LookAtVietnam – A meeting was held yesterday to mark the 119th birthday and the 50th anniversary of the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail.

National leaders and delegates celebrate the 119th birthday of the late President Ho Chi Minh and the 50th anniversary of the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail. (Photo: VNN)

Also present were senior party and government officials from Laos, Cambodia and representatives from foreign embassies of Cuba, Russia, China and others.

Addressing, the meeting, Trong expressed the Vietnamese people’s and armed forces’ gratitude and respect for President Ho Chi Minh who, he said, was a great leader of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the Vietnamese nation.

“He’s the hero in our national liberation cause; a man of the world’s culture; the founder and teacher of our Party, of our Government and the beloved father of the Viet Nam People’s armed forces”.

Trong said the Vietnamese people would like to express their deep gratitude towards their fellow countrymen, particularly young people, who had laid down their lives to keep the traffic running on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

“Our victory on the Ho Chi Minh Trail was also attributed to the support and assistance from Laos, Cambodia, the former Soviet Union, China, Cuba and international friends near and far,” he said.

Trong recalled the great military exploits and achievements recorded by the Truong Son Soldiers, Brigade 12 of the Truong Son Construction Corporation over the past 50 years.

“The Ho Chi Minh Trail is an important landmark in the history of the Vietnamese revolution. It is the subject of eternal pride for the Vietnamese people in the anti-American war for national salvation. The great victory and precious lessons learned from the trail were of special significance during the past war for national liberation and the present cause for national construction and defence”.

On behalf of the Party, Government and National Assembly, Trong presented the Military Exploit Order (Second Class) to Brigade 12 of the Truong Son Construction Corporation in acknowledgement of their special contributions to building the Viet Nam People’s Army and to national construction and defence.

Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh reviewed the inception of the Truong Son Trail.

“The birth, development and success of the Truong Son Trail should be attributed to the great leadership of the Party and President Ho,” Thanh said.

“The trail is a legendary and a shining military exploit in the history of the Vietnamese and of world wars. It is a source of pride and a symbol of Vietnamese revolutionary heroism in the age of President Ho Chi Minh.”

“The victory of the Truong Son soldiers was the result of solidarity in the fight against a common enemy of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia; of the great support and assistance of foreign friends near and far,” said Thanh.

In acknowledgement of their great sacrifices and victories, the Party and Government have awarded many Truong Son soldiers titles of honour, including Ho Chi Minh Orders and Gold Star Orders and Hero of the People’s Armed Forces.

During the trail’s 16 years of development, its total length of the web paths, tracks and roads increased to a staggering 20,330km by 1975. Of this, 6,810km of routes ran north-south and 4,980km ran east-west while another 5,000km of diversionary roads and alternate routes were built to deliberately confuse the enemy.

Throughout the conflict, about 1.5 million tonnes of goods, 45 million tonnes of weapons, 5.5 million cu.m of petrol and more than 2 million soldiers were transported along the trail to the southern frontlines.

If is estimated this during the war, the US and their allies dropped about 5 million tonnes of bombs and chemical agents on the trail. This surpassed the total amount of bombs used by Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan during the Second World War.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News