The Hanoi Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union holds a candle lighting ceremony at the martyrs’ cemetery of Hanoi in the evening of July 26 to pay tribute to heroes and martyrs. The event is attended by central and municipal officials, Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, families of contributors to the revolution, along with over 3,000 local young people and members of the youth union. The candles lit up at martyrs’ cemeteries and monuments across 30 inner and outlying districts and towns in the capital city are the demonstration of today’s people’s gratitude to heroes and martyrs who laid down their lives for the sake of the Fatherland’s independence and freedom. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
The candle lighting ceremony aims to demonstrate the young’s sentiment and responsibility towards heroes and martyrs who devoted their lives to the national liberation and defence. This year marks the 73rd Ward Invalids and Martyrs’ Day, which is a special occasion for the entire country to commemorate millions of martyrs and war invalids who sacrificed their lives and health during the wars. In 1947, just two years after President Ho Chi Minh delivered the declaration of independence that established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the first decree on preferential policies for war invalids and fallen soldiers was issued. July 27 was designated as the national war invalids’ day, which was later renamed the War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
This is an activity organised by the Hanoi Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in coordination with military and public security units and nearly 1,000 youth people and members of the youth union who are studying and working in the capital city. To mark the 73rd Ward Invalids and Martyrs’ Day, the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union issued a plan on a series of activities nationwide to pay tribute to heroes and martyrs and also to educate the young on patriotism and the revolutionary tradition. Those activities include candle lighting ceremonies at martyrs’ cemeteries and monuments on July 26. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Thousands of candles are lit up at the Hanoi martyrs’ cemetery at 9pm of July 26. Similar activities have also been held across the country over the past days to pay freedom of Vietnam. On July 25, a delegation of the Party, State, National Assembly and homage to heroes and martyrs who exchanged their lives for the independence and Government, including Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, paid a floral tribute to martyrs at the Monument to Heroes and Martyrs and visited the Mausoleum of President Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi on the occasion of the 73rd War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
The solemn atmosphere of the candle lighting ceremony at the Hanoi martyrs’ cemetery in the evening of July 26. Apart from paying homage to the fallen heroes and soldiers, various activities have also been carried out nationwide to care for contributors to the revolution. This year, to mark the 73rd anniversary of the War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day, the Government decided to present more than 330 billion VND (about 14 million USD) to those who contributed to the national revolution as a way to express gratitude to them. The cost has been set aside in the State budget plan for 2020. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Major General Nguyen Quoc Duyet, member of the Standing Board of the Hanoi Party Committee, Vice Secretary of the Party Committee and Commander of the Hanoi High Command, offers incense to martyrs at their graves at the ceremony on July 26 evening. This year, the municipal People’s Committee decided to spend more than 100 billion VND sourced from the city’s budget on presenting over 125,000 gift packages to policy beneficiaries, including Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, war invalids, martyrs’ families, and those fighting in resistance wars and infected with chemical toxics. It also assigned local authorities to visit and present gifts to revolution contributor caring facilities and management boards of martyrs’ cemeteries. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Practical activities by the youth of Hanoi have helped educate local young people on the country’s tradition of gratitude. To celebrate the 73rd War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day, Hanoi authorities are working to raise nearly 22 billion VND for the city’s gratitude fund, present nearly 2,800 saving books (worth at least 1 million VND each) to policy beneficiaries, and repair 67 monuments to martyrs. The city is also assisting house repairs and upgrades for 223 families of revolution contributors. It targets that 100 percent of revolution contributors’ families will have stable living standards that are equal to or higher than the average in their residential areas. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
The candles lit up represent today’s people’s profound sentiment and gratitude to the heroes, who laid down their lives for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland. Candle lighting ceremonies are among a series of activities held nationwide by units of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union to mark the 73rd War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day. Apart from these ceremonies, the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union also coordinated with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and relevant ministries, sectors and localities to organise a gathering of Heroic Vietnamese Mothers from nationwide in Hanoi on July 25 (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Apart from the over 3,000 local young people and members of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, members of martyrs’ families also come to the ceremony to light up candles and incense to commemorate martyrs. Other commemoration and gratitude activities include cleaning up the environment at martyrs’ cemeteries, repairing monuments to and graves of heroes and martyrs, caring for Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, visiting and presenting gifts to war invalids, martyrs’ families, former youth volunteers, war veterans, revolution contributors and people infected affected by Agent Orange/dioxin. Via those activities, units of the Youth Union also introduce outstanding young martyrs in the struggle for national independence and reunification to the youth (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Nguyen Van Phuoc, a resident in Phu Thuong ward of Hanoi’s Tay Ho district, visits the grave of his father, who was martyr Nguyen Van Thach. Sitting beside the grave for a very long time, he seems to have a lot of things to say to one of the heroes of not only his but also the whole nation. According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, apart from identified martyrs, there are still more than 300,000 graves of martyrs with headstones reading “Unknown martyr”, “Name remains unknown” or “Grave of unidentified martyr” at present. They are located at over 3,000 cemeteries nationwide. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Via candles, incense and the moment of silence, people show their respect for the heroes and martyrs. To express gratitude to the fallen contributors to the Fatherland, the Party and State have paid heed to the planning and upgrading of martyrs’ cemeteries into places of spiritual culture, which are meant to both pay tribute to martyrs and educate the young on the revolution. In 2014, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs issued Joint Circular No. 13/2014/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC on the building and management of facilities commemorating martyrs. This circular stipulates that in cases of lacking information about the dead, the headstones must be engraved with “Grave of an unidentified martyr”, instead of “Unknown”. The sector is striving to complete the correction of content on such headstones in 2020. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Youth union members always keep candles burning throughout the ceremony. More than 3,000 martyrs’ cemeteries nationwide and the thousands of monuments built in former battlefields have been rehabilitated regularly and have become popular destinations for millions of Vietnamese people every July. Each year, martyrs’ cemeteries also receive martyrs’ remains brought back from former battlefields, along with Laos and Cambodia. The search for, repatriation and identification of martyrs have never stopped. To identify martyrs’ remains that still lack information, in the first half of 2020, the Department of National Devotees under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs handled 650 cases, including 411 samples of remains kept at the gene bank, 239 others sent by martyrs’ relatives for DNA testing and 301 samples of martyrs’ relatives. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
A number of Hanoi residents come to the candle lighting ceremony to commemorate heroes and martyrs. To push ahead with the identification of unknown martyrs, in the last half of 2020, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs is coordinating with ministries, sectors and localities to carry out this task with positivism and DNA testing. Efforts to repatriate remains and identify martyrs are demonstrations of people’s gratitude to and respect for the ones who laid down their lives for the sake of the nation’s independence and freedom. Every July, more than 3,000 martyrs’ cemeteries are lit up to commemorate the martyrs reburied there, as well as hundreds of thousands of others still resting somewhere in the embrace of the Motherland. (Photo: VietnamPlus) VNA
