'Forever worthy of being Uncle Ho's soldier'

PV: During these historic days with many important celebrations such as the 31st anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Association (December 6, 1989 - December 6, 2020), the 76th anniversary of the Vietnam People's Army (December 22, 1944 - December 22, 2020), as a former soldier, what are your thoughts and feelings at this moment?

Colonel Nguyen Ngoc Tran: Every December, veterans like us are filled with emotions. As Uncle Ho's soldiers who have gone through wars to protect the country, when looking at the beautiful life today, we remember the old days, remember our comrades and comrades who sacrificed; and then feel more grateful to our compatriots and comrades who fell for the cause of fighting for national liberation, building a peaceful and prosperous country... In December, we often organize meetings, exchange, review memories of the battlefield and relate them to today's life; from there, encourage each other to overcome the difficulties and challenges of everyday life, continue to devote ourselves to the tasks and responsibilities assigned to each person.

Colonel Nguyen Ngoc Tran - Vice President of Nghe An Province Veterans Association. Photo: Thanh Cuong

As veterans, we still closely follow the activities of the armed forces in general and the army in particular. Through that, we understand more about the lives of soldiers today, sympathize and share the difficulties that our comrades and teammates have gone through. We must say that we are very proud of what the army officers and soldiers have done and are doing.

Even more touching is the fact that the military officers and soldiers are at the forefront, proactively and excellently performing the tasks of rescue, disaster prevention and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters. The sad story at Rao Trang 3 Hydropower Plant (Thua Thien Hue) with 11 officers and soldiers sacrificed; in Huong Hoa (Quang Tri) with 22 officers and soldiers of Military Region 4 sacrificed in the storm in October 2020... has shown the courage and great sacrifice of the officers and soldiers. They have become typical examples of the spirit of self-sacrifice for the Fatherland and the people.

Funeral ceremony for martyrs who died at Rao Trang 3 Hydropower Plant (Thua Thien Hue) at Vinh City Martyrs Cemetery. Photo: Thanh Cuong

We are very moved and proud of the generation of military officers and soldiers today. The country and the military environment have trained and educated officers and soldiers - excellent children who are ready to sacrifice to save the people in times of trouble. The officers and soldiers have steadfastly followed the path chosen by the Party. The nature of Uncle Ho's soldiers has always been maintained.

Reporter: Uncle Ho's soldiers from Nghe An in the past did not hesitate to sacrifice for the cause of national liberation. And today, what efforts have those soldiers made and are making in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland?

Colonel Nguyen Ngoc Tran: In our province, there are currently over 175,000 veterans (ranked 3rd in the country). This is a large, powerful force, gathered under the Veterans Association - an organization within the political system... With the nature of Uncle Ho's soldiers, returning to the Veterans Association environment, the former soldiers have focused on building a clean and strong association, excellently completing the tasks assigned by the Central Association and local authorities.

The most important and major task that veterans focus on is to participate in building and protecting the Party, the government, the socialist regime, the people, maintaining political stability at the grassroots level, contributing to the cause of building and protecting the Fatherland. With this task, veterans in the province have always been exemplary in speaking and acting in accordance with the Resolution; actively propagating and mobilizing people to comply with the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, and local regulations. When hostile and erroneous viewpoints appear, veterans, in addition to being an active force in the struggle, also stand up to help people clearly recognize what is right and what is wrong.

In localities, the Veterans Association, under the leadership and direction of Party committees and authorities, has coordinated with departments and branches to develop programs and plans to carry out the tasks of the association and the locality. In 2020, the Veterans Association actively participated in contributing ideas to draft documents to be submitted to Party Congresses at all levels, with over 10,000 comments. The opinions of veterans were all recognized and highly appreciated because they contained enthusiasm, responsibility, a high sense of construction, with many practical initiatives and proposals.

Veterans have also done a good job of grasping the situation at the grassroots level; advising and proposing to the government policies and measures to resolve the situation and incidents arising at the grassroots level. In 2020, the association at all levels resolved over 800 cases, especially those in key areas such as religious areas and borders; as well as effectively preventing sabotage tricks of hostile forces and religious extremists.

The veteran's model of growing Xa Doai oranges brings high income in Nghi Dien commune, Nghi Loc district. Photo: Document

When soldiers complete their missions and return to civilian life, many people in their localities face many difficulties. Associations at all levels have encouraged veterans to promote the spirit of self-reliance and overcome the difficulties of soldiers; exploit collective and individual resources to support and help veterans, produce and do business, expand industries, escape poverty and strive to become rich legitimately. Up to now, the whole province has only 1.59% of veteran households being poor, down 0.51% compared to 2019. 13 district-level units have no more poor households. The proportion of fairly rich veteran households is over 70%, up 0.7% compared to 2019.

