A solemn ceremony was held in Hanoi on December 20 to celebrate the 70th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) and the All People’s Defense Day (December 22).
On this occasion, President Truong Tan Sang awarded the nation's highest honor, the Gold Star Order, to the VPA in recognition of its great contributions to the revolutionary cause of the nation.
Attending the event were Party General Secretary and Chairman of the Party Central Committee's Military Commission, Nguyen Phu Trong, President Sang, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, former Party and State leaders and leaders of the Defense Ministry.
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Addressing the ceremony, Sang expressed greetings to Heroic Vietnamese mothers, heroes of the people's armed forces, war veterans, and all officers and soldiers of the VPA.
Over the past seven decades, under the absolute, direct and comprehensive leadership of the Party and with the people's support, the VPA has overcome all hardships and difficulties to achieve great victories in the cause of liberating and defending the nation and fulfilling international duties, he said.
Noting complicated and unpredictable developments in the region and the world, the President stressed the Party and State’s steadfast will in upholding the goals of national independence and socialism.
Sang also required the VPA to improve its combative strength on the foundations of being a revolutionary, regular, elite, and gradually modernizing army.
On the occasion, the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party sent a congratulatory message; saying behind every victory achieved by the Vietnamese Revolution was the dedication of and huge sacrifices made by the VPA
Conveyed in the message, the Party, State, army and people of Laos were grateful for the constant support of their Vietnamese counterparts in the past struggles for their independence and the current process of national construction and defense.
A similar message of congratulations was also sent by Chairman of the Cambodia People's Party Chea Sim to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
He wrote that the Cambodia People's Party, the Government, army and people of Cambodia were grateful to the VPA for its help in liberating them from the genocidal Pol Pot regime.-
