Being imbued with the national tradition of “remembering the source when drinking water”, the armed forces of Nam Dinh province have always promoted their core role in cooperating with authorities and sectors in implementing the policy for military families, war invalids, martyrs, and people with meritorious services to the revolution, thereby contributing to improving the policy beneficiaries’ material and mental life and cementing the people’s faith in local party committees and authorities.

Nam Dinh province greatly contributed its human and material resources to the wars for national liberation and protection¹. Thus, the province’s authorities, sectors, and armed forces must pay due regard to implementing the policy for military families, war invalids, and martyrs in order to “pay debt of gratitude” to predecessors.

Leaders of the province and the PMC visiting the policy beneficiaries during a medical examination and treatment session at My Tan commune, My Loc district

Fully aware of that, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) and its Party Committee have always strictly introduced higher echelons’ directives, resolutions, and guiding documents on this work² to cadres and soldiers, strengthened their direction and leadership over this work, and promoted the armed forces’ core role in cooperating the province’s departments and sectors in advising local party committees and authorities on employing the combined strength of the political system, unions, and people to carry out this work with practical, specific deeds, thereby achieving the encouraging results.

Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings “war invalids, sick soldiers, military families, and martyrs’ families are those who have meritorious services to the Homeland. Thus, we have a duty to pay debt of gratitude to, love, and help them”, the armed forces of Nam Dinh have always grasped and strictly implemented the Party, State, and higher echelons’ directives and resolutions on the work for war invalids and martyrs, with a focus on cooperating with offices and sectors in ensuring the entitlements and policies under the regulations. In addition, the PMC has concentrated on verifying, confirming, and ensuring policies for the post-war beneficiaries under the Circular 2020, the Joint Circular 28, and the Decisions 142, 62, and 49 by the Prime Minister³ in an accurate, public manner. Since 2015, the PMC has given the decisions on receiving the entitlements of war invalids and sick soldiers to 578 comrades with the total amount of over 28 billion VND and handed those decisions over to the Provincial Department of Labour, War Invalids, and Social Affairs for the management and payment of entitlements under the regulations. It has organized the Death Announcement Ceremonies for and bestowed the “To quoc ghi cong” (The Fatherland Acknowledges the Merit) Certificates on 24 martyrs. Due attention has been paid to leading and coordinating the work of searching and collecting martyrs’ remains and identifying martyrs by local party committees and authorities, competent offices, and the provinces’ armed forces, Veterans’ Unions, and Former Youth Volunteers’ Unions. Consideration has been given to receiving, reviewing, and completing the lists and profiles of martyrs and martyrs’ graves provided by individuals, units, and people from both inside and outside the province as well as giving the information about martyrs and martyrs’ graves to their relatives. The work of reviewing and identifying the areas and drawing the maps for searching and gathering martyrs’ remains has been actively carried out. Until late 2018, 70% of the province’s communes and 30% of its districts accomplished this work, which contributed to satisfying the legitimate aspirations of martyrs’ relatives and consolidating the people’s faith in the Party, State, and Military.

With the gratitude for those who sacrificed their lives for the national independence, the provincial armed forces have always promoted their core role in conducting the work of “gratitude” with practical deeds. They have taken care of Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, provided assistance for the people with meritorious services, presented Houses of Gratitude and savings books to war invalids, martyrs’ families, and victims of Agent Orange, and created a favourable condition for their children to go to school, find employments, and stabilize life. The PMC and its Party Committee have advised the Provincial Party Committee, People’s Committee, and People’s Council on socializing the policy work, encouraging the participation of offices, units, politico-social organizations, and enterprises from both inside and outside the province as well as cadres and the people in its area in this work. Since 2015, the provincial armed forces have contributed 847,219,000 VND to the “Gratitude Fund” and built 48 Houses of Gratitude and 6 Houses of Comradeship. Following the Decision 1231/QĐ-BQP by the Ministry of National Defence on the Military’s continued participation in taking care of Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, the PMC has taken care of 17 Heroic Vietnamese Mothers with the average sum of 500,000 VND per month, offered employments for 8 people who are children of war invalids with severe injuries under the Directive 97/CT-BQP, dated July 18^th 2011, by the Ministry of National Defence, and provided free medical examination and medicine for over 1,700 policy beneficiaries with the sum of 271 million VND. On the occasion of the 72^nd Anniversary of the War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day (July 27^th 1949 - July 27^th 2019), the PMC has advised the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee on cooperating with offices and sectors in encouraging units and enterprises to organize activities in tribute to martyrs, repair and visit martyrs’ cemeteries, and present gifts to the families under the preferential treatment policy.