Veterans in the province are always active, exemplary, leading, and proactive in participating in campaigns and movements, contributing to the effective implementation of projects and programs for socio-economic development, national security and defense in the locality. The most prominent is the implementation of the campaign "All people unite to participate in building new rural areas and civilized urban areas". In 2020, veterans in the province undertook 364 projects (with a total value of over 11 billion VND); participated in nearly 55,000 working days, donated 114,200 m2 of land, donated assets on land and artifacts worth 6.25 billion VND... contributing to building criteria for communes to reach the new rural finish line. Notable are veterans in Vinh City, Yen Thanh District, Nghi Loc, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan...

In the movement to protect national security, veterans are the core in localities. When the Formosa incident occurred, religious extremist forces took advantage of this event to incite and sabotage, while the veteran force was fully aware of its responsibility to fight ideologically and oppose these actions in order to contribute to protecting the Party and the grassroots government. Up to now, the whole province has established 1,835 veteran models participating in maintaining security and order. Veterans have joined local police and military forces to patrol and guard, keeping peace in villages and neighborhoods. In Hoang Mai town, Quynh Luu, Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc districts... there are many Veteran Security and Order Protection Clubs operating effectively.

The Chairman of the Association of War Veterans and the Secretary of the Youth Union of Dien Tan Commune (Dien Chau) learn about the feedback from the Party Committee and people of Hamlet 1 about the model of honorary Youth Union Secretary. Photo: Archive

In addition, veterans have also actively participated in the movement to support and contribute to various funds to build the homeland. In 2020, veterans in the province contributed over 27 billion VND, of which over 7 billion VND was to support the Covid-19 Pandemic Prevention Fund, 11.8 billion VND to support the Central region people affected by storms and floods, not to mention many other materials.

PV: It can be said that, at present, veterans are a core force in building the homeland and the country. With their awareness and responsibility, veterans have continuously paid attention to building the association and nurturing the younger generation. In the coming time, how will the "old bamboo" generation help the "new bamboo" generation??

Colonel Nguyen Ngoc Tran: According to the law of time, the number of veterans will gradually decrease. Currently, the class of veterans fighting against the French in our province has only over 3,000 people; 50% of veteran members are soldiers in peacetime. We are always aware of the law and then try to continue to pass on the good tradition of Uncle Ho's Army, as General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong said "Forever Uncle Ho's Army, always Uncle Ho's Army" to the next generation. Specifically, the association at all levels always focuses on recruiting new members according to the association's regulations; strengthening traditional education activities, fostering moral qualities, revolutionary ideals, and working methods for the young generation and new members of the association.

The Association of War Veterans of Anh Son district held an inauguration ceremony and handed over a house of gratitude to veteran Truong Cong Xuan in village 9, Tho Son commune. Photo: Archive

The previous generation of veterans has helped the next generation of veterans by thoroughly grasping the directives, resolutions, leadership and direction of the Party committees and authorities; updating information on the social situation to guide the brothers, not allowing negative phenomena to dominate; taking the implementation of Directive 05 of the Party Central Committee on promoting the study and following of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and lifestyle as a regular task of the association organization and regular training of the members. Thanks to that, the veterans have always maintained their political will, becoming a "support" and "trust" at the grassroots level. Recently, in the summary of 4 years of implementing the directive, there have been 1,422 typical veterans. For example, the Do Luong Veterans Association with the movement of each person saving 2,000 VND/month following the example of Uncle Ho to support the construction of comrades' houses. With this movement, in 2 years, the Veterans Association of Do Luong district has received 540 million VND to repair and rebuild 20 houses for comrades in difficult circumstances.

In addition to building their own organizations, veterans have actively participated in educating the younger generation and consider this a regular task. Veterans, with a clear awareness of the value of a free and independent life, have been very responsible in imparting their experiences, patriotism, and revolutionary heroism to the younger generation. Every year, in the province, veterans have organized over 1,000 patriotic traditional talks for hundreds of thousands of young people; coordinated with agencies, departments, and branches to organize tens of thousands of marches to the source, pay tribute, visit cemeteries, visit old battlefields, exchange and discuss, and tell stories to the younger generation. In particular, veterans in the province have built a model of the President of the Veterans Association concurrently being the Honorary Secretary of the Youth Union. Up to now, there have been 77 branch presidents who are honorary branch secretaries, concentrated in Dien Chau, Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen districts... This year, veterans have trained and introduced 887 outstanding union members to the branch to become party members.

PV: Thank you!