Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc paid homage to heroic soldiers who laid down their lives for the fatherland’s independence and freedom in the central province of Quang Tri on April 17.

The activity took place on the threshold of the 41st South Liberation and National Reunification Day (April 30).

The PM and local officials offered incense at the Truong Son National Martyrs’ Cemetery, the Road 9 National Martyrs’ Cemetery, the Quang Tri Ancient Citadel, and the war memorial on the northern bank of the Thach Han River.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (1st from the right) and delegates offering incense to pay tribute to heroic martyrs at the Quang Tri Ancient Citadel

The Truong Son National Martyrs’ Cemetery is the last resting place of over 10,000 soldiers from across Vietnam. Most of them were from Corps 559 – Truong Son Army Corps and sacrificed on Ho Chi Minh Trail during the resistance war against the US.

More than 10,000 martyrs were also buried at the Road 9 National Martyrs’ Cemetery. They fought in the Road 9 battlefield and in Laos during a campaign of the anti-US war.

Meanwhile, the Ancient Citadel of Quang Tri witnessed a fierce struggle to protect the citadel and Quang Tri township in 1972. Thousands of soldiers laid down their lives during the 81-day battle. The fight contributed to Vietnam’s triumph at the Paris Conference and was a prerequisite for the General Offensive and Uprising in the Spring of 1975, which completely liberated the South and reunified the country.

The memorial on the Thach Han River’s northern bank is also to commemorate thousands of soldiers who were young people leaving their hometowns in the north to join in the resistance war in the south.

The Quang Tri Ancient Citadel and the Thach Han River are considered two cemeteries without tombstones in the central province.

On this occasion, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc paid tribute to Party General Secretary Le Duan at his memorial house in Quang Tri – the birthplace of the late Party leader.

Source: VNA