Besides, due regard has been paid to leading, directing, and better performing the policies for military families by the PMC and its Party Committee; they have frequently recommended their higher echelons to issue the decisions on recognizing and annulling the titles with military special allowances. Great value has been attached to visiting, meeting, and presenting gifts to those who had been Secretaries and Members of the Provincial Military Party Committee and retired military cadres on national holidays and traditional days; giving assistance to those who have had life-threatening diseases and infertility; visiting and giving gifts to families of cadres and soldiers performing the task on Truong Sa Islands, at the DK1 Platform, and in the border, extremely difficult areas.

Those achievements by the provincial armed forces of Nam Dinh have made contributions to realizing the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy, better improving the material and mental life of war invalids, sick soldiers, martyrs’ families, and people with meritorious services, and fulfilling several criteria for building new-style countryside so that Nam Dinh will be the first province that meets the standards for new-style countryside by 2020. At the same time, doing so has helped consolidate the military-civilian unity and the people’s faith in the local armed forces, party committees, and authorities.

In the upcoming time, the PMC and its Party Committee will continue rendering cadres, soldiers, the people, and particularly key cadres at all levels fully aware of the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy on the work for war invalids and martyrs as well as the policy for military families and the national tradition of “remembering the source when drinking water”. Great value will be attached to raising the responsibility and role of all-level party committees, commissars, and commands towards the work for war invalids, martyrs, and people with meritorious services as well as the policy for military families. At the same time, significance will be attached to continuing to stepping up the work of “gratitude” via practical, effective, new, creative, proper approaches. Due attention will be paid to synchronously adopting groups of measures for searching, collecting, and identifying martyrs’ remains, especially encouraging the people to provide the information about martyrs and martyrs’ graves, striving to finish concluding the areas and drawing the maps for searching and gathering martyrs’ remains in the province’s areas by the third quarter of 2019. Besides, consideration will be given to promoting the role and responsibility of local party committees, authorities, and competent offices in searching, gathering, and identifying martyrs’ remains; intensifying inspection of this work; conducting reviews, drawing lessons, well carrying out the commendation work, building and multiplying typical examples of the policy work; resolutely fighting against wrong information, negative practices, and ensuring that the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy for war invalids, martyrs, and people with meritorious services as well as the policy for military families will be better implemented.

Sr. Col. Vu Xuan Truong

Commissar of the PMC

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1 - Over 280,000 people from Nam Dinh province took part in the resistance wars; the province has over 30,600 martyrs, 10,500 war invalids, over 10,200 sick soldiers, over 10,000 victims of Agent Orange, and nearly 3,000 Heroic Vietnamese Mothers.

2 - The Ordinance on preferential treatment for the people with meritorious services to the revolution; the Ordinance on the title of “Heroic Vietnamese Mother”; the 11^th Politburo’s Direction on “continuing to step up the work of searching and gathering martyrs’ remains towards 2020 and beyond”; the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat’s Directive 14-CT/TW, dated July 19^th 2017, on “strengthening the Party’s leadership over the work for the people with meritorious services to the revolution”; the Prime Minister’s Decision 515/QĐ-TTg, dated May 10^th 2018, on consolidating the structure of the National Steering Board on searching, gathering, and identifying martyrs’ remains; the Central Military Commission Standing Board’s Directive 368-CT/QUTW, dated June 12^th 2016, on enhancing leadership and direction over the policy work for the Military and military families in the period of 2016-2020.

3 - The Joint Circular 28/2013/TTLT-BLĐTBXH-BQP, dated October 22^nd 2013, by the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids, and Social Affairs and the Ministry of National Defence on “recognizing martyrs and war invalids without certificated documents”; the Prime Minister’s Decision 142/2008/QĐ-TTg on the entitlements for military staff members taking part in the resistance war against the US Imperialists, for national salvation, serving the Military for under 20 years, and being discharged from the Military; the Prime Minister’s Decision 62/2011/QĐ-TTg on the entitlements for those who took part in the wars for Homeland defence and performed the international mission in Cambodia and Laos after April 30^th 1975, and were discharged from the Military; the Prime Minister’s Decision 49/2015/QĐ-TTg, dated October 14^th 2015, on “several entitlements and policies for front-line conscripted labourers taking part in the resistance wars against the French and the U.S., the wars for Homeland defence, and the international mission.