Having gone through war, Gen. Rinh said, “My life is like a TV series. When I was a child, my father passed away in a battle. When I joined the military, I experienced and had to overcome many difficulties and challenges. Therefore, I understand the loss and pain of wounded soldiers’ and martyrs’ families.”
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Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Rinh (fourth from left) hands over breeding cows to AO victims. |
In 2008, when he had just retired, he was recommended by the Party Central Committee's Secretariat, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defense to undertake the VAVA Chairman position. He accepted.
As the VAVA Chairman from 2008 to December 2023, Gen. Rinh made recommendations to the Party and Government to mobilize all resources to support the AO/dioxin victims. These activities have contributed to overcoming the consequences of the AO disaster and ensuring policies for wounded soldiers and martyrs as well as their children and grandchildren affected by AO/dioxin.
In those 15 years, Gen. Rinh received support from many agencies, organs, organizations, enterprises, sponsors, people inside and outside the country through the “Action for AO/dioxin victims” movement launched by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the “For AO/dioxin victims” movement launched by the VAVA Central Committee.
For 20 years, the association has mobilized cash and kinds worth totally more than 4,230 billion, helped build more than 7,000 gratitude houses, provided more than 15,000 scholarships for tens of thousands of AO/dioxin victims, among others.
Gen. Rinh also tried his best to require the U.S. to have responsibility for its activities in the past in Vietnam.
Accordingly, so far, the U.S. has coordinated with Vietnam to implement dioxin detoxification projects at Da Nang airport, Phu Cat airport (Binh Dinh province), and Bien Hoa airport (Dong Nai province).
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Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Rinh attends a ceremony to hand over breeding cows to AO victims in Quang Tri. |
Meanwhile, the U.S. Government agreed to promote a program to support people with disabilities, including AO/dioxin victims in areas heavily affected with AO/dioxin in the 2016-2020 period in six provinces and the 2021-2022 period in eight provinces.
As 2024 has come, Gen. Rinh held that even though he would not continue to take on the position of VAVA Chairman, he hoped that all VAVA members would do their utmost to support AO/dioxin victims and their relatives.
Translated by Minh Anh