Activities mark 110th birth anniversary of General Vo Nguyen Giap

The ceremony to position the bust of General Vo Nguyen Giap at the relic site of the headquarters of the 1954 Dien Bien Phu Campaign (Photo: VNA)

Dien Bien (VNA) – Many activities have been heldin different localities to commemorate late General Vo Nguyen Giap on the occasionof his 110th birth anniversary (August 25, 1911 - 2021) and the 77th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (December 22, 1944 - 2021).

The northwestern province of Dien Bien held a ceremony onDecember 21 to position a bust of the brilliant military strategist, who wasalso called the “Eldest Brother” of the Vietnam People’s Army, at the relicsite of the headquarters of the 1954 Dien Bien Phu Campaign. This campaign wascommanded by General Giap and put an end to the French colonial rule in Vietnamand Indochina as a whole.

The bronze bust, 86cm in height and about 80kg in weight, isa small replica of his sandstone bust on Son Ca Island in the island districtof Truong Sa, Khanh Hoa province.

NguyenMinh Phu, Director of the Dien Bien provincial Department of Culture, Sportsand Tourism, said the placement of the bust at the former headquarters of theDien Bien Phu Campaign held great significance as this was where the commander-in-chiefof the army made many important decisions contributing to the globe-sharingvictory of the campaign.

Poet Nguyen Thi My Dung (L) and singer My Linh at the opening ceremony of the exhibition at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum on December 21 (Photo: VNA)

Also on December 21, a poem and photo exhibition opened atthe Vietnamese Women’s Museum in Hanoi to provide visitors an insight into thehistoric Dien Bien Phu victory, the daily life of General Giap,and people’s sentiment for him.

The event features 110 poems byteacher, poet, and journalist Nguyen Thi My Dung, who have written manyarticles and poems about the general for more than 20 years. The poems areaccompanied by photos taken by the Vietnam News Agency, journalist Dung herself, andphotographer Colonel Tran Hong.

The inauguration of the commemorative site dedicated to Youth Volunteer Company C283 in Thanh Trach commune of Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province (Photo: VNA)

The same day, the Central Committeeof the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union inaugurated a commemorative site dedicatedto Youth Volunteer Company C283 in Thanh Trach commune of Bo Trach district,the central province of Quang Binh - the hometown of General Giap.

ProfessorNguyen Huu Duc, former Deputy Director of the Vietnam National University,Hanoi, said during wartime, Quyet Thang hamlet of Thanh Trach commune was thetarget of many air attacks by the US military to destroy the route for transportingfood and weapons from the north to the south, and many young volunteers of the C283 company had died in the attacks.

On this occasion, manyother commemorative activities have also been organised, including handing overhouses and savings accounts to war veterans and former youth volunteers,presenting gifts to veteran revolutionaries and families of revolutioncontributors, and visiting the Heroic Vietnamese Mothers and veterans in Dong Hoicity of Quang Binh province./.

VNA