PANO – Army units and organizations across the country have launched programs in celebration of the 40th annaversary of South Liberation and National Reunification (April 30th).

* On April 24th, the Vietnam War Veterans’ Association held an awards ceremony for winners of the writing contest “Spring 1975–An Epic of Victory” in the presence of Politburo member Le Hong Anh and Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education Dinh The Huynh.

Launched on June 16th 2014, the contest received over 1,600 entries nationwide. Most of them came from historical witnesses and war veterans who were directly involved in the 1975 Spring General Offensive and Uprising.

They authentically reflected the heroic period of time of Vietnamese people, military troops' comradeship and determination to liberate the South and reunify the nation.

Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Communications and Education Dinh The Huynh (second from left) hands over prizes to the winners of the contest “Spring 1975–An Epic of Victory”

* The same day, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan attended a ceremony to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Tra Vinh province liberation. At the event, delegates reviewed the local achievements in the national resistance war, and in the national construction and defence cause.

* The People’s Army Newspaper worked with the Hanoi Television to organize an artistic exchange on April 24th to highlight the South Liberation and National Reunification Day, as well as raise funds for needy war veterans and policy beneficiaries.

* The Ministry of Public Security organized a scientific workshop in Ho Chi Minh City to highlight contributions of the People’s police force to the national independence and freedom.

* Addressing at the ceremony to mark the 40th South Liberation and National Reunification Day, held in Binh Phuoc province, Senior Lieutenant General Ngo Xuan Lich, Director of the General Department of Politics, praised locals’ feats of arms in the war, adding that Binh Phuoc’s authorities and people should continue developing the socio-economy and promoting their living standards.

Previously, the General and the province’s leaders offered incense at the Binh Phuoc Martyrs’ Cemetery.

* The Vietnam Military History Museum is running two exhibitions to brighten the stature and historical values of the South Liberation and National Reunification Day (April 30th), also known as the Great 1975 Spring Victory, for national independence and freedom, and to introduce the life and revolutionary career of General Hoang Van Thai, first Chief of General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army.

* The Military Broadcasting Centre of the General Department of Politics will screen the program “Following the elders” at 8:35am on April 30th 2015 on its Vietnam's Defence Television channel to introduce a youths’ journey to old battlefields, in order to raise the young generations’ awareness of responsibilities for the national construction and defence cause.

* Hundreds of memoirs at two seminars, held by the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and the Defence Ministry’s Institute for Social Science and Humanity, heightened the sound leadership of the Party and Vietnamese people’s “determination to win” spirit for the national reunification.

* On April 24th, Can Tho city and Da Lat city (Lam Dong province) gathered their war veterans who had participated in battles to liberate the South. They reminisced the fierce but glorious time during the national resistance war.

Translated by Van Hieu