In commemoration of the 70^th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (December 22^nd, 1944 - December 22^nd, 2014), the 25^th anniversary of the All-People Defence Festive Day, it is an honour for the National Defence Journal to present the important article, which is granted to the Journal only, by Comrade Truong Tan Sang, member of the Politburo, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

President Truong Tan Sang and Army elite representatives

In a period full of hardships of the Vietnamese revolution and the struggle crucial for our nation to dispose of the yoke of colonialism and feudalism, our military was founded, organized, educated, and trained by the Party and Uncle Ho; starting with only 34 cadres and soldiers equipped with obsolete weapons in its inception, our military has been developing, maturing, and winning resounding victories. After coming into being, our military instantly stepped into its glorious and invincible history with the Phai Khat-Na Ngan victory of wits, fearlessness, and ingenuity. The military, nearly one year old at that time, together with all people, carried out the General Insurgency and the great August Revolution to seize power for people, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam - the first State of the working class in Southeast Asia. In the following periods, the people’s Army was the central force, with all people side by side, defeated powerful militaries of French colonialist and American imperialist in the two holy resistance wars which lasted 30 years, fulfilling the honourable cause of national liberation and unification, bringing our country to a new era of independence and freedom, moving forward to socialism. After the country was unified, our military, once again together with all people, heroically fought and won two border wars taking place in the South and the North, thus completing the lofty international mission, saving Cambodia from genocide. Today, in  the cause of national innovation, construction and defence, the military has made contribution to proactively destroying hostile forces’ plots and activities of “peaceful evolution”; actively building and developing the country; accomplishing the task of protecting national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, as well as Party, State, people, and socialist regime; achieving our Party and people’s objective: a wealthy people, a strong nation, a democratic, equitable, and civilized society.

Looking back at the military’s 70 year history of building, fighting, and maturing, our Party, State, and people are tremendously proud of the Vietnam People’s Army’s epic and victorious traditions. The military’s impressive victories, which also belong to our people and nation, are part of Vietnam revolution’s great achievements during Ho Chi Minh’s epoch. Those victories bear deep significance of the era. They are forever the epics and the golden milestones in Vietnam’s history of fighting aggressors. Our military, accompanied by its glorious traditions and resounding victories, deserves to be the heroic military of  the heroic nation.

What are the resources of strength for the heroic Vietnam People’s Army to win? First and foremost, it derives from Vietnamese nation’s heroic traditions which were accumulated over thousands of years building and protecting the country. In thousands of years existing and developing, gaining and maintaining the independence, our ancestors continuously faced with and overcame numerous challenges including natural disasters and threats from invaders, but we never surrendered ourselves to brutal aggressors whose military and economic potential was much more powerful than us. We are proud of being Lac Hong’s offspring, our nation’s resilient, indomitable, intelligent, humane traditions. It cannot be denied that the heroic people’s military has its root in the heroic nation.

The military’s fighting, building, and maturing process within 70 years has proved that: the heroic Vietnam People’s Army’s strength lies in its inseparable bond with people. Cadres and soldiers in the military are all people’s offspring, from people, fighting for people, striving for no motivation and objective other than the people and the Homeland. Hence, the military has always been sheltered and nurtured with people’s love for its each step. Replying to that deep affection, our military has served the people and Fatherland to its utmost, being ready to “sacrifice their lives for the people”, especially in the bloody wars to defend the country, and in the struggle to protect people’s lives and property, alleviate damage caused by natural disasters, and eradicate poverty and hunger. Military officers and soldiers’ sacrifices combined with their strong attachment has won people’s deep sentiment, thus people call them “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”- a beloved and simple title. Uncle Ho’s Soldiers’ image and virtue always shine in people’s mind. There is no doubt that the special bond between troops and the people has provided the heroic Vietnam People’s Army with the strength resource.

The military’s remarkable victories and glorious traditions also result from the Party's and President Ho Chi Minh’s sound leadership which a new-model and revolutionary military by people was built. Revolutionary reality has proved that Party leadership is the key factor in the People’s Army’s victory and development, assuring that the military is always Party, State, and people’s absolutely loyal and trustworthy political force, and the main force in the cause of national liberation and protection of both the past and present. Under Party’s glorious flag, our military “will fulfill any tasks, overcome any difficulties and defeat any enemy” as Uncle Ho’s commendation presented to it. It could be said that Party leadership plays a decisive role in shaping the heroic People’s Army.

