75 years ago, on 11 June 1948, President Ho Chi Minh made the Appeal for Patriotic Emulation in the critical situation when we had to carry out the national resistance war and counter the hunger, illiteracy and foreign invaders at the same time. This is such a great contribution that shows his strategic thinking and vision, and it has become an important document of our Party on patriotic emulation, creating a strong motivation for the victory of the Vietnamese revolution.

It has been affirmed in the past 75 years that the ideology on patriotic emulation, under the leadership of the Party, is really a guideline for action throughout the course of Vietnamese revolution. This was not only represented in the emulating efforts of  each individual and organisation in the resistance wars against the French colonialists and the US imperialists for national salvation, but also a solid foundation for exciting and widespread emulation movements in our current national renewal process. Moreover, that thought has become the viewpoint, goal and guideline of the patriotic emulation movement of the whole nation; the start of a new life, new culture and creativity in all fields of our people in the continuous movement of the Vietnamese revolution.

Our people, by tradition, are passionately patriotic, intelligent, creative and indomitable, ... that made the nation’s endogenous strength. But the importance is how to tap into, exploit, promote, and turn that tradition from spontaneity to self-consciousness of each person and each organisation through emulation movements and actions. Otherwise it will forever be a potentiality. This is the core value of President Ho’s appeal for Patriotic Emulation which deeply contains his thoughts on patriotism, people, solidarity, democracy, creativity, and shows his strong belief in the role and strength of the people as well as in the revolutionary cause, under the leadership of the Party. Therefore, his thought on patriotic emulation has become the basis for our Party and State to supplement and perfect its guidelines and policies on emulation and commendation work to meet the requirements and tasks of each revolutionary period.

His thought on patriotic emulation and the emulation movement of the whole country have made the Determined to win emulation movement in the Army a great driving force for the revolution, contributing to the glorious victories in the cause of national liberation, construction and defence of the Fatherland. With the spirit of “Emulating is patriotic, being patriotic must emulate. And those who emulate are the most patriotic ones”, officers, employees, soldiers and defence workers of the Army have brought into full play their patriotism and the determination to overcome difficulties, challenge, sacrifice; promoted their sense of self-sufficiency and self-reliance,  and the revolutionary spirit in emulation movements and scored numerous heroic feats of arms in the Ho Chi Minh era.

In recent years, the Determined to win Emulation movement in the Army has been closely linked with the 4th Resolutions of the Party Central Committee (11th, 12th, 13th tenures) on Party building and rectification, together with the resolutions, directives and campaigns of the Army, especially the Campaign of Promoting tradition, dedicating talents, deserving to be "Uncle Ho's Soldiers'' in the new period, Resolution No. 847-NQ/QUTW dated 28 December 2021 of the Central Military Commission on Promoting the qualities of "Uncle Ho's Soldiers", resolutely countering individualism in the new situation, etc., hence generating a strong vitality and spillover effect both inside and outside the Army. Especially in recent years, the Determined to win Emulation movement of Uncle Ho's Soldiers has been further promoted in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, which helped bring the country back to normality. This proves that the Determined to win Emulation movement has not only been imbued with President Ho Chi Minh's thought of patriotic emulation, but also ingrained, spread and directly contributed to building a strong army in politics, ideology, morality, organisation and personnel, for the continuous improvement of the overall quality and combat strength of the Army and its successful completion of all the tasks assigned by the Party, State and People.

Currently, our country is accelerating the process of innovation, industrialisation, modernisation and deep international integration, Patriotic emulation in light of Ho Chi Minh's thought continues to be the driving force to strengthen the national unity bloc, aiming to turn our country basically into a modern industrialised country with high middle-income by 2030 and a developed one with high-income by 2045, realising the goal of rich people, strong, democratic, equal and civilised country. In order to promote the patriotic emulation in light of President Ho Chi Minh's thought, it is necessary that all levels of party committees, party organisations, heads of agencies, units and localities must strengthen leadership, direction and enhance their roles and responsibilities for emulation and commendation work. Each cadre and party member must deeply grasp and be imbued with his thought on patriotic emulation; promote their pioneering and exemplary role, uphold their ambition and aspiration for dedication, making the emulation movement a widespread revolutionary drive in the whole society. Along with that, it is necessary to conduct propagation of the movement regularly and persistently; renew the contents, forms and methods of implementation; and, attach great importance to discovering, building, summarising and replicating the role models to create a strong spillover effect,... in order to win new heights in all fields and working aspects.

The Determined to win Emulation movement in the Army should be implemented synchronously and comprehensively in all aspects of work, focusing on implementing breakthroughs set out by the Resolution of the 11th Military Party Congress, focusing on the force adjustment in line of Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW, dated 17 January 2022 of the Politburo (13th tenure) and Resolution No. 230-NQ/QUTW, dated 02 April 2022 of the Central Military Commission; associated with the good implementation of the resolutions and directives of the Party Central Committee and the Politburo on Party building and rectification, creating significant changes in building typically pure and strong party organisations, and all-strong “exemplary and typical" agencies and units, successfully completing all assigned tasks.

Seventy-five years have passed, but President Ho Chi Minh's thought of Patriotic emulation remains intact and is always the orientation for the entire Party, People and Army. His thought will forever light the fire of faith, illuminate the way and arouse patriotic emulation to firmly build and defend the Fatherland in the new era.