense troops showed an important role in dealing with the superiority of firepower and mobility of the US army. This force included a 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun battalion and anti-aircraft teams that were secretly hidden with the infantry, arranged around high points and open areas where the enemy could land troops by helicopter. When the battle took place fiercely in the Ia Drang valley, the enemy had to increase its air force, including B-52 strategic aircraft to support and attack. However, thanks to their understanding of the terrain, along with their brave, resourceful and creative fighting spirit, the air defense troops and their friendly units won important victories, weakening the US air force, limiting their reconnaissance, landing and fire support capabilities, creating favorable conditions for our infantry to divide and destroy the enemy on the ground.

Continuing to promote historical lessons from the Plei Me Victory

Affirming that the victory and historical lessons of the Plei Me Campaign still have value for the current cause of national construction and defense, the presentations: "Promoting the spirit of Plei Me victory, strengthening the strength of great solidarity, building Gia Lai into a fairly developed province of the country" by comrade Nguyen Thi Phong Vu, member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Head of the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Committee of Gia Lai Provincial Party Committee; presentation "Plei Me Campaign - Lessons in mobilizing resources to build the Central Highlands for sustainable development" by Dr. Nguyen Thi Tinh, Chairwoman of the Council of Tay Nguyen University; presentation "Promoting the historical value of Plei Me victory in building the 34th Army Corps" by Major General Le Minh Quang, Political Commissar of the 34th Army Corps... affirmed that the Plei Me Victory is a great source of pride for the Party Committee, government, people and armed forces of Gia Lai province, of ethnic minorities and armed forces of the Central Highlands.

Conference scene.

Major General Le Minh Quang said that, promoting the precious historical value from the Plei Me Victory, the 34th Corps has applied and inherited it in leadership and direction to build a politically strong Corps, as a basis to improve the overall quality and combat strength of the Corps, meeting the requirements and tasks in the new situation.

At the workshop, veteran Nguyen Van Lung, former soldier of Company 7, Battalion 8 (Regiment 66, Division 10) - who directly participated in the battle of Ia Drang - recounted the memories, brave, heroic, intelligent fighting spirit and sacrifice of the officers and soldiers of Battalion 8, Regiment 66 - Plei Me Group. Facing the American expeditionary force, he and his comrades were not afraid, overcoming the rain of bombs and bullets, many of his comrades fought steadfastly until their last breath to win the battle of Ia Drang. "Although time has passed and the battlefields have become greener, the spirit and ideals that you left behind will live forever in the hearts of the nation", veteran Nguyen Van Lung emotionally said.

Veteran Nguyen Van Lung speaks.

In his closing speech at the conference, Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, affirmed: The victory of the Plei Me Campaign left many historical lessons and profound experiences in promoting the will to attack, proactive spirit, organizing forces and battlefield equipment, and choosing appropriate and effective fighting methods. These are experiences and lessons that still have value for the current cause of national construction and defense.

The Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army requested that agencies, units, academies and schools in the Army should actively promote research results into the practice of training, studying and building of their agencies and units. Central, Army and local news agencies and newspapers continue to propagate and widely report, contributing to historical education for cadres, soldiers, people of all walks of life, especially the young generation to clearly and correctly understand the historical value of the Plei Me Victory in the resistance war against the US to save the country; arouse and promote the tradition of patriotism and the spirit of revolutionary offensive in carrying out all tasks assigned by the Party, State, people and Army.

News and photos: NGUYEN ANH SON

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/quoc-phong-an-ninh/tin-tuc/y-nghia-chien-thang-plei-me-van-con-nguyen-gia-tri-doi-voi-su-nghiep-xay-dung-va-bao-ve-to-quoc-1012490