General Secretary To Lam: Building a regular, elite, modern People's Army

On the morning of December 20, in Hanoi, the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the National Assembly, the President, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Central Military Commission - Ministry of National Defense solemnly held a national ceremony to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam People's Army and the 35th anniversary of National Defense Day.

General Secretary To Lam, Secretary of the Central Military Commission, attended and delivered a speech at the ceremony.

Attending the event were comrades: former General Secretary Nong Duc Manh; Politburo member, President Luong Cuong, former Presidents Nguyen Minh Triet and Truong Tan Sang; Politburo member, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung; Politburo member, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, former National Assembly Chairmen Nguyen Van An, Nguyen Sinh Hung and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan; Politburo member, Standing member of the Secretariat, Chairman of the Central Inspection Committee Tran Cam Tu; Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Do Van Chien; Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defense, General Phan Van Giang.

Also attending were Politburo members, former Politburo members, Party Central Committee Secretaries, former Party Central Committee Secretaries, Party Central Committee members; Vice President, former Vice President; Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly; Deputy Prime Minister, former Deputy Prime Minister; representatives of leaders of departments, ministries, branches, central and local agencies; leaders, former leaders of the Ministry of National Defense; representatives of veteran revolutionaries, Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, Heroes of the People's Armed Forces, Heroes of Labor; diplomatic delegations from neighboring countries, ASEAN countries and some countries with friendly relations; representatives of the Army, veterans of some countries; representatives of some international organizations in Vietnam; representatives of the family of General Vo Nguyen Giap and families of leaders of the Ministry of National Defense through the periods.

On this occasion, the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defense, and central and local ministries, branches and sectors sent congratulatory flower baskets.

Before the ceremony, the delegation of the Party Central Committee, the President, the National Assembly, the Government, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defense laid wreaths, visited President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, and offered incense to commemorate the heroic martyrs at the Heroic Martyrs Monument on Bac Son Street (Hanoi).

In his speech at the ceremony, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary To Lam respectfully sent his best wishes and best wishes to the leaders and former leaders of the Party, State and Vietnam Fatherland Front; revolutionary veterans, Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, Heroes of the People's Armed Forces, and Labor Heroes; war invalids, sick soldiers, families of martyrs, and people with meritorious services to the revolution; generals, officers, cadres and soldiers of the armed forces; veterans, delegates, distinguished guests, international friends, compatriots nationwide and overseas Vietnamese.

The General Secretary said that, following the Directive of Leader Ho Chi Minh, on December 22, 1944, the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army - the predecessor of the Vietnam People's Army - was established. Under the leadership, education and training of our Party and President Ho Chi Minh; the nurturing, protection and shelter of the People, our Army has developed rapidly, continuously achieving outstanding feats of arms.

The General Secretary emphasized that as an army born from the people, fighting for the people, serving the people, and closely attached to the people, the Army always shares the hardships with the people at all times and in all places; is the main force, the vanguard in preventing, combating, and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and epidemics, and in search and rescue. The army is always present in key and dangerous places to protect the lives and property of the people, truly a solid "support" for the people in times of danger and hardship. Many officers and soldiers have heroically sacrificed in the fight against natural disasters and epidemics, further illuminating the noble qualities of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" in the new era.

In recent years, closely following and seriously and effectively implementing the Party's military and defense guidelines in the new period, the Army has resolutely adjusted its force organization in the direction of streamlining - compactness - strength, creating a solid foundation for building a revolutionary, disciplined, elite and modern People's Army. The defense industry has made new developments, mastering manufacturing technology, successfully producing many types of new and modern weapons and technical equipment, many dual-use products, contributing to the modernization of the Army, actively contributing to the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country. International integration and defense diplomacy have been proactively, flexibly and creatively implemented, achieving comprehensive results on both bilateral and multilateral levels; Actively and effectively participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations, joint training and exercises on humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, international cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war, contributing to enhancing the position and prestige of the Army and the country in the international arena, protecting the Fatherland early and from afar.

With its outstanding achievements and feats in 80 years of building, fighting, winning and growing, the Vietnam People's Army has been honored by the Party and State with 5 Gold Star Orders, 1 First Class Military Exploit Order, 2 First Class Labor Orders and many other noble awards. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of its founding, the Vietnam People's Army was honored to be awarded the Ho Chi Minh Order - a noble award, demonstrating the Party, State and People's recognition of the long tradition, great contributions and contributions of our Army to the revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation.

