Part I: "Commander-in-Chief" of the People's Hearts

A great heart has stopped beating! The passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong - a staunch communist soldier, an outstanding leader, with intelligence, courage, a great personality and loyalty - has left behind endless sorrow for cadres, party members, and people across the country in general, and Thai Binh in particular. Throughout his life, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong devoted himself to the revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation, leaving deep feelings in the hearts of the people.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong with cadres, party members and people of Thuy Van commune (Thai Thuy), January 21, 2014.

In 2014 and 2018, Thai Binh province was honored to welcome General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to visit and work. The General Secretary left a deep impression in the hearts of cadres, party members and people in the province as a leader for the Party, for the country, for the people; dedicated, exemplary, always close to and deeply concerned about all classes of people. The General Secretary had very important directions, orientations and suggestions for Thai Binh province to promote its potential, strengths, and firmly integrate and develop in the new period.

Leaders close to the people, for the people

On the morning of July 20, 2024, Thuy Van village (Thai Thuy) was quiet. The sadness and endless regret at the passing of the respected leader of the Party were evident on the faces of every local resident. Many cadres and party members went to An Dinh village communal house very early to feel the "warmth" and recall memories when General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited and worked in Thuy Van commune on January 21, 2014. For Mr. Vu Huu Khai, village 1 Hoanh Son, although the time to meet and talk with the General Secretary was not long, the deep impressions of a simple, close, and friendly leader remained intact in his mind.

Mr. Khai recalled: In early 2014, although it was not a model commune of the province or district, with the determination of the Party Committee, the local government and people, after 3 years of construction, Thuy Van commune reached the new rural area (NTM) finish line and was honored to welcome General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to visit. What impressed me most was the simplicity and closeness of the General Secretary. Right after setting foot at the village communal house, the General Secretary approached to chat, kindly inquired and encouraged the people. I was honored to be a senior party member who spoke that day; after finishing his speech, the General Secretary approached to inquire and shook hands very affectionately. Although I know that everyone in life must go through the law of birth, aging, illness and death, when I heard the news of the General Secretary's passing, I still could not help but choke up, feel sorry and mourn.

Like Mr. Khai, Mr. Dao Van Sy, former Chairman of the Elderly Association of Thuy Van commune, was also honored to meet and talk with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Unable to hide his tears, Mr. Sy shared: I still clearly remember the image of the General Secretary, gentle and approachable with a warm, soft voice when talking to local officials and people. When visiting Thuy Van, the General Secretary highly appreciated the locality for promoting the tradition of the heroic revolutionary homeland, especially the spirit of self-reliance, promoting internal strength, proactively building the new rural area; and launching a widespread mass movement to mobilize all classes of people to participate. The General Secretary expressed his confidence and hope that Thuy Van will develop further and innovate more strongly. This year I have turned 84 years old, but following the example of the General Secretary, as long as I am healthy, I will continue to contribute to the local movement, contributing to the development of my homeland.

Cadres, party members and people of Thuy Van commune (Thai Thuy) always respectfully keep the memoirs of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Remember the General Secretary's advice

January 21, 2014 was a special day for the Party Committee and people of Thuy Van commune when it was honored to welcome the highest leader of the Party to visit and work when the locality was preparing to receive the decision of the province to recognize the achievement of national standards for NTM. At An Dinh communal house, in a warm and friendly atmosphere, after listening to the reports of the commune leaders and speeches of the Party members, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong highly appreciated the locality's experiences in mobilizing, propagating, and mobilizing the people's strength combined with the State's investment in building NTM with the motto of promoting internal strength as the main force, working from the fields, working from the alleys, and finally working at the offices; identifying the people as the main subject, the people do, the State supports. The commune budget and the people's contributions alone were more than 70 billion VND out of the total 92 billion VND invested in building welfare works according to NTM criteria. The commune prioritizes the construction of traffic works, irrigation works within the fields, then inter-village roads, schools, medical stations, waste treatment areas... Deeply impressed by the results of building new rural areas in the locality, according to the General Secretary, this movement has converged many factors, not only building works, facilities but also building people and a new lifestyle, cultural life, and spirit for the people. A very good point of Thuy Van is that it has proposed the policy of people doing, the State supporting instead of the State and the people doing together as before. Another important thing is that Thuy Van has aroused the movement and the strength of the masses to contribute to building the homeland through contributing money and donating land. Finishing early is Thuy Van's pride.

