Meeting with former Russian soldier who helped Vietnam

Former Soviet military experts who helped Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin incident met in Moscow.

On August 5, 1968, with the “Gulf of Tonkin incident”, the US sent planes to escalate bombing in the North and on this historic first day, they were dealt fatal blows by the Vietnamese missile force with the wholehearted help of Soviet military experts. And now, it has become a tradition that every year on August 5, in the capital Moscow (Russia), a touching meeting between former Soviet military experts and Vietnamese friends takes place. The 44th meeting took place on August 5 at the Vietnamese Embassy.

Former Soviet military expert at meeting

Touching, intimate... are the feelings of hundreds of veterans, now with white hair and no longer wearing military uniforms... They came together to recall beautiful memories of a difficult but also proud period of comradeship and brotherhood between Russian and Vietnamese soldiers, of those who were always ready to sacrifice their blood for the national independence of Vietnam. Now they have the opportunity to share with each other the joy of the progress and maturity of their Vietnamese friends in the cause of building a peaceful country today.

Speaking at the meeting, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to the Russian Federation Pham Xuan Son happily informed the veterans, former military experts of Russia and some former Soviet republics, and numerous delegates... about the important achievements of the Vietnamese people after the end of the war, in which the contributions of Soviet military experts were very noteworthy.

Ambassador Pham Xuan Son affirmed: “The relationship between our two countries has strong roots, built with difficulties, hardships, even the blood of the children of the Soviet people, the Russian people and Vietnam... and is still growing strongly. Today we continue to carry out this task. In our hearts, Russia, Russian friends, Russian people and Soviet friends have a special place. I want to affirm to you that, following the teachings of beloved President Ho Chi Minh, implementing the policies of the State and people of Vietnam, continuing the path of previous generations, following their example... the Vietnamese people, the Vietnamese people and we - the diplomats... will do our best to further develop the good friendship and strong cooperation between us”.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Pham Xuan Son speaks in gratitude to former Russian and Soviet military experts.

Next, representatives of the Veterans Association, representatives of the Associations of Former Russian and Soviet Military Experts from provinces and cities of the Russian Federation and some CIS Republics expressed their gratitude for such brotherly meetings and gave many words of praise to the Vietnamese people and the heroic Vietnamese army in combat and active in working to build the country.

Not only did the former Russian military experts who were present during the war in Vietnam come to the meeting, but each year a few more people were lost... many relatives of the former Russian experts were also present at this 44th meeting. Ms. Elena Ivanovna Rudolfovna, daughter of Veteran Rudolfovanov, Commander of Battalion 63, Regiment 236, one of the two battalions that participated in the first battle of the Vietnamese missile troops, came to the meeting with a photo of her father in her hand. He passed away in 2012 and so this was the first meeting she attended, although she had heard her father talk a lot about the war in Vietnam, about the camaraderie and about these meetings.

She said emotionally: “I want to say that Russian and Vietnamese veterans should tell their children and grandchildren more about brotherhood, about memories of fighting together in the trenches... so that friendship will last forever in the younger generation, so that everyone can understand how victory was achieved. This war was a sacred war, we were together, our people, including my father, contributed to the final victory. We will remember this forever and I hope everyone will remember it. Friendship will be an example for our children.”

The meeting ended with friendship songs, Russian and Vietnamese songs performed by professional and amateur singers of the Vietnamese community in Russia and received enthusiastic applause from many delegates./.

According to vov.vn - LT