Being deeply imbued with Uncle Ho’s teaching: “War invalids, sick soldiers, and families of military personnel and martyrs are those who have rendered meritorious service to the country”, thus we feel duty bound to be grateful, adore, and assist them, the Military Party Committee and Command of Dong Thap province have been leading their departments and units to execute the gratitude movement well, contributing to enhanced spiritual, material life of the entitled people.

Dong Thap is a border province, which is situated in the Mekong Delta and shares a 50.675-kilometre frontier with Cambodia. This is a locality rich in revolutionary tradition. In the struggles for national liberation and protection of the Fatherland as well as performance of the noble international duty, tens of thousands of people in the province were engaged in combat and combat support. Therefore, the province is one of localities which has a large number of martyrs, war invalids, and people with meritorious service to the revolution nationwide. Currently, the entire province has 62,300 social welfare beneficiaries, including 18,315 martyrs, 2,227 heroic Vietnamese mothers, 57 heroes of the armed forces, 6,800 war invalids and sick soldiers. Of note, 2,500 war invalids are still alive and recipients of allowance. To bring into play the tradition and moral standard of “when you drink water, think of the source,” with a high political responsibility and many creative forms of implementation conducive to general policy work, the gratitude movement in the province has attracted numerous cadres, soldiers, and people from various walks of life and gained good results. In the 2017 – 2023 period alone, the province has searched and collected 518 martyrs’ remains in Cambodia and Viet Nam. Eight out of 518 remains have been identified. The Provincial Military Command has finalised and mapped the search and collection areas in the 1st phase at three categories, i.e, commune, district, and province. It is one of the localities nationwide, which has finished and reported on the map of search and collection areas early. The province has provided one-time allowance with the sum of over VND100 billion for 29,089 people as stipulated by decisions of the Prime Minister; mobilised people to donate VND1.6 billion to the Gratitude Fund; built and transferred 13 gratitude houses worth over VND1 billion; gave five passbooks worth VND10 million each; visited and awarded thousands of presents worth over VND4 billion to social welfare beneficiaries on the occasion of important holidays, Lunar New Year, and War Invalids’ and Martyrs’ Day; taken care of four heroic Vietnamese mothers, thereby giving material and spiritual encouragement, healing the wounds of wars, and helping war invalids, sick soldiers, families of martyrs, and people with meritorious service to the revolution to settle down.

However, the aforementioned outcomes do not deserve what heroic martyrs, war invalids, sick soldiers, and people with meritorious service to the revolution have contributed and sacrificed for independence and freedom of the Fatherland, as well as for people’s life of freedom, comfort, and happiness. On the basis of this approach and being deeply imbued with President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching, in the time to come, the provincial armed forces will continue to step up the gratitude movement by means of practical solutions as follows.

In fact, the gratitude movement can only gain substantive outcomes when party committees and organisations at all echelons leverage their responsibility for leadership of this humane work. The Provincial Military Committee and Command, therefore, continue to make party committees, leaders, and commanders at all echelons deeply grasp directives and decrees of the Party Central Committee Secretary, Prime Minister, and Central Military Commission (CMC) on enhanced leadership and implementation of policies on people with meritorious service to the revolution. Thus, party committees at all echelons achieve general awareness and regard this as one of the core tasks. Accordingly, they involve activities of the movement in periodical leadership resolutions which contain sound solutions conducive to realities and the needs of social welfare beneficiaries. They also request their functional bodies to cooperate with departments, divisions, branches, and sociopolitical organisation on establishing the gratitude fund, organising gratitude activities, etc., in accordance with capacity of each agency, unit, and locality. These activities aim to improve spiritual, material life of people with meritorious service to the revolution, especially those who are in need, in the remote areas, and in the revolutionary bases, and operationalise the Party’s, State’s, and military’s policies regarding war invalids, martyrs’ families, and people with meritorious service to the country. Moreover, party committees at all levels attach importance to inspection and supervision with a view to timely detecting, preventing, and rectifying signs of insufficient responsibility, harassment, and wrongdoings during implementation processes, especially in the receipt and payment from the gratitude fund; promoting transparency and equality in implementation of policies regarding people with meritorious service to the revolution, which contributes to generation of people’s solid confidence in the Party, State, and military.

