EDITORIAL NOTE
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam People's Army (December 22, 1944 - December 22, 2024) and the 35th anniversary of the National Defense Day (December 22, 1989 - December 22, 2024), VietNamNet newspaper respectfully sends to readers articles, stories, memories, and commemorations... depicting the image of the Vietnam People's Army soldiers "born from the people, fighting for the people" and the 80-year journey of building, fighting, and growing up of the heroic Army.
The Hoang Dieu, Ly Nam De, Phan Dinh Phung areas... surrounding Hanoi citadel, during the period from after the Dien Bien Phu victory in 1954 to the great victory in the spring of 1975, were the residences of many families of officers and senior generals of Uncle Ho's Army working in the area of ​​the headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense, the General Staff, the General Department of Politics..., belonging to the Thang Long Imperial Citadel relic site today and also known as the "headquarters" of our army during the years of "fighting to drive out the Americans, fighting to overthrow the puppet government". There are "strange" stories that made the history of the nation in the Ho Chi Minh era... From Nguyen Binh district to thousands of miles of the East Sea... The meeting of generations of children and grandchildren of generals and senior officers of Uncle Ho's Army at the Headquarters on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam People's Army took place at a special location, on the morning of December 18, 2024, at the Vietnam Military History Museum. The third generation grandchild of Uncle Ho's soldiers chose a name for this intimate meeting. That is Ms. Truong Ngoc Anh, the granddaughter of General Vo Nguyen Giap. "From Nguyen Binh district to thousands of miles of the East Sea". Brief but it is the heroic and powerful history of our army from its founding to today. On December 22, 1944, in Nguyen Binh district (now Nguyen Binh district, Cao Bang province), following the Directive of President Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army was born. After 80 years of hardship, sacrifice, fighting, building and growing, to this day, our army has mastered the airspace, sea, islands, borders of the Fatherland and mastered and protected the sovereignty of the Fatherland in Vietnam's cyberspace. Uncle Ho's army is worthy of the prophetic verses of Trang Trinh Nguyen Binh Khiem "The East Sea is thousands of miles wide open to guard. “Long live the Vietnamese land in peace”… The name “From Nguyen Binh Chau to thousands of miles of the East Sea” was born with such meaning.

The meeting from "From Yuanping to the East Sea".

The general gave up his horse to the soldier Colonel Hoang Anh Tuan, grandson of the late General Hoang Van Thai, former Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, stood silently in front of the model of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. On that battlefield in the past, when journalists and writers from socialist countries followed our troops to the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, they were very surprised to see an action of comrade Hoang Van Thai, then Chief of Staff of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. The Czechoslovakian journalist told General Vo Nguyen Giap: "Your army is so strange! I don't see any difference between the general and the soldier." It turned out that the journalist that morning saw the image of comrade Hoang Van Thai, Chief of Staff of the campaign, giving up his horse to a soldier with a sore foot and wading through the stream with his boots. General, Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap at that time answered the Czechoslovakian journalist: "Our army is like that. The relationship between us is first and foremost that of comrades, comrades in arms”. That strange story is the source of the strength of our Army. The letter from the captain to his daughter before his death When Major General Hoang Sam, the first captain of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army (later became Commander of the Tri Thien Military Region), died at the end of 1968 on the Tri Thien battlefield after fierce carpet bombings from B52 aircraft of the American empire, Mr. Hoang Sung, son of Major General Hoang Sam, was only 10 years old. Today, standing in front of his father's photo at the founding ceremony of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army at the Vietnam Military History Museum, he sadly recalled the last letter his father sent to his sister Lan, dated November 11, 1968, just one month before Major General Hoang Sam died at the age of 53. "Dad went on a long business trip, there were hardships, but he was very excited, only worried about the young children, none of whom were independent, now that you and your mother were home alone, it was even sadder, so you all had to try your best to study hard, to make your mother happy, my children. Dad is always healthy, you can rest assured to study well". "Dad went on a long business trip, there were hardships... Dad is always healthy, you can rest assured to study well"... The luggage of Uncle Ho's soldiers at that time, from officers, generals to soldiers, was just that simple. Hardship and sacrifice, but hoping that those at home could rest assured about the soldiers on the front lines.

Mr. Hoang Sung next to a photo of his father - Captain of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army Hoang Sam on December 22, 1944.

