Our resistance war against the US invaders is such a historic one. Right in the fiercest stage of the war, on 17 July 1966, President Ho Chi Minh gave out his call for national resistance against the U.S invaders in which he affirmed: “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom”. This statement reflects the great thought of him – a talented leader of Vietnamese revolution – and also the will and aspiration of our Party, people and troops, the truth of the time. For this reason, his statement strongly stimulated our patriotism, revolutionary spirit to overcome all hardships and difficulties to fight for the US to withdraw and for the fall of the puppet’s government to liberate the South of Vietnam and unify the country. In fact, the war showed that his thought has become one of the main driving forces bringing our arduous war to victory. Its values are manifested in the following points:

1. When the US troops directly engaged in the South in 1965 and escalated the war to the North, our independence and freedom was severely threatened. Our aspiration for national independence and freedom was ever greater. However, the US massive deployment of troops to the South made a number of cadres, party members and people dispirited and worried about not being able to fight the US and to win the war. In the world, many governments and famous politicians expressed their concern for Vietnam. They advised us not to cope with the US – an invicible super power. Facing the situation, President Ho Chi Minh declared trenchantly that “War may last for 5, 10, 20 years or more. Hanoi, Hai Phong and some other cities and factories may be destroyed but Vietnamese people will never fear. Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom”.

His thought stated the most sacred and precious thing of each person, nation and mankind, i.e. independence and freedom. Following his thought, our people, under the leadership of the Party, rose up and determined to fight against the U.S. With strong determination, activeness, creativeness, our people and troop defeated the invaders and ended the war by the General Offensive and Uprising in the Spring of 1975, regaining independence and freedom for the country and its people.

2. War is such a harsh and comprehensive challenge to any countries and nations. In order to liberate the country, we  had to use our own strength, mobilized all of our resources, in combination with the strength of time, to defeat the enemy. This is one of the core values in the thought that “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom” in the resistance war against the US invaders for national salvation. Implementing the thought, soon after deciding to fight, our Party determined and led the country to carry out synchronously the two revolutionary strategies, namely the socialist revolution in the North and the national liberation revolution in the South. Accordingly, in the North, our Party both focused on renovating socialism, boosting economic development, improving people’s lives and attached importance to consolidating the defence, to building the tri-armed forces to create solid ground for protecting the North and reinforcing the southern front. By our own self-reliance and internal potentials, we created an increasingly strong synergy and combined the nation’s strength with that of the time to defeat the US invaders and regain independence and freedom for the country .

3. In the resistance war against the US invaders, the value of the thought “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom” also created a new vitality, encouraged and gathered strength from all sectors of the country to create a synergy to defeat the enemy. Right after Ho Chi Minh’s call, in the North, the Party’s leadership was redirected to suit the situation. Agencies, branches and forces were positioned and organized flexibly to ensure combat readiness and support for battle fields. Throughout the North, patriotic emulation movement for the South was promoted vigorously. Millions of youths voluntarily enlisted. Thousands of cadres and veterans registered for remobilization. Everyday on the fields and in the factories, farmers and workers kept enthusiastic with their production while being ready for self-defence mission. From mountainous urban and plain areas, massive troops headed for the southern front. In the South, responding to President Ho Chi Minh’s appeal, 14 millions vowed not to be slaves despite their lives would be at risk. However crowded the enemy would be and whatever weapons they could be equipped, we would always determined to wipe them out. Thus, President Ho Chi Minh’s thought attracted the whole nation and gathered all potentials of the country to created the synergy to defeat the U.S invaders as well as their puppet government in the South. Moreover, the thought also had a profound impact on all peace lovers in the world, including the American, who gave much of their support for our legitimate struggle.

The thought ‘Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom’ has become a truth of time, the most valuable thing we should gain and safeguard with the whole nation’s strength. Today, as we are embarking on the renewal cause and international integration amid various challenges, the above mentioned thought should be grasped thoroughly so that we are always active in protecting the country’s sacred independence and freedom.

Snr Col, Doctor. Nguyen Thanh Huu and Col. Nguyen Van Su