Localities celebrate 55th anniversary of Truong Son Road opening (May 19, 1959 - 2014)

(Baonghean.vn) -On the morning of May 17, the Truong Son - Ho Chi Minh Trail Tradition Association of Vinh City held a ceremony to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the opening of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Over 1,000 members and representatives of relevant departments and associations at the provincial and city levels attended.

Cultural program to celebrate the anniversary

Delegates attending the ceremony

55 years ago, on May 19, 1959, Group 559 was established and organized to open a strategic road named after Uncle Ho to support the Southern battlefield. In a short time, the Truong Son road with 5 vertical axes, 21 horizontal axes, a total of nearly 17 thousand kilometers of motorized roads, 3 thousand kilometers of liaison roads and tens of thousands of kilometers of communication lines were completed. At the same time, 1,400 kilometers of petroleum pipelines ran along the East and West Truong Son straight into the Southern battlefield. The Truong Son road, stretching across 11 provinces of Vietnam, 7 provinces of Laos and 4 provinces in the Northeast of Cambodia, was bombed by enemy air forces in 733,000 sorties with more than 4 million tons of various types of bombs and ammunition.

In 16 years, we transported more than 1 million tons of weapons, food and other necessities to support the battlefields. In 1973 - 1975 alone, we transported more than 400,000 troops, 25 technical weapon groups, and 10 main force divisions to participate in the battlefields. From the first 500 soldiers, by 1975, the 559 Command had 9 divisions, arms and 21 subordinate regiments, including 100,000 officers and soldiers and 10,000 Youth Volunteers. The Truong Son Air Defense Force shot down 2,455 enemy aircraft on the spot, destroyed and captured more than 17,700 enemies, firmly protected the corridors and the transport force to support the battlefields. The forces of the 559 Group directly served and participated in the fight until the day the South was completely liberated.

Moment of silence in memory of fallen comrades.

Former comrades in Truong Son

Among those great achievements and feats of arms of Group 559, there were worthy contributions from officers and soldiers from Nghe An in general and Vinh City in particular. Among them, many were awarded the title of Hero of the Armed Forces, Brave American Destroyer and were awarded many orders and medals of various kinds.

Currently, after 2 years of establishment, the Truong Son - Ho Chi Minh Trail Traditional Association has over 1,300 members operating in 24 ward and commune Liaison Committees. Initially, the association has achieved some results in helping each other overcome difficulties in life, encouraging children and grandchildren to contribute to building the homeland to be worthy of the contributions of previous generations.

Viet Long

On May 17, the Truong Son Troops Liaison Committee in Que Phong district held a ceremony to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the opening of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Truong Son Troops Traditional Day (May 19, 1959 - May 19, 2014).

Attending the event were veteran comrades who were former Truong Son soldiers, former youth volunteers, frontline laborers... who fought in the Truong Son battlefield, opening the historic Ho Chi Minh trail.

Awarding the Truong Son Soldier Medal to war veterans with outstanding achievements.

The delegates listened to the traditional report of the Truong Son Veterans Association; listened to many opinions and comments recalling the glorious and heroic historical memories that contributed to the great victory of the spring of 1975, unifying the country.

At the ceremony, the Truong Son Troops Liaison Committee elected 6 delegates to attend the provincial Truong Son Troops Traditional Day celebration on May 19; awarded the Truong Son - Ho Chi Minh Trail Soldier Medal to 17 war veterans with outstanding achievements in activities and actively building the Truong Son Troops Association in the area in recent times.

Lang Manh Hung

Fatherland Front of Que Phong district