Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper Le Quoc Minh: 'Forever grateful to you, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters!'

Panorama of the Art Program: "Truong Bon - Legendary Epic". Photo: Thanh Cuong

-Dear Comrade Truong Tan Sang - former member of the Politburo, former President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

-Dear Comrade Nguyen Sinh Hung - former member of the Politburo, former Chairman of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

-Dear Comrade Luong Cuong - Politburo member, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army.

-Dear Central Party Committee members, former Central Party Committee members, Party and State leaders, leaders of central and local ministries and branches.

-Dear Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, Armed Forces Heroes, Labor Heroes.

-Dear generations of brave and resilient Youth Volunteers.

-Dear uncles, aunts, Nghe An people, deep affection.

-Dear compatriots and comrades.

Comrade Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association delivered the opening speech of the Art Program: "Truong Bon - The Legendary Epic". Photo: Thanh Cuong

Truong Bon is a steep pass with a length of 5km, an altitude of nearly 70m on the Thung Nua mountain range with the highest peak being 450m above sea level, located on the strategic route 15A passing through My Son commune, Do Luong district, Nghe An province. The Truong Bon single route has a particularly important strategic position, connecting our traffic arteries from the large rear base in the North to support human and material resources for the battlefield in the South. During the years when the US imperialists escalated their bombardment of the North, this place was considered the fiercest line of fire.

In the midst of the land plowed by bombs and bullets, when death was always near, tens of thousands of people here lived and fought, overcame the dangers, hardships, and deprivation of bombs and bullets, and stuck to the battlefield day and night. With iron determination.“Live by clinging to the bridge, clinging to the road – die bravely and steadfastly,” “the heart can stop beating but the road cannot be blocked”, we have maintained the traffic arteries, dug and built millions of cubic meters of earth and rock, helped more than 94 thousand motor vehicles circulate, transport and clear more than 1 million tons of goods through Truong Bon, closely following the troops to the battlefield in the South. Perhaps in all the wars in the 20th century in the world, there is hardly a battlefield with such a limited space and time as this piece of land of only 6,000m2²Truong Bon, on average, has to endure the destructive power of a blockbuster bomb every minute and a half - a level of destruction that is unparalleled in human history.

Leaders and former leaders of the Party, State and Nghe An province attended the art program: "Truong Bon - Legendary epic". Photo: Thanh Cuong

In this life-and-death battle, 1,240 officers and soldiers fought steadfastly and heroically sacrificed, typically the sacrifice of 13 youth volunteers of Company 317 on October 31, 1968. The pain was not only because of that terrible and brutal bombing that took the lives of 11 girls and 2 boys, when in just a few hours, the US announced to stop bombing the entire North, in just a few hours, they would step towards peace with many aspirations for a bright future. Some were preparing to enter the lecture hall, some were preparing to become couples...

Today, we are here to once again honor the heroic martyrs who fell in Truong Bon for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland. Allow me, on behalf of all the staff and reporters of Nhan Dan Newspaper, and in my personal capacity, a son of the heroic Soviet homeland of Nghe An, to respectfully bow before the souls of the 13 martyrs of Company 317 of the Youth Volunteers of Nghe An Province who made the noble sacrifice at 6:10 a.m. on October 31, 1968, as well as thousands of martyrs of army units, Youth Volunteers, traffic workers, people of My Son commune and other localities, who devoted their youth, not sparing their lives, to fill in bomb craters, so that the traffic arteries on the anti-American road would always be open, setting an eternal example of heroic spirit.

A large audience came to watch the art program. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The history of Nghe An is a miniature history of the country. The tradition of patriotism, heroic spirit and studiousness of the people of Nghe An have always been prominent. This is the birthplace of outstanding cultural figures, heroes and heroes who are the pillars of the nation. When at the front, when in the rear, when both at the front and in the rear, Nghe An has always been a solid support in every resistance war against foreign invaders.

The place we are standing here is where Mai Thuc Loan turned the tribute fabric carrying road into a path of uprising to drive out the Tang Dynasty’s army, liberate Tong Binh (now Hanoi) to regain independence for the country. The land we are standing here is also the place where Le Loi, when he was besieged in Thanh Hoa, moved to Nghe An to recruit troops, consolidate his forces and won glorious victories in decisive battles, shifting from defense to counterattack – “The battle of Bo Dang was filled with thunder and lightning/In Tra Lan, bamboo split and ashes flew…”.Also from Thanh - Nghe, Le Hoan marched to defeat the invading Song army; Quang Trung Nguyen Hue quickly defeated 200,000 Qing troops.

A large audience came to watch and record the art program. Photo: Thanh Cuong

When our Party was first established, Nghe An raised its flag in response, creating a famous Nghe Tinh Soviet movement, establishing a worker-peasant government, a rehearsal for seizing power across the country 15 years later in the great August Revolution. During the resistance war against the US to save the country, Nghe An was both the rear and the frontline.

From Hoang Mai to Ben Thuy, it can be said that there was no place that was not a target of US air and naval attacks. In Truong Bon alone, from June to October 1968, the US air force dropped nearly 2,700 bombs of all kinds. In the midst of the fire and bullets, the old Zone Four, including Nghe An, was the cradle that forged indomitable and resilient people.

The most touching thing in Truong Bon is the historical choice, the daring to die when people have seen the path to live with the mission completed. From the morning of October 31, 1968, only until 0:00 on November 1, 1968, there was a ceasefire, there was peace in the North. In the hands of the Youth Volunteers in Truong Bon that day were the admission notices from vocational schools, the signed discharge decisions... Ahead were the weddings. The future was the lecture halls...

But the women did not return to miss the wedding, the men stayed in Truong Bon motherland to miss a bright personal future! When their hearts listened to the call from the battlefield, everyone stayed on the road so as not to miss the shipments to the South, not to miss the close comradeship, for the day of the South's liberation, for the day of national reunification without fail!

The bodies that served as markers for vehicles to pass that day; the bodies that fell in the series of cruel coordinate bombs on the last day of the war, just a few hours before the ceasefire took effect, forever became markers for the country, the homeland to know how to go in the right direction; for future generations to know how to stand up straight and be human!

A large audience came to watch the art program. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The heroes have remained in the motherland, but their spirit lives on forever. Every anniversary of Truong Bon is an occasion to express gratitude to the heroes who sacrificed their blood and bones for the Fatherland. That gratitude needs to be transformed into a noble way of life for future generations, into concrete revolutionary actions, making the Party's ideals and the people's aspirations come true throughout the homeland and the country.

Once again, I respectfully bow before the souls of the martyrs who fell for peace today. Forever grateful to you, uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters!

I wish all leaders, delegates and all people health, happiness and success.

Thank you very much!