To get glory and resounding victories recorded in national history as immortal epics, various generations of the military cadres and soldiers have been striving to better themselves, though they have experienced numberless sacrifices and difficulties over the past 70 years. For the objective of national independence, people’s freedom and happiness, incalculable army officers and soldiers courageously fought, sacrificed their lives and part of their body in battlefields. Today, they are actively self-improving and building a revolutionary, regular, seasoned, gradually modern military which is highly capable of fighting to firmly protect the Fatherland of the socialist Vietnam, deserving to be Party, State, and people’s trustworthy, loyal fighting and political force. It is commendable efforts and great sacrifices directly giving the military infinite strength so that it increasingly becomes stronger and wins greater victories, which makes it a heroic people’s military.

Our people and military’s great victory also belong to national liberation and counter-imperialist movements for peace, democracy, and social progress in the world. Spiritual and material support from international friends, particularly Soviet Union, China, and other socialist countries has made contribution to our victory. Notably, it is the victory made by the three Indochina countries’ solidarity and alliance (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) to fight the enemy in common. Our Party, State, people, and military always respect and never forget international friends’ wholehearted support for our struggle for justice’s sake. The pure and constant solidarity and international friends’ valuable support has contributed to generating the invincible strength and resounding victories of our people and military, making our people’s military become heroic.

Homeland protection is one of our country’s two strategic tasks. It is the responsibility that all Party, people, armed forces, and political system must take, in which People’s Army plays the central role. To ensure and facilitate People’s Army’s good completion of its function and assigned tasks, over the past years, Party and State have taken a special interest in their leadership, direction, and investment in facilities, weapons, equipment, and building the military into “revolutionary, regular, seasoned, gradually modernized”, in which there are a number of forces advance straightforward modernized. Thanks to this, our military has made progress in organization, weapons furnishing, technical facilities, compound quality, level of operation and combat readiness.

In the time ahead, the People’s Army’s cadres and soldiers need to keep bettering themselves and promoting the heroic People’s Army’s honourable traditions to build a strong military in terms of politics, ideology, and organization. Also, the military should raise officers and soldiers’ political stance, morality, disciplining; be absolutely loyal to Party, Fatherland, and people’s revolution cause; increase knowledge about science-technology, capability of command, operation, and military arts, master types of modern arms and equipment to meet the requirements set by high-tech warfare. There should be a thorough grasp and good implementation of the Resolution of the 8^th Central Party Committee plenum (11^th tenure) on “Strategy to protect the Homeland in the new situation”, the Resolution of the 4^th Central Party Committee plenum (11^th tenure) on Party building associated with the Politburo’s Directive 03-CT/TW on promoting the “Studying and following President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example”, finalizing Uncle Ho’s Testament, “determined to win” emulation movements, and other campaigns, generating the new motivation to well perform the military’s functions credibly assigned by Party, State, and people as an army ready for fight, for work, and for produce. In the present complex context, the People’s Army needs to make accurate forecasts for the evolutionary trend and probabilities in the field of national defence and security. Basing on the forecasts, the military should be proactive in advisory work in order that Party and State draw up guidelines on Homeland protection and sound policies to resolve sensible issues, complicated situations, avoid passivity. It ought to be at high level of combat readiness at all times, and promote the tradition of winning the very first battle. Moreover, the military should have a close coordination with the people’s public security force and all people to proactively break all plots and acts of sabotage against our country, particularly the strategy of “peaceful evolution”, and a good performance  as the pioneering force in preventing natural disasters, protecting people’s lives and property, eradicating poverty and hunger to deserve the title “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”.

The 70^th founding anniversary of the People’s Army, the 25^th anniversary of the All People Defence Festival, and the 68^th anniversary of National Resistance Day fall on the time when all Party, people, and armed forces are striving for completion of objectives and tasks set by the social-economic development plan of the year 2014 and period 2011-2015 in light of the 11^th National Party Congress Resolution. I would like to take this opportunity to send best and warmest greetings to generations of officers, soldiers, defence staff as well as their families. In the solemn atmosphere, we commemorate and bow down to war heroes and martyrs, and we honour war invalids who laid down part of their body in battlefield for national independence and freedom, for people’s happiness. We are proud of  glorious Party and great President Ho Chi Minh who devoted himself to organizing, building, and leading the People’s Army in order that our military could be strongly mature, accomplish the Fatherland protection, engage in the national construction in the new revolutionary period.

Truong Tan Sang

Member of the Politburo

President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam