In response to President Ho Chi Minh’s Appeal for National Resistance (December 19th, 1946), under the spirit of “sacrificing for the Homeland,” generations of Vietnamese young people have always remained steadfast in the goal of national independence and socialism, heightened patriotism, readily sacrificed their lives for national independence and freedom and the people’s happiness, and played a vanguard role in all missions.

The youth’s oath of “sacrificing for the Homeland”

In his letter to Capital Suicide Soldiers on January 27th, 1947, President Ho Chi Minh wrote: “You are members of the suicide team. You are sacrificing your lives for the Homeland. You represent the spirit of national self-respect of thousands of years. You are now internalising that immortal spirit to pass on to Vietnamese lineage for all time.” Since then “Sacrificing for the Homeland” has become a sacred oath, a noble ideal, and a shining symbol for the Vietnamese youth in all revolutionary periods.

In the struggle for national liberation, following the Homeland’s sacred call and President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings: “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom,” millions of Vietnamese young people were soon enlightened by revolutionary ideal; under the “three-readiness” spirit and the will of “splitting Truong Son mountain range to save the country,” they became loyal, indomitable soldiers. Heroic war martyrs, such as Cu Chinh Lan, Vo Thi Sau, Tran Van On, Be Van Dan, To Vinh Dien, Nguyen Van Troi, Nguyen Viet Xuan, Nguyen Van Thac, Dang Thi Thuy Tram, and 10 female volunteers at Dong Loc T-Junction were all young citizens with courage and readiness to fight and sacrifice for the goal of national liberation and unification; they were typical examples for generations of Vietnamese young people to study and follow. Hero Ly Tu Trong’s famous saying: “the path of youths is nothing else but the revolutionary path” became a motivation for millions of Vietnamese young citizens and an appeal for their devotion to the Homeland at that time.

Young soldiers in the resistance war against the French (file photo)

After the country was unified, Vietnamese youths ardently took part in new missions; they both fought to defend Northern and Southwestern border and fostered socio-economic development. The spirit of “sacrificing for the Homeland” and revolutionary heroism amongst the youth was clearly demonstrated not only in combat but also in the Homeland construction and protection. The slogan: “live, fight, work, and study in keeping with the example of great Uncle Ho” acted as a guiding star for all youth union members and young people. Under the spirit of “being ready to go anywhere and do anything when the country needs,” the youth always played a vanguard role in fighting against negative practices, building the Party, boosting economic development, practising thrift, bringing into play technical initiatives and innovations, developing socialist student collectives, overcoming difficulties, and firmly protecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In today’s national renewal, Vietnamese young people have transformed the spirit of “sacrificing for the Homeland” into a driving force so that they could dare to undertake new, difficult tasks, work in isolated, remote areas and areas in extreme difficulty, and readily sacrifice their personal benefits for the society. Many campaigns and movements in each field, such as “youth voluntarily, creatively constructs and protects the Homeland,” “military youth reaches out for pinnacles,” and “people’s public security youth studies and follows Uncle Ho’s 6 teachings,” have been executed and created positive spillover effects across the society, thereby making significant contributions to accelerating the country’s industrialisation, modernisation, and international integration.

Bringing into play the spirit of “sacrificing for the Homeland” in national construction and protection cause

Inheriting the spirit of “sacrificing for the Homeland” and the country’s heroic tradition, under movements, such as “youth volunteer” and “youth pioneers to protect the Homeland,” Vietnamese young people have always strived to study and improve themselves together with a noble ideal and aspirations for the goal of “wealthy people, strong nation, democracy, equality, and civilisation.” They have voluntarily joined the Military and worked in border, sea, island areas to safeguard national sovereignty over airspace and waters. Youth union members and young people have actively pioneered to go to Youth Islands and Youth Villages to step up socio-economic development in areas and localities in difficulty, with significant constructions and meaningful pieces of work that have made an impression on the people.

In response to natural disasters and epidemics, military young staff members have always expressed their voluntary, pioneering spirit and actively gone to regions hit by storms, floods, and landslides to provide food, evacuate citizens to safe places, and help the people to rebuild life. To deal with COVID-19 pandemic, more than 2.3 million youth union members and young people, including tens of thousands of young staff members of the Military, the Public Security Force, and the Militia and Self-Defence Force have voluntarily engaged in the fight against the pandemic, while encouraging a donation of 200 billion VND for COVID-19 prevention and control. Green-shirt volunteers have cooperated with competent forces in giving 24-hour support to quarantine zones, lockdown areas, vaccination facilities, and checkpoints and transporting food to citizens in pandemic-hit areas. Young doctors and nurses in protective clothing have fought against “death” over COVID-19 patients. Delegations of young medical workers and soldiers have volunteered for pandemic combat in COVID-19 epicentres. All of those things have most clearly proved the spirit of “sacrificing for the Homeland” in peacetime.

Under the spirit of “sacrificing for the Homeland,” Vietnamese youths nowadays dare to face new challenges and undertake new missions in new fields. Young people have devoted themselves to new fields, such as biotechnology, renewable technology, electrical technology, electronics technology, information technology, and digital transformation, with aspirations for building a mighty, prosperous Vietnam.

In the past 5 years, more than 9 million youth union members, adolescences, and children in different fields and professions have been commended and rewarded, which has inspired Vietnamese youths with a burning desire for developing and enabling the country to catch up with major powers across the globe. Many youth union members and young citizens have won gold medals at international Olympic contests for many consecutive years. A lot of young entrepreneurs have taken the lead in digital transformation and start-up movement. A large number of young soldiers, doctors, and nurses have been working day and night against COVID-19 for the people’s peace and health.

To meet the task requirements of national construction and protection and keep bringing into play the spirit of “sacrificing for the Homeland” amongst Vietnamese young people, it is necessary to focus on well implementing several measures as follows.

First, further educate the youth on revolutionary ideal, morality, and national pride and arouse aspirations for developing a prosperous, happy country amongst them. To that end, it is important to renew contents and methods of education and step up dissemination of the Party’s guidelines and the State’s laws and policies to young people. Measures to grasp and orientate the youth’s ideology amidst new issues should be intensified. It is essential to design mechanisms for regularly, opportunely providing information so that each youth union member will be able to convey educative messages to adolescences and children. Due attention should be paid to applying information technology and maximising mass media, social networks, and the Youth Union’s press agencies to educate youths and children. Significance should be attached to popularising positive elements, good examples, and noble deeds to build up compassion within the society.

Second, enhance revolutionary action movements for young people to study, self-improve, mature, and devote themselves to national construction and protection. Youth unions at all levels shall proactively give advice to the Party, the State, and local party committees and authorities on developing and promulgating policies to train, use, and bring into play young human resources and talents as a favourable condition for youth union members and young citizens to actively contribute to the Homeland construction and protection.

Third, all-level youth unions shall continue multiplying models according to which young people take part in ensuring security, order, and traffic safety in residential areas, while promoting emulation movements amongst the armed forces’ young staff members to encourage them to play a vanguard, core role in defending the Homeland and maintaining national security and social order and safety. Consideration should be given to fighting against offences and social evils amongst the youth, participating in combating hostile forces’ distortions and wrong viewpoints, and building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” as the basis for making the all-people national defence solid.

Fourth, build and consolidate youth unions at all levels to deserve to be the progressive youth’s vanguard army and socialist school. To do so, emphasis should be placed on raising the quality of youth union members and improving their political zeal and vanguard, exemplary role. Great value should be attached to increasing youth union members and young people’s political awareness and revolutionary vigilance. Youth unions must serve as the best organisation of the youth, while each cadre and member of all-level youth unions must set good examples for young people and children to study and follow.

Promoting the spirit of “sacrificing for the Homeland,” Vietnamese youths will strive to study and improve themselves to deserve to be loyal successors of the glorious revolutionary cause of our Party and nation and play a vanguard role in constructing and protecting the Socialist Vietnamese Homeland.

NGUYEN ANH TUAN, PhD, Member of the Party Central Committee

First Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee