Opportunity to educate children about history

That is the affirmation of Major General HO SY HAU, former Director of the Economic Department (Ministry of National Defense), in response to the interest of all classes of people, especially the youth, in the army and national defense.

In recent days, the Vietnam Military History Museum has attracted many people from all walks of life to visit and study, including many young people such as students - Photo: N.TRAN

This is demonstrated through the attraction of the Vietnam Military History Museum.

We have three great things to rely on. The first is to live in the hearts of the people, in the protection of the people. The second is to live in the spirit of comradeship and mutual protection to overcome all difficulties. The third is the will and discipline to overcome countless difficulties caused by enemy sabotage or the difficulties of terrain, weather...

Major General HO SY HAU

Journey of military-civilian love

Major General HO SY HAU

* What do you think about some recent special phenomena such as the new Vietnam Military History Museum attracting a large number of visitors, or defense exhibitions?

- When the museum is located in a new location (Thang Long Avenue, Tay Mo Ward, Dai Mo, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi) with a large campus and advanced display technology, many people hope that great battles like Dien Bien Phu will be shown in the new museum.

In recent days, among the group of visitors to the museum, there were many families bringing their children to see it.

They want to go see it and bring their children along to educate them about military history and the country's history.

The defense exhibition attracts many visitors because in a geopolitical position like Vietnam, everyone wants a strong army to protect the peace of the country.

Our country's 4,000-year history is a history of fighting foreign invaders and defending the country, so people want to go see how the military's equipment has become stronger recently. They want to see the development of our military to have confidence in the peace of the country that the military is protecting day and night.

* People's attention to the army and national defense also shows special military-civilian affection, don't you think?

- That's right. Through so many wars, it can be seen that the development of the Vietnam People's Army is closely linked to the people. It can be said that the journey of the army is a journey of military-civilian love.

Our army had 34 soldiers with bamboo sticks, spears, and flintlock guns. When we fought the French, we had artillery. When we fought the Americans, we had missiles...

Now that our military capabilities have new developments, of course the people are very interested and are looking for ways to access them, hoping that when we have new weapons, we will be able to better protect our Fatherland.

Many weapons and equipment belonging to the Vietnam People's Army as well as designed and manufactured by Vietnam are on display at the 2024 International Defense Exhibition - Photo: N.TRAN

Power is not only in weapons

* And the strength of our army certainly does not lie only in modern, state-of-the-art weapons, because we have fought and won many times against armies equipped with weapons many times more modern than ours?

- Protecting peace is not only thanks to modern weapons, but also thanks to our nation's tradition of fighting to defend the country. With the same weapon, other countries sometimes cannot develop it as well as we can.

With the SAM 2 missiles previously equipped by the Soviet Union, the Americans thought that we could not resist the B52, but in 12 days and nights, our army caused heavy damage to the US Air Force's B52 force.

During the war against America, I heard that the Soviet oil pipeline to Afghanistan was not successful, but that same pipeline was successful under the protection and care of our people and the Lao people, even though the pipeline had to go through a storm of bombs and bullets.

At that time, I was in the military branch building the oil pipeline on Truong Son road, witnessing countless miracles that our soldiers achieved with this oil pipeline.

Just one piece of bomb falling into the pipe could cause a fire and enemy planes would swarm to attack.

Yet our pipeline has overcome thousands of dangerous kilometers to serve the battlefield, especially to ensure the 1975 Spring Campaign and the Ho Chi Minh Campaign.

Any modern means in the hands of the Vietnam People's Army, with the leadership of the Party and the intelligence of the commanders as well as the will of the army and soldiers, the effectiveness of that weapon is multiplied to fight against invading enemies.

* According to you, what makes our army so strong?

- The strength of our army comes first from the patriotism of Vietnamese citizens, second from training through arduous struggles, and third from being tempered in the camaraderie and support of the people.

Of course the strength of the army lies in discipline, but in the army, political and ideological education is very important and must be done properly, often not in the form of slogans but in something very specific on the front line.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/co-hoi-giao-duc-lich-su-cho-con-chau-20241218084850888.htm