Set a shining example of ideals in life and fighting

(Baonghean) - The winter cold seemed to be dispelled by the bright and warm smiles and tight handshakes and hugs on the reunion day of the generals from Nghe An. Today, more than 80 generals from Nghe An and generals from other provinces who are working and retired here had a friendly meeting organized by the Provincial People's Committee in Vinh City. The generals, many of whom had gray hair, were all excited, emotional and hopeful about the prosperity and renewal of their hometown Nghe An. The joy and emotion were also because this was a reunion of fellow countrymen, comrades and teammates, some of whom had once fought in the same trenches to "share life" and "share death". After the smiles and handshakes were the conversations and confidences about old memories, the time of cutting grass and herding buffalo, the time of bombs and smoke and today's family life, the confidences seemed to never end...

Major General Vo Trong Thanh meets with former leaders of Nghe An province. Photo: PV

Currently, Nghe An has 99 generals (of whom 17 have sacrificed and passed away) and 11 generals from other provinces are working and retiring in the area. Compared to the whole country, Nghe An is considered one of the localities that has produced and gathered the most generals. Why does this land of "Lao wind and white sand" have so many "flowers of battle"? This question has been and will be convincingly explained by cultural, historical and military researchers. But we can also easily see from historical practice that Nghe An land has always been an important "base" for the cause of building and defending the country. Before the Common Era, Thuc Phan An Duong Vuong committed suicide here to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy. Nearly 1,000 years ago, after moving the capital to Thang Long, the Ly Dynasty sent Uy Minh Vuong Ly Nhat Quang to guard the border land of Nghe An. This place was also a stopover and was chosen as a "springboard" to attack and repel the Champa, Ai Lao and Bon Man invaders who invaded the borders of the Dai Viet dynasties. King Binh Dinh Le Loi chose Nghe An as a foothold to develop his forces, repel the Ming army, and complete the great cause of pacifying the Wu. Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue on his way to the North to repel 200,000 Qing troops, liberating the capital Thang Long stopped on the land of Nghe - his homeland to recruit more soldiers and mobilize military provisions. In particular, this land gave birth to President Ho Chi Minh, a genius strategist who opened a new era in the cause of building, protecting and developing the country and the nation. Today’s meeting is a reunion of generals of the Ho Chi Minh era, a meeting of those who contributed to the “Dien Bien Phu Victory that shook the world” (1954) and the historic Spring Victory (1975) and those who are day and night commanding the maintenance of the country’s peace. Surely, everyone is very proud to be born, grow up, fight and work in this land full of sunshine and wind and containing a long history of fighting to build and defend the country.

Major General Cao Xuan Khuong (middle) at the exchange session "Forever the qualities of Uncle Ho's soldiers in his homeland" in 2010.
Photo: Tran Hai

It should be added that, currently in Nghe An, there are dozens, even hundreds of temples and places of worship of generals who have contributed to the people and the country. They are Uy Minh Vuong Ly Nhat Quang, Doan Nhu Hai, Yet Kieu, Hoang Ta Thon, Nguyen Xi, Phan Da, Nguyen Su Hoi, Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue... These generals have passed away but their names and careers will forever remain in the hearts of the people and the nation. And one more special thing, in the "four sacred spirits" of Nghe An (4 sacred temples in the people's minds), there are 3 temples worshiping generals, including Qua Son temple (worshiping Uy Minh Vuong Ly Nhat Quang), Bach Ma temple (worshiping brave general Phan Da) and Chieu Trung temple (worshiping general Le Khoi). This once again affirms that the people and the country will forever remember the merits of talented, virtuous people who were at the forefront of the struggle to defend the country.

Today's meeting is an opportunity for the cadres and people of the province to remember and honor the merits of the children of the homeland who have made great achievements and made great contributions to the cause of building and defending the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland. Each general is a shining example of ideals in life and fighting. Through these examples, the young generation of the homeland has the opportunity to understand more about the revolutionary struggle tradition of the homeland. And through this reunion, the generals contribute to the homeland valuable ideas in the cause of socio-economic development, to help Nghe An rise to become a fairly well-off province in the country as President Ho Chi Minh always wished during his lifetime.

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