Prime Minister meets veterans of the Ship Without Numbers

On the afternoon of November 21, at the Government Headquarters, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had a cordial meeting with a number of veterans of the National Ho Chi Minh Sea Trail Tradition Association - an organization representing thousands of officers and soldiers on duty on the sea route named after Uncle Ho in the three regions of the North, Central and South.

Prime Minister meets veterans of the Ship Without Numbers. Photo: baochinhphu.vn

Many of the delegates attending the meeting had personally taken dozens of trains transporting weapons to the battlefield and had all completed their missions excellently, becoming living witnesses of the Unnumbered Trains of yesteryear.

Born under a secret directive of the Politburo and the Central Military Commission 56 years ago (November 23, 1961), Group 759 with its numberless ships, the predecessor of the 125th Naval Brigade, had the task of transporting weapons and equipment to the southern battlefield by sea.

With 6 primitive wooden boats at first and 38 officers and soldiers as the core in the first days of establishment, in 14 years of carrying out missions on the sea route named after Uncle Ho, this special unit has developed into a strategic transport corps at sea, forming many routes and opening dozens of wharves.

The marine transport soldiers operated throughout the coastal provinces of the South, infiltrating the fierce battlefield of Zone 5, all the way to the gates of Saigon, to the ends of the country to transport weapons and equipment to the battlefields.

On the sea route named after beloved Uncle Ho, the maritime transport force of the Vietnam People's Navy mobilized nearly 2,000 ships, traveled over 4 million nautical miles, transported 80,000 people, over 150,000 tons of weapons, ammunition and tens of thousands of tons of goods to effectively support many battlefields and many important areas that could not be reached by road, contributing to the complete victory of the nation, liberating the South and unifying the Fatherland.

Moved by meeting the veterans and reviewing the heroic history of the soldiers on the Ho Chi Minh trail at sea, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized that these were the people who made "special achievements in the history of the nation", directly implementing the people's war policy of the Party and Uncle Ho and making great contributions to the success of the resistance war for national liberation and reunification.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister agreed with the proposal of the National Ho Chi Minh Sea Trail Tradition Association and assigned Hai Phong City and the Navy Command to coordinate in building the Martyrs' Temple of the Ships Without Numbers and restoring the KI 5 wharf at KI 5 Wharf, Do Son - Hai Phong to record the first departure point of the Ships Without Numbers, pay tribute to the Heroic Martyrs and educate the tradition to the younger generations.

According to TPO