Vietnam ’s top leaders on July 27 laid a wreath and offered incense at the Monument to Heroes and Martyrs in Hanoi on the occasion of the 66th anniversary of Vietnam ’s War Invalids and Martyrs Day.

Present at the event were General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, and Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Huynh Dam, among others.

Later, they also paid tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum.

The same day, delegations from ministries, departments and municipal authorities also paid their homage at the monument and mausoleum.

On the occasion, a series of activities have been held at home and abroad to commemorate the heroic sacrifice of war invalids and martyrs.

In Phnom Penh , staff of the Vietnamese Embassy and media agencies together with Vietnamese expatriates in Cambodia on July 27 offered incense and flowers at a monument dedicated to Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who laid down their lives during the war in the country.

Since 2001, the two nations have jointly collected and repatriated the remains of nearly 15,000 Vietnamese martyrs to their home country.

Earlier on July 26, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended a ceremony to light 5,000 candles in a martyrs’ cemetery in Dien Ban district, the central province of Quang Nam.

He later joined with ministry representatives and local leaders to offer incense in memory of heroic martyrs at the cemetery.

The PetroVietnam Finance Corporation also presented five-year scholarships worth 500 million VND (23,800 USD) in total to 10 poor fresh students.

Billions of VND were also spent to present gifts, and build and repair houses for families of war heroes, ethnic minorities, orphans, the poor and those with disabilities in northern mountainous provinces of Lao Cai and Lang Son, the central province of Quang Ngai and Ninh Thuan, and the southern provinces of An Giang and Ben Tre.-VNA