Awareness and responsibility of cadres, soldiers, and people are vital to effective gratitude movement. Accordingly, the Provincial Military Party Committee and Command request party committees at all level to thoroughly grasp resolutions and directives of the Party, State, CMC, and Ministry of National Defence (MND) on furthering the movement through resolution popularisation, political study, etc., which is aimed at making cadres and soldiers well aware of guidelines and policies of the Party and State on people with meritorious service to the revolution. Moreover, they are to promote education about national tradition, sacrifice, and enormous contribution of martyrs, war invalids, sick soldiers, and people with meritorious service to the revolution in the struggle for liberating, building, and safeguarding the Fatherland. This serves to bring into play responsibility and duty of each cadre and soldier, especially the leading cadres, by means of practical activities. Departments and units proactively work with media agencies such as Dong Thap Radio Television, district radio stations, radio programs at the commune level, the all-people defence column, the portal of the Provincial Military Command, etc., to promote propaganda to make cadres, soldiers, and people clearly understand that good implementation of preferential policies regarding social welfare beneficiaries is a great responsibility, expresses sacred emotions, and ensures social progress and equality, thus jointly making the gratitude movement a regular activity in the province. Additionally, there is a need to broadcast gratitude activities, burning of incense and candles at martyrs’ cemeteries and war memorials, visits to families under preferential treatment, etc., which helps to spread fine images and deeds in the whole society; promote propagation about typical examples in execution of the movement, contributing to its development in both depth and width.

To further improve spiritual, material life of people with meritorious service to the country and ensure that the preferential policies regarding people with meritorious service to the country and their families match economic growth and social progress and equality as provided by the Resolution of the 13th Party Congress, it is imperative to flexibly and creatively apply ways of carrying out the gratitude movement. The Provincial Military Party Committee and Command request district, municipal military commands to advise party committees and authorities to leverage overall power and all resources, as well as socialise the provision of care for people with meritorious service to the revolution; closely align the gratitude movement with campaigns and emulation movements, especially the movement: “All people care for war invalids, martyrs’ families, and people with meritorious service to the revolution. Functional departments must proactively review to timely discover difficulties, shortcomings, and inappropriate, ineffective measures; stick closely to realities to work out proper methods to coordinate activities; advise the Provincial Military Command on the ways to direct departments and units to multiply best models and creative, effective methods, ensuring flexibility and fulfilment of the goal of improving beneficiaries’ material, spiritual life. It is necessary to strive to make the living standard of people with meritorious service to the revolution equal to or higher than the average of local population. During the implementation process, there is a need to multiply practical deeds such as complete resolution of outstanding files relating to people participating in wars according to decisions of the Prime Minister; cooperate with the Veterans Association on search, collection, and identification of martyrs’ remains with insufficient information according to the Note No. 549/VP-BCD of the 515th National Steering Committee Office and the Plan of the 515th Steering Committee, 9th Military Region. All resources should be mobilised to build houses of gratitude and renovate houses; award production tools, crop seeds, money, and passbooks; upgrade war memorials and martyrs’ cemeteries; care for heroic Vietnamese mothers; visit and give presents to war invalids, sick soldiers, martyrs’ families, and people with meritorious service to the revolution on the occasion of important holidays, Lunar New Year, and War Invalids’ and Martyrs’ Day; assist families of soldiers who are wounded or lost their lives during their military service, contributing to provision of material and spiritual comfort to the entitled people.

In addition to the above-mentioned solutions, the Provincial Military Party Committee and Command pay regular attention to training of cadres in charge of policy work at all levels. This aims to build a corps of cadres who are competent for their tasks, have professional ethics, are dedicated to work, and act in good faith through annual training courses, competitions, and execution of policy work in general, the gratitude movement in particular. Moreover, the Provincial Military Party Committee and Command strictly comply with regulations at work; step up administrative reform and application of information technology to policy work; encourage the effective, positive participation of organisations and forces in the gratitude movement to develop the movement under the motto: “All the State, people, and people entitled to preferential treatment policies try to the best of their ability”.

Given the high political responsibility of party committees and commanders at all echelons, cadres, and soldiers of the provincial armed forces, the gratitude movement will continue to develop comprehensively, which contributes to strengthening of people’s heart and mind posture and the traditions of “when you drink water, think of the source” and “when you eat a fruit, think of the person who planted the tree” of the armed forces of Dong Thap province.

Senior Colonel TRINH HOANG PHONG, Commissar of the Provincial Military Command