An emotional gala night was held at the Hanoi Opera House on July 21 to mark the 64 th anniversary of the War Invalids and Soldiers’ Day (July 27).

“The wounded soldier still comes to the village’s school, still uses the guitar to teach children…” was part of the lyric of the song, “Round-shaped Footprints on the Sand” by Tran Tien.

The song was composed 30 years ago about a wounded soldier after the war. The powerful image of a war invalid with crutches was familiar to many Vietnamese people.

Audiences to the gala were moved to tears while they listened to songs on war invalids, soldiers and Vietnamese heroic mothers and when meeting war invalids, who were living with spirit and were “disabled but not discarded”.

Audiences, including Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan, other Party and Government officials, numerous war invalids and relatives of soldiers, met with war invalids Tran Thi Hong and Bui Anh Tuan, who told stories about their sacrifices and their army comrades.

The gala was aimed at teaching young people about the older generations and their services to the nation.

The programme raised 1.75 billion VND as contributions from individuals and enterprises to present to families of soldiers in Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Tri and Hanoi .

At the event, Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan handed over 10 bank account books to families of soldiers in Hanoi./.