The Party and State always acknowledge and express their deep gratitude for the great contributions and sacrifice of former political prisoners during the war, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said.

Deputy PM Phuc made the affirmation while meeting with a delegation of former political prisoners from the central province of Quang Ngai in Hanoi on July 23.

He added that the Party and State have put forward guidelines and policies to help former political prisoners overcome difficulties and continue contributing to the cause of national construction and defence.

Tens of thousands of Quang Ngai-born people had participated in the national struggle for unification and independence and hundreds of them were killed in jails, said the Deputy PM, noting their sacrifice is great and respectable.

On the occasion of the 66th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day (July 27), the Defence Ministry has also conducted an array of activities.

The Ministry on July 23 granted Quang Tri provincial People’s Committee 12 billion VND to help the central province upgrade and restore the martyrs’ cemetery in Huong Hoa district.

The money was donated by officials, soldiers and military businesses to honour martyrs who laid down their lives for national liberation and unification.

On July 22, Lieutenant General Dao Duy Minh, Deputy Director of the General Department of Politics under the Vietnam People’s Army, visited and presented gifts to Vietnamese heroic mothers and war invalids at a nursing centre in Quang Nam province.

Earlier, on July 21, a delegation from the Logistics Department presented gifts to Vietnamese heroic mothers in Binh Duong commune, Thang Binh district.-VNA

Other activities such as handing over houses of gratitude and providing free health check-ups and medicine to elderly people and families that have contributed to the country’s revolution have also been carried out in other localities in the province.