“The heroic martyrs who remained on the battlefield are the Phu Dongs of today. When they defeated the enemy, they flew to heaven. But we must remember them forever. We must remember them to set an example and make our country worthy of the sacrifice of so many heroic martyrs” (General Vo Nguyen Giap).
Educating the young generation on patriotism is the most solid preparation for the nation’s future. (In the photo: Students visit historical sites in Dien Bien Phu City).
Being located in the “belt of instability” or an important strategic position in the region and the world, it is easy to explain why the history of the Vietnamese people is a history of struggles against foreign invaders, to gain and maintain independence and national self-determination. There have been many questions asking, “Why can the Vietnamese people, a nation with a small land area, a small population, and a backward economy, defeat invaders many times larger than themselves?”. The answer has been analyzed by many scholars, many historical and cultural researchers at home and abroad to find the root cause. There may be many conclusions, but in general, it is because “The Vietnamese people are passionately patriotic, united, determined to fight and win, know how to fight and win, and have the support of the times. “When the country is lost, the home is destroyed”, this moral is deeply ingrained in the emotions and minds of generations of Vietnamese people, from generation to generation. Whenever the Fatherland is in danger, all Vietnamese people stand up to defend the country and home, using intelligent and brave ways to fight the enemy”. That is the conclusion of comrade Truong Chinh, Politburo member, Chairman of the State Council.
Many scholars in the world have also made very accurate comments about the source of victory of the nation, of the Vietnamese people against all enemies. That "The history of the Vietnamese people, through more than 1,000 years of fierce struggle against the injustice of different social regimes, against foreign domination, has forged the indomitable spirit of the Vietnamese people, setting an example for people of other countries to fight for freedom and the right to decide their own destiny. The representative of that spirit is the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu" (quoted from the response of Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Hector Rodriguez Lompac, Head of the Delegation of the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Cuba, visiting Vietnam in 1960).
As a matter of course, the glorious pages of history that generations of Vietnamese people have forged have been exchanged for a lot of blood, bones, sacrifices, and hardships. Therefore, the passionate patriotic tradition of the Vietnamese people is not just "on the surface", but has deeply permeated into the thousand-year-old tradition of the Vietnamese people. In particular, that tradition has been inherited and developed from the long-standing, persistent, resilient, and indomitable history of the Vietnamese people's struggle to build and defend the country. From Ba Trung, Ba Trieu through Dinh, Ly, Tran, Le... the tradition of patriotism, national pride, and the will to be self-reliant and self-reliant have been forged, becoming "countless history", an invincible strength for generations of Vietnamese people to admire, be proud of, inherit, and highly promote in the Ho Chi Minh era, with many glorious victories of which the Dien Bien Phu victory was a brilliant peak.
General Vo Nguyen Giap once felt nostalgic when visiting the old battlefield: “Every time I return to Dien Bien Phu, I go to the martyrs’ cemetery at the foot of Hill A1 to burn incense in memory of my comrades who have fallen here. Standing in front of many nameless graves, I imagine the young soldier coming to the battlefield in the middle of the battle, fighting alongside comrades who did not yet know his name and who he was in. The 23rd Battalion, fighting the enemy’s counterattack at Muong Thanh Airport, gave the first credit to the soldier who planted the flag as a reference for artillery support in the midst of the enemy’s fiercest attack, but no one knows his name, nor where he is, whether he is still alive or dead! The Phu Dong boy from ancient times, after defeating the Yin invaders, rode his horse to heaven... The Uncle Ho soldiers who went to battle at that time, from the swamps of the South, the mountains and forests of the Central Highlands, the cloudy passes of the Northwest, to the strange lands of Laos, Cambodia... had only one extremely pure thought: to contribute with comrades, compatriots, and friends who share the same fate to regain independence and freedom". And then the General's message, that "we must remember this to set an example and make our country worthy of the sacrifice of so many heroic martyrs", is also a manifestation of the eternally good tradition of "When drinking water, remember its source" of our nation.
Also because "our nation had to pay the price of more than a generation of the most outstanding children to erase a stain of humanity, colonialism", therefore, today's generation of Vietnamese people, especially the young generation, must never forget the past. Listening to the confidences of Le Nguyen Mai Phuong, a student of Lam Son High School for the Gifted, at the Meeting to pay tribute to Dien Bien soldiers, youth volunteers, and frontline laborers who directly participated in the Dien Bien Phu campaign, organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front in coordination with Thanh Hoa province in April 2024, somewhat reassured the witnesses - those who shed blood and sacrificed for the independence and freedom of the nation.
Mai Phuong said: “Carrying on the fire from the Dien Bien Phu victory of the past, today's young generation will constantly strive to study, improve their own values, strive to cultivate pure moral qualities, build a steadfast and steadfast ideological stance, nurture a pure heart, train a bright mind, strive to become exemplary and useful citizens as Uncle Ho advised in the Letter to students on the first school opening day of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, September 1945: "Whether Vietnam's mountains and rivers become beautiful or not, whether the Vietnamese people can step up to the stage of glory to stand shoulder to shoulder with the great powers of the five continents or not, depends largely on your studies". Following in the footsteps of many previous generations with a burning and passionate heart, we will always be proactive, willing to promote our youthful strength in all areas of life, from the smallest actions. We, the youth, are aware that we must always strive to improve ourselves to live a compassionate and responsible life, a life of dedication and meaning, to be worthy of the sacrifices and great contributions of previous generations, and to be worthy of being the generation that continues the tradition of our heroic homeland Thanh Hoa.
And then, after all, awakening, nurturing and promoting the Dien Bien Phu spirit - the spirit of patriotism in today's young generation, is also the most solid preparation for the bright future of the Vietnamese people.
Article and photos: Hoang Xuan
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