“Sixty years have passed, and the Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea associated with unnumbered boats, remains the pride of Vietnam’s army and people; is the way to express the will to fight, to win, the courage and the heroic mettle of our nation."
Delegates commemorate heroic martyrs at the Vung Ro Wharf. (Photo: NLDO)
So said Tran Huu The, Chairman of the Phu Yen Provincial People’s Committee, during a ceremony marking the 60th year since the opening of the secret shipping route on October 23.
In his speech, he noted that 60 years ago, before the strong development of the revolutionary movement in the South, the demand for weapons for combat was increasing, so the Party Central Committee and President Ho Chi Minh decided to establish the 759 Corps, the predecessor of Navy Corps 125. “This is also the time to mark the birth of "Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea", including Vung Ro Wharf, a shining symbol of the people's art of war and strategy, a strategic decision of great significance and turning point, contributing to the great victory in the Spring of 1975,” he said.
During the ceremony, Lieutenant Colonel Ho Dac Thanh, Hero of the People's Armed Forces, shared his loss to the mothers and wives of comrades who sacrificed themselves on unnumbered ships in the past. "Their blood contributed, with the whole Party, army and people, to write the heroic history page of the legendary road - Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea," Mr. Thanh added.
Delegates at the ceremony offered incense and dropped wreaths bearing the words "Eternal gratitude to heroes and martyrs" at the location of the fourth unnumbered boat docked at Vung Ro on the night of February 15, 1965, expressing their infinite condolences and gratitude to the soldiers and local officials and people who heroically sacrificed their lives to protect the boats and weapons from falling into enemy hands.
Launched in 1961, the Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea became a new and important channel for transporting weapons and supplies all the way from the North to the southern front during the resistance war against the US.
The Vietnamese army had taken nearly 2,000 boat trips on the route, carrying about 80,000 personnel, over 150,000 tonnes of weapons and ammunition, and tens of thousands of tonnes of goods to support its troops on major battlefields in the South that could not be done by road.
It is a shining symbol of the revolutionary heroism and the Vietnamese army’s intelligence, braveness, and determination to liberate and unite the nation. It is such an innovative and strategic initiative of President Ho Chi Minh and the Communist Party of Vietnam./.