The Committee for Hoa People Affairs in Ho Chi Minh City on April 25 held a ceremony to receive the State President’s awards in recognition of the outstanding sacrifices the Hoa people have made to the nation during the US war.

President Nguyen Minh Triet granted the title “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” to the Hoa People Mobilization Board in charge of the Saigon-Cho Lon-Gia Dinh special zone (now the HCM City Committee for Hoa People Affairs) and To Cam Vinh – an ex-member of the board’s special taskforce.

He also conferred posthumously the “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” title on Truong Thanh – a fallen soldier who used to head team 198 of the Young Volunteers Force (the Young Volunteers’ Federation of the south liberation force).

The decoration, which coincides with the 35 th anniversary of the Liberation of Southern Vietnam, reflects the Party and State’s gratitude to the immense services and sacrifices the Hoa people had rendered to the nation’s liberation and reunification.

The State has recognized 235 fallen soldiers and eight Heroic Mothers of the Hoa ethnic group during the US war. Nearly 1,000 Hoa people were captured, imprisoned and tortured by the US troops and the Saigon regime, and hundreds of others suffered from serious physical and mental injuries from the war.

Nghi Doan, former chief of the Hoa People Mobilisation Board of the Saigon-Cho Lon-Gia Dinh special zone and the HCM City Committee for Hoa People Affairs, recalled that under the Party’s leadership, Hoa revolutionary soldiers and people enthusiastically joined the fight against the imperialist invaders and their Saigon puppet troops for national liberation and reunification.

He affirmed that the Hoa people in the country’s biggest economic hub today will work harder to contribute to defending and building the country and developing their city more prosperously./.