The role and historic significance of voluntary Vietnamese soldiers in Lower Laos and northeast Cambodia were featured in an international scientific workshop in the central province of Quang Ngai on April 18.

On August 19, 1948 in Nghia Hanh district, Quang Ngai province, a group of Vietnamese volunteer armed force departed for Lower Laos, marking a significant historic milestone and a close coordination between the Inter-region V Party Central Committee and Lower Laos and northeast Cambodia.

During the anti-French war, they stood side by side with their Lao and Cambodian fellows to wipe out thousands of enemy troops and liberate a vast rural areas and towns.

Years later in Lower Laos, they lent their support to breaking the “Special War” and “Intensified Special War” strategies hatched by the US troops.

From 1970 when the American imperialists deployed forces to expand the war to Cambodia, the voluntary Vietnamese soldiers actively helped the country develop armed forces and waged large-scale campaigns defeating 100,000 of the American troops, laying a solid groundwork for Phnom Penh liberation on April 17, 1975.

Permanent Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Quang Thich said the workshop will offer more materials as a basis to submit a proposal on upgrading a relic site that witnessed a farewell ceremony for Vietnamese soldiers heading to Lower Laos and northeast Cambodia.

Pham Van Duc, Vice President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), said agencies concerned are seeking to upgrade the site into a national historic relic.

The workshop, co-hosted by the provincial People’s Committee and the VASS, collected a total of 52 reports relevant to its theme from scholars, scientists and historians.

Participants also talked about how to restore, preserve and uphold the scientific, historical and cultural values of the site.-VNA