Nation remembers war dead, wounded in Ha Noi ceremony

Leaders lay wreaths and burn incense at the Martyrs Monument in Ha Noi in honour of the 63rd War Invalids and War Martyrs Day. — VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

Viet Nam Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, President Nguyen Minh Triet, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong all attended the ceremony for the 63rd War Invalids and Martyrs Day.

Later, President Triet cut the ribbon to open an exhibition held for the day.

He also applauded the thoughts and will of artist Dang Ai Viet whose more than 100 sketches of heroic mothers from across the country made the display possible.

The sixty-two-year old's effort had been extremely heroic because she had overcome many difficulties to travel the country to complete her sketches, he said.

The President asked the Viet Nam Women's Union's Central Committee; the Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Ministry and other Government agencies to continue the support of the artist in her work.

He emphasised that her effort was a way of showing the entire nation's gratitude to heroic mothers.

"Each Vietnamese is proud of and admires the image of the heroic mother," he said.

The President said gratitude to war martyrs, invalids and heroic mothers was boundless.

He called on today's and future generations to forever show their deep gratitude to the fallen who had sacrificed their lives for the nation's independence and freedom.

Viet had long nurtured the idea of drawing the country's heroic mothers but her ambition was only realised when she started her nationwide journey in February.

She completed the profile of 226 heroic mothers since then.

"Each heroic mother tells us the story of her sacrifices and losses so that we have the life we live today," the artist said.

The pangs of heroic mothers varied and included the loss of husbands, sons and daughters.

National Defence; Public Security; Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Ministries representatives together with members of the Ha Noi Party Committee and People's Committee also joined the ceremony.

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan attended the burial of 114 war martyrs who died in Cambodia in southern Binh Phuoc Province.

She also presented gifts to the province's families of war martyrs, invalids and heroic mothers.

Doan asked the province's administrators to provide better care to those people and families who had given the country meritorious service.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan presented gifts to invalids at Ha Noi's Military Hospital 103 and praised the work of the medical workers who care for them.

During a visit to the the families of war martyrs and invalids in Ha Dong District, he affirmed the great service they had given the country.

Nhan also visited war invalids and Agent Orange – affected children at the Ha Noi Friendship Village.

Ceremonies to commemorate and pray for the peace of the souls of war martyrs, patriotic intellectuals and other dignitaries were held at the Chin Ham historical monument in central Thua Thien-Hue Province.

Intelligence officer Col Nguyen Minh Van describes Chin Ham as a place where many key Communist soldiers of southern revolutionary movement were imprisoned.

Officials in Hung Yen and Lam Dong provinces burnt incense and threw paper lamps and flowers into rivers to honour war martyrs, other war dead and departed heroic mothers. They also gave gifts to heroic mothers and families of war martyrs and invalids. — VNS