The General Secretary pointed out that the precious experience and tradition of our ancestors in fighting to defend the country and the line of all-people, comprehensive, long-term resistance continued to be inherited, promoted and gradually perfected in the period of national construction, innovation and protection of the Fatherland. With a deep awareness of the unparalleled strength of the all-people national defense and in accordance with the aspirations of the people, on October 17, 1989, the Secretariat of the 6th Party Central Committee issued a Directive deciding to take December 22 as the Founding Day of the Vietnam People's Army and at the same time as the All-People's National Defense Festival Day.

From now on, December 22 every year is not only an occasion to review the glorious tradition, honor the feats and outstanding achievements of the Vietnam People's Army, but also a festival to demonstrate the strength of national solidarity in the cause of strengthening national defense and protecting the Fatherland. The 35 years of organizing the National Defense Day have directly contributed to raising awareness and responsibility of the entire people for the sacred task of protecting the Fatherland; fostering patriotism, national pride and self-esteem; consolidating the great national unity bloc; encouraging people nationwide to actively support human and material resources for the national defense; building and strongly promoting the "people's heart position", creating a solid "Great Wall" in the cause of building and protecting the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam.

The General Secretary affirmed that with the highest goal of building a peaceful, prosperous, civilized and prosperous country and joining hands to build a peaceful world without war, where people can live in independence, freedom, prosperity and happiness, Vietnam consistently advocates resolving all disputes and disagreements by peaceful means on the basis of international law; respecting the independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and internal affairs of all countries; not participating in military alliances, not allying with one country to fight against another, not allowing foreign countries to set up military bases or use Vietnamese territory to fight against other countries; not using force or threatening to use force in international relations.

In the new revolutionary period, the prerequisite for the People's Army to continue to excellently fulfill all tasks, together with the entire Party, the entire people and the entire army to create new miracles in building and defending the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam is to firmly maintain and strengthen the absolute and direct leadership in all aspects of the Party, the centralized and unified management and administration of the State over the People's Army and the cause of consolidating national defense and security; constantly promote the strength of great national unity. Firmly adhere to the goal of national independence and socialism, firmly adhere to the line of all-people national defense and people's war, strive to build all-people national defense associated with people's security, the all-people national defense posture associated with the people's security posture and a solid "people's hearts posture"; closely combine national strength in the spirit of "self-reliance, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-strengthening, national pride" with the strength of the times, the sympathy, support and cooperation for development of international friends.

Along with maximizing the combined strength for the cause of national construction and defense, the General Secretary emphasized that we need to build a revolutionary, disciplined, elite and modern People's Army; politically strong, absolutely loyal to the Fatherland, the Party, the State and the People, steadfast in the Party's ideal goals; have a streamlined and strong force organization according to the motto "people first, guns later", especially attaching importance to building and promoting the human factor, first of all the political and spiritual factor; paying attention to attracting and training talents and high-quality human resources; constantly promoting the glorious tradition and noble qualities of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" and developing Vietnam's unique military art; Ensure that officers and soldiers of the Army dare to fight, know how to fight and are determined to defeat all forms of aggressive war, especially new forms of war, effectively respond to non-traditional security challenges as well as master new strategic spaces, firmly protect the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam in all situations. Continue to promote international integration and defense diplomacy, actively participate in United Nations peacekeeping activities, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, contribute to spreading the beautiful image of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" in the hearts of international friends, promote the trend of peace, prevent and resolve the risk of war and conflict, maintain a peaceful and stable environment to build and develop the country, protect the Fatherland early, from afar, and defend the country when it is not yet in danger.

Reviewing the glorious tradition of 80 years of building, fighting, winning and growing, we are even more proud of the Vietnam People's Army - a heroic Army of a heroic nation; a political force, a fighting force absolutely loyal and trustworthy to the Party, State and People; an army that has fought and won hundreds of battles, together with the People, has achieved countless glorious feats; is always ready to fight and sacrifice for the Party's ideal goals, for the happiness of the People. General Secretary To Lam expressed that, in order to firmly enter the era of prosperity, prosperity and development with the whole country, the Party, State and People believe that the Vietnam People's Army will continuously promote its glorious tradition, continue to achieve outstanding feats, together with the entire Party and people firmly protect our beloved socialist Vietnam Fatherland.

Here are a series of photos taken by reporters at the 80th Anniversary of the Founding of the Vietnam People's Army held on the morning of December 20: