Awarding the title of Hero to soldiers of Con Dao prison

The President awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces to the collective and individuals of four revolutionary soldiers of Con Dao prison.

On the occasion of the 38th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2013), on April 26, in Ba Ria city, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, and Fatherland Front Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province solemnly held a ceremony to receive the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces for collectives and individuals of revolutionary soldiers of Con Dao prison.

President Truong Tan Sang, Party and State leaders, representatives of heroes' relatives, and 350 former political prisoners of Con Dao from 35 provinces and cities across the country attended.

At the ceremony, President Truong Tan Sang and delegates reviewed the heroic history of revolutionary soldiers who were imprisoned at Con Dao prison. Established in 1862, after 113 years, Con Dao prison was famous as a “hell on earth”. From the establishment of the prison until 1954, the French colonialists exiled to Con Dao tens of thousands of Vietnamese patriots and Communist Party cadres and members.

From 1955 onwards, the US imperialists and their henchmen used Con Dao prison as an effective tool in their policy of “denouncing and destroying communism”. They used all means of exile, strangling life, persecution, terror, repression, and bribery to force political prisoners to abandon communist ideals, leave the Communist Party, overthrow the leader, submit to the “national” regime, and become their henchmen to destroy the revolutionary movement.

All their tricks were aimed at the prisoners' lives, causing them to collapse in ideals, wear out in will, degenerate in personality, and disable in activities. Therefore, the struggle of the Con Dao political prisoners had a typical character and became the focus of the confrontation between the staunch communists and the brutal anti-communist forces. It was a tragic and immortal epic about patriotism, the indomitable will to fight, the infinite loyalty to the ideals of independence, freedom, and socialism of the communists.

Typical of the struggle to protect the integrity of revolutionary soldiers in Con Dao prison during the US-puppet era were the “anti-secession from the Communist Party” group of detained political prisoners and the “anti-saluting the US-puppet flag” group of political prisoners. From 1957 to 1959, the US-Diem regime exiled more than 4,000 political prisoners, whom they considered “most dangerous,” from prisons throughout the South to Con Dao. They used the most brutal measures to force them to “separate from the Communist Party” and submit to the “nation.”

But with the spirit of persistent, resilient, and determined struggle for the goal of protecting the ideals of the revolution and protecting their own integrity, the revolutionary soldiers in Con Dao prison defeated the enemy's policy of "denouncing communism, destroying communism" and "separating from the Communist Party". Outstanding among these are the examples of struggle and sacrifice of the heroes of the people's armed forces: Cao Van Ngoc, Luu Chi Hieu (movement "Anti-saluting the American-puppet flag") and the heroes of the people's armed forces: Nguyen Duc Thuan, Phan Trong Binh, Pham Quoc Sac, Nguyen Minh, Le Van Mot (movement "Anti-separation from the Communist Party").

On behalf of the Party and State, President Truong Tan Sang awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces to the collective and four individuals of the revolutionary soldiers of Con Dao prison. This is a noble award of the Party and State to recognize and honor the collective and individuals of the revolutionary soldiers of Con Dao prison who have maintained their steadfastness to the revolutionary ideals, absolute loyalty to the Party, the Fatherland and the people in the unequal battle at Con Dao prison. Thereby, arousing national pride and educating the young generation today and tomorrow about the heroic and indomitable tradition of our ancestors.

Mr. Trinh Van Lau, former member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Con Dao Island Party Committee, and an outstanding leader at Con Dao prison - on behalf of former political prisoners in Con Dao, expressed his emotion when receiving the noble award from the Party and State and emphasized that former prisoners in Con Dao continue to promote the heroic tradition and hope that everyone will join hands to build Con Dao into a destination for educating the tradition of patriotism for today's and future generations.

Vo Thuy Duong, representative of the young generation of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, also vowed to continue the ideals that their ancestors had chosen, striving to study and work to build a rich and strong country worthy of the previous generations./.

According to (vov.vn) - LT