On the day of the memorial service and funeral of Major General Hoang Sam, President Ho Chi Minh came to express his condolences to the family and send off the first captain of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army, his excellent student, to his comrades and comrades. Before the liberation of the South on April 30, 1975, our Army had less than 40 generals. The highest-ranking martyr of the Truong Son troops Among the more than 20,000 martyrs on the Truong Son road that day, Colonel and martyr Dang Tinh, Political Commissar of the Truong Son troops, was the one with the highest rank, military rank and perhaps the oldest age. He died at the age of 53. In the memory of Ms. Dang Mai Phuong, "the cleaver" was the nickname that General Van Tien Dung and his comrades and comrades used to refer to her fallen father - an officer who was always assigned by the Party and Uncle Ho to undertake extremely difficult tasks in important areas. And he - Commander of the Air Defense - Air Force; Political Commissar of Group 559, Truong Son Army - always completed the mission excellently. On October 21, 1971, Ms. Mai Phuong, at that time a communications soldier of Company 11, Regiment 26, Air Defense - Air Force, wrote a few lines of poetry to her father: ... Hello my father Hello comrade Hello "poet" Have a good trip When America is over Dad will return to the rear! The female communications soldier could not reunite with her father on the day of total victory. Colonel Dang Tinh sacrificed in April 1973 during a business trip. He sacrificed in the arms of Truong Son soldiers, just two years before the day the South was completely liberated. The last business trip of the political commissar before going to the North to receive a new mission that was later revealed to be more important than the mission he was in charge of at that time. Those were the daily stories in the families of the "headquarters" during those years. In the morning, he still went to work as usual. In the afternoon, I hurriedly returned home, packed my things, said goodbye to my wife and children, and received orders to go to war. “I’m going to B”, “I’ll write a letter to you and the children”, “Stay home, take care of your health, take care of the children”, “Remember to write a letter to your mother, tell her I’m going on a business trip”…

Martyr Dang Tinh (front row, 7th from right) with his comrades before his sacrifice.

The farewells to the battlefield of high-ranking officers at the "headquarters" are similar to the farewells to the battlefield of countless other soldiers and families of soldiers in the rear. There is waiting, anxiety, pride, hope and even sacrifice. A story whose name the narrator wishes to remain anonymous is the confession of her father, also a high-ranking officer at the "headquarters". He confided in his daughter when he heard the news of his close comrade, Colonel Dang Tinh's sacrifice. "Uncle Dang Tinh should have been the one to see me off, but I didn't expect him to be the one to see me off." At that time, like any other Uncle Ho soldiers, they often volunteered to take on difficult and arduous tasks in place of their comrades... When they heard the news of their comrades' sacrifices, they all understood that if it wasn't their comrades, it would be themselves. Because that was the mission of every Uncle Ho soldier to the nation and the country. Children of generals but not generals If not introduced, perhaps no one can distinguish the children and grandchildren of the "headquarters" of Uncle Ho's Army from the crowds of people visiting the Vietnam Military History Museum these days. They are the families of General Vo Nguyen Giap, General Van Tien Dung, General Hoang Van Thai, General Le Trong Tan, Senior Lieutenant General Song Hao, Senior Lieutenant General Phung The Tai, the late Minister of National Defense Ta Quang Buu, Major General Hoang Sam... Each name is a story, a part of history in the Ho Chi Minh era. Folklore often says "the king's son will become a king". But in the group of families at the "headquarters" visiting the Vietnam Military History Museum today, I only met one major general. And in the hundreds of families of high-ranking officers at the "headquarters" at that time, although many children and grandchildren followed their parents' footsteps and became Uncle Ho's soldiers, the number of general-ranking officers could be counted on the fingers of one hand... During the difficult war years and later, when the country was unified, the generals at the "headquarters" did not give any special privileges to their children and grandchildren.

Third generation descendants of the "headquarters" at the meeting.

A grandchild's confession at the meeting will probably make many people think: "When he was alive, my grandfather often said that, back then, there were many soldier families, husbands and wives, children far away from each other to go to war. And many soldiers, his comrades and comrades could not return to reunite with their families on the day of victory. I understand that what he has today such as houses, military ranks, positions... are all the blood and bones of his comrades and comrades who sacrificed. He and his comrades who are still alive and have returned all consider what they are enjoying as the comrades they sacrificed to entrust them to live on, to live well, to be worthy. To live worthy of that sacrifice and entrustment is very difficult. We just try to live more decently...". And the most difficult thing to write, the most difficult to say, and the one that leaves the most feelings on this occasion of December 22nd, is this 4th strange story, the story that will continue to be "commissioned" to be preserved through the next generations of Uncle Ho's Army at the "Determined Victory Headquarters".