PANO - State President Truong Tan Sang had a meeting with veterans from Division 308 of Army Corps 1 and Division 3 (Sao Vang-Golden Star) of Military Zone 1 on August 17th at the Presidential Palace.

President Truong Tan Sang and the veterans reminisced about the heroic tradition of the two divisions, the key units of the Vietnam People’s Army in the national resistance war.

President Truong Tan Sang inquiring after veterans of Divisions 3 and 308. Photo: VNA

Established on August 28th, 1959, Division 308 was involved in 13 campaigns against the French colonialists and joined other army units and people to achieve the resounding victory of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign.

Specially, the division was honored to be entrusted by Uncle Ho with the mission of taking over the capital of Hanoi. That is the reason why the division’s troops will never forget Uncle Ho’s immortal teaching that “The Hung Kings founded the country; you and I must protect it”.

Later on, in the anti-American resistance war, the unit achieved a number of feats of arms in the Khe Sanh, Road 9-Southern Laos and Quang Tri historic campaigns.

Meanwhile, founded on the National Day (September 2nd) in 1965 on the fierce battlefield of Military Zone 5, Division 3 achieved many feats of arms in the Central Highlands Campaign and the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign to completely liberate the South.

Since the national reunification, the division has been undertaking the mission of protecting the national northern border areas.

With their great achievements, both divisions were titled as Heroes of the People’s Armed Forces by the State.

Having hailed the divisions past achievements, President Truong Tan Sang spoke highly of their officers’ and troops’ loyalty to the national revolutionary cause and emphasized that the Party and the State has always attached importance to and been grateful for the devotion and sacrifice of heroes and martyrs.

The State President stated that the Party and the State would further study and finalize the mechanics and policy of Gratitude and urged the veterans to continue to bring into play Uncle Ho’s soldiers’ traditions, be actively involved in building, political organizations, promoting the Party building work, and educating patriotism for young generations.

In response to the veterans’ proposals on gathering martyrs’ remains and caring for policy families, President Truong Tan Sang asked veterans’ associations at all levels to take more care of their comrades and deal with shortcomings of procedures in a timely way to ensure the veterans’ and martyrs’ family members access to the Party and State’s care.

Translated by Mai Huong