“The South has been liberated!”

As the first person to receive the telegram that the South had been completely liberated, the officer was stunned for a few seconds, then burst into joy because the information was so important and had to take out a pen and paper to write down the information from the other side for sure. The person who witnessed the moment of hearing the news about the historic moment on April 30, 1975 was Mr. Nguyen Tuc, member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

Memories remain intact

Although he is 87 years old, Mr. Nguyen Tuc still clearly remembers the moment 49 years ago, when he received a call informing him that the South had been completely liberated and the country had been unified.

Talking to DS&PL reporter, Mr. Nguyen Tuc recalled those sacred moments. Mr. Tuc said that in April 1975, he was the secretary of Mr. Hoang Quoc Viet (at that time, President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Procuracy).

At noon on April 30, 1975, a few brothers in the secretarial group of comrade Hoang Quoc Viet (he was in charge of the secretarial group - PV) were preparing to eat when suddenly the phone rang continuously. The meal was suddenly interrupted. When he rushed to answer, a very soldier-like voice on the other end of the line asked firmly, "Who are you, comrade?". Then he calmly replied, "I am Nguyen Tuc, secretary for comrade Hoang Quoc Viet." The voice on the other end of the line said, "Sir, under the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnam People's Army, Minister of National Defense Vo Nguyen Giap, I request that you report to comrade Hoang Quoc Viet that at 11:30, our army has liberated the South. The Ho Chi Minh Campaign has been completely victorious! The end."

Event - Memories of the historical call recipient: “The South has been liberated!” — Even at the age of 87, Mr. Nguyen Tuc still remembers every detail of the day he received the news of the great victory that liberated the South and reunified the country. Photo: Moc Tra

After a few seconds of silence due to surprise, he immediately calmed down and replied to the other end of the line: "The information is very important. Please read slowly so I can take notes."

At this point, Mr. Tuc choked up and shared his emotions. The news was so unexpected that everyone burst into joy. At first, he could not believe his ears. Everyone in the secretariat wanted to shout loudly. Then, immediately after that, everyone in the secretariat skipped lunch, no one could eat anymore, and ran straight to comrade Hoang Quoc Viet's room to report the victory news.

At that time, comrade Hoang Quoc Viet was also surprised and extremely happy, he immediately took a bottle of gac wine and poured it for the others to drink to celebrate. That "party" was so joyful that no words could describe it.

When everyone was present, comrade Hoang Quoc Viet said: "Thus, Uncle Ho's wishes and testament have come true. The will to unify the country and the aspiration for peace of our people have come true."

Still filled with the feeling of victory from nearly 50 years ago, he continued, according to the program, that afternoon there would be a rally to celebrate International Labor Day on May 1, 1975. However, that same afternoon, the Politburo decided to move the rally to the next morning (May 1, 1975).

At that time, the speech was written by Mr. Tuc exactly one week ago, received comments from the General Confederation of Labor Secretariat and approved by the higher-level leadership. The tone was still “taking advantage of the victory”, “continue to attack, continue to rise up”, “the North spares no blood and bones for the South…” with today’s victory, the situation has completely changed.

Mr. Tuc said that other parts could be quickly fixed, but Vietnam's attitude towards the US and the puppet generals and officers was a serious issue. After a while of discussion, everyone decided to ask for comrade Truong Chinh's opinion. At that time, comrade Truong Chinh was a member of the Politburo, in charge of theoretical and ideological work and was the Chairman of the National Assembly. Comrade Truong Chinh explained that this was a big issue, the policy of our Party and State towards the enemy after the victory. You and I cannot decide for ourselves. Let's go to comrade Ba (comrade Le Duan, First Secretary of the Party Central Committee at that time)," Mr. Tuc recalled.

Event - Memories of the historical call recipient: “The South has been liberated!” (Image 2). — Comrade Hoang Quoc Viet (standing in the middle). Photo: Archive

According to him, comrade Truong Chinh lived at house number 3, comrade Hoang Quoc Viet lived at house number 5, and comrade Le Duan lived at the end of alley number 7 on Nguyen Canh Chan street. It took less than 10 minutes of walking for the comrades to meet each other.

“In front of me was a very emotional scene. The three leaders Le Duan, Truong Chinh and Hoang Quoc Viet hugged each other, laughing and crying. No one expected it to happen so quickly. I revised the rally speech as comrade Hoang Quoc Viet had instructed.

"The more I get older, the more I realize that the peaceful ideology of my ancestors has permeated the leaders of generations. After 35 years of renovation with the motto of multilateralizing and diversifying international relations, I understand it more clearly," Mr. Tuc recounted.

Victory of our entire Party, people and army

Mr. Nguyen Tuc affirmed that the victory of the battle on April 30, 1975 was the victory of our entire Party, people and army. At the same time, it affirmed the spirit of peace and humanity of our nation.

Interrupting the story that took place nearly 50 years ago, Mr. Nguyen Tuc emphasized that as a generation born after the liberation day, living in peace, future generations need to be forever proud and grateful for the great sacrifices of the heroes who fought bravely for the cause of national liberation and unification. And even more proud and confident in the correct, wise and talented leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, believing in the indomitable spirit of our army and people.

Event - Memories of the historical call recipient: “The South has been liberated!” (Figure 3). — Image of a tank rushing through the main gate and entering the Independence Palace yard on the morning of April 30. Photo courtesy

According to Mr. Tuc, history is not only about the past but also a teacher for the young generation to appreciate the present and cultivate the future by using youth and intelligence to integrate into the environment to build an increasingly prosperous and strong country, successfully achieving the Party's noble goals: rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness, civilization, and steady progress towards socialism.

Therefore, with pride and firm belief in steadfastly following the path chosen by the Party, the young generation of Vietnam needs to continue to promote revolutionary heroism, the spirit of self-reliance, self-strengthening, great national unity, and determination to strive to successfully fulfill the targets and tasks according to the Party's guidelines and policies.

Le Lien - Do Chang

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