March 12, 2023 | 21:15 (GMT+7)
Da Nang ceremony commemorates fallen soldiers in Gac Ma battle
A ceremony was held in the central city of Da Nang on March 12 to commemorate 64 naval officers and soldiers who bravely sacrificed their lives 35 years ago while defending the Gac Ma (Johnson South) Reef in Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratly) on March 14, 1988.
War veterans who used to be stationed on the Truong Sa Islands and families of the martyrs spent a minute of silence to commemorate the fallen soldiers. They also offered incense and then released rafts with flowers on the Han River in memory of the combatants.
    |
 |
|
Participants pay tribute to the 64 Gac Ma soldiers. |
Head of the liaison committee for Truong Sa veterans in Da Nang, Nguyen Van Tan, said among the fallen soldiers in the Gac Ma battle one March 14, 1988, nine were from Da Nang and one from neighboring Quang Nam province.
Tan underlined that the Gac Ma battle showed the Vietnam People’s Navy soldiers' braveness and their willingness to sacrifice for the protection of national sovereignty over seas and islands.
The event aimed to not only pay homage to the soldiers who lost their lives in safeguarding the country’s sovereignty but also inspire patriotism among young people, said Duong Dinh Lieu, Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Da Nang city.
At the ceremony, leaders of Dong A University also took this occasion to present ten gift packages, worth VND 1 million (USD 42.24) each, to the families of the fallen soldiers in Quang Nam and Da Nang.
Source: VNA