PANO – The Chemical Corps on April 18th held a ceremonial meeting to celebrate the 55th anniversary of its foundation (April 19th, 1958 – April 19th, 2013) and receive the third-class Independence Order.

Deputy Director of the General Department of Politics, Major General Nguyen Trong Nghia, leaders of the Corps and some 200 delegates, representing units across the Corps, agencies of the Defence Ministry and local authorities attended the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Commander of the Corps, Full Colonel Nguyen Thanh Tung recalled the valuable traditions of the force during the past 55 years.

After the foundation of the force, chemical officers and soldiers quickly developed the force and gradually met the requirements of its assigned tasks during the war.

The war ended but the chemical force entered a new fight. Chemical units continue to deal with the aftermath of the war, cleaning areas contaminated with toxic chemicals sprayed by US troops during the war. In recent years, the Corps has successfully researched and completed the technology to deal with the land contaminated with dioxin in accordance with the conditions in Vietnam, and effectively cleaned the pieces of land with high dioxin rates in Phu Cat and Da Nang airports.

With especially excellent achievements attained by the Corps and its units in peacetime, the Corps and chemical units have been conferred with many noble awards from the State, Government and Defence Ministry.

Addressing the ceremony to present the third class Independence Order, Major General Nguyen Trong Nghia praised the achievements of the force over the past 55 years. He also asked chemical troops to continuously bring into full play the traditions, study and research new technologies and master and effectively exploit new equipment.

Translated by Thu Nguyen