In his guestbook, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong wrote: “...I warmly welcome and congratulate the results and achievements that the Party Committee, government and people of Thuy Van commune have achieved in the past time, especially in the movement to build new rural areas and build an increasingly clean and strong Party. I believe and hope that Thuy Van will develop further and innovate more strongly...”.

Over the past 10 years, the Party Committee and people of Thuy Van have kept the notes written by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at An Dinh communal house as a guideline for solidarity in building an increasingly developed homeland. According to Mr. Vu Huu Tiep, Chairman of the Commune People's Committee: The recognition, encouragement and expectations of the General Secretary have become the driving force urging cadres, party members and people of Thuy Van to strive to compete and achieve many victories in recent years. Up to now, the commune has completed 16/19 criteria for advanced NTM; the appearance of the countryside is increasingly spacious and renewed; the material and spiritual life of the people is increasingly improved. The local Party Committee and people are focusing on striving, determined to reach the advanced NTM target in 2024, responding to the expectations and wishes of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong when he visited the locality. The passing of the General Secretary is a great loss to the Party and the nation, but more than ever, this is the time when we must uphold the spirit of solidarity, solidarity within the Party, solidarity around the Party as called for by the Politburo to successfully complete the assigned tasks.

Hope Thai Binh will develop more strongly and make more obvious breakthroughs.

During his visit and work in Thai Binh on January 21, 2014, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the Central working delegation came to offer incense in memory of comrade Nguyen Duc Canh and planted a memorial tree at the memorial site of comrade Nguyen Duc Canh in Diem Dien town (Thai Thuy). In his guestbook, the General Secretary wrote: “...I hope that the Party Committee, government and people of Thai Binh will always remember the merits of comrade Nguyen Duc Canh, strive to study, continue to promote the heroic tradition of the homeland, be active, creative, develop the economy - society, constantly improve the people's lives, build the homeland to be increasingly rich, civilized and modern, contributing to the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country...”.

Working with the Provincial Party Committee, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong praised and highly appreciated the achievements of the Party Committee and people of Thai Binh in the first 3 years of implementing the Resolution of the 18th Provincial Party Congress. In particular, Thai Binh has been proactive and creative in its research to carry out socio-economic development tasks with many innovative models and methods.

Suggesting and orienting the development of Thai Binh, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong requested the Party Committee and people in the province to continue to strive to complete the goals and tasks set out in the Resolution of the 18th Provincial Party Congress in the remaining 2 years of the 2010-2015 term. Based on the achieved results, analyzing the advantages, potentials, strengths, difficulties and advantages, Thai Binh needs to outline a development plan for the coming time and the following years in accordance with the conditions of a province with limited land and a large population. According to the General Secretary, Thai Binh still has potential and prospects for developing the marine, coastal, gas, electricity and coal economy. The problem is that Thai Binh must develop more strongly, make a more obvious breakthrough and still have to develop from agriculture. Agriculture must be high-quality agriculture, commodity agriculture, agriculture associated with processing and consumption of products.

In the work of Party building, the General Secretary requested that Party committees at all levels continue to better implement resolutions on Party building and political system building, especially Resolution of the 4th Central Committee (11th tenure) "Some urgent issues on Party building at present" in conjunction with the implementation of Directive No. 03-CT/TW of the Politburo on continuing to promote the study and following of Ho Chi Minh's moral example.

Taking to heart the advice of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, over the past 10 years, the Party Committee, government and people of Thai Binh have always upheld the spirit of solidarity, strived to develop the economy and society, build a clean and strong Party and political system, and cared for and improved people's lives. Now that the General Secretary has passed away, the special feelings and respect for the General Secretary still remain in the hearts of every Vietnamese person in general and every Thai Binh person in particular. "Suppressing grief into action", our entire Party, people and army continue to promote the spirit of solidarity, patriotic emulation, strive to work, study, train, and build a prosperous and happy country as the General Secretary's lifelong wish.