President Truong Tan Sang on April 26 presented the title “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” to a collective of revolutionaries who were once detained in the offshore Con Dao Prison in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

He also presented that title to Phan Trong Binh, former Vice Secretary of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau provincial Party Committee, and the posthumous title to relatives of Pham Quoc Sac, Nguyen Minh and Le Van Mot, who, together with Binh, were prominent fighters in the prison.

At the ceremony, Sang, other Party and State leaders, and 350 former Con Dao prisoners from 35 cities and provinces nationwide, recounted the staunch spirit that kept the imprisoned revolutionaries going through the brutal torture at Con Dao prison.

Built in 1862 by the French colonists, Con Dao Prison was turned into the largest “Hell on Earth” in Indochina as it is where some 20,000 imprisoned Vietnamese revolutionaries were tortured to death for fighting against the French colonialists and American imperialists, from 1930 to 1975.

The prison’s history is a heroic epic singing the praises of the patriotism, the dedicated fighting spirit, and the endless loyalty of generations of the revolutionaries who were physically jailed only.

The prison served as a theory and practicality training school for such outstanding leaders of Vietnam as late President Ton Duc Thang, late Party General Secretary Le Duan, and late Party General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh.

On March 23, a certificate honouring the prison as a special national relic was handed over to the authorities of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

The title is a confirmation of the historical relic’s great value, contributing to educating younger generations on the nation’s heroic history.-VNA