During the 80-year journey of history of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA), generations of Vietnamese war veterans have directly devoted their efforts to building up the VPA’s heroic tradition and the noble title of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” - our Military’s core value and shining symbol. That noble title continues to be an incentive for each war veteran to keep making contributions to constructing and protecting the Socialist Fatherland.

Over the past 80 years, the process of construction, combat, victory, and maturity of our VPA has been closely associated with massive merits of the entire Party, people, and Military, including generations of Vietnamese war veterans. They are “warriors” who dedicated their whole life to the cause of national liberation, construction, and protection; despite hardships and challenges in their revolutionary struggle, they have always shown their absolute loyalty to the goal and ideal selected by our Party, Uncle Ho, and people. After being trained in the military environment and experiencing the resistance wars against US imperialists and French colonialists, the Fatherland protection wars, and international missions, millions of war veterans came back to their families or worked in other fields. Regardless of their positions or occupations, a majority of war veterans have always preserved and brought into play the virtues of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”, effectively making contributions to the cause of Fatherland construction and defence.

Leaders of Hoa Binh Provincial War Veterans’ Association visit the production model developed by war veteran Nguyen Van Thap (photo: baohoabinh.com.vn)

Fully aware of the value of national independence and socialism as the revolutionary fruits earned by the efforts, bones, and blood of the entire Party, people, and Military, Vietnamese war veterans have always taken the lead in building and protecting the Party, State, and socialist regime. Generations of war veterans have always maintained their political steadfastness, encouraging the people to comply with the Party’s lines and the State’s laws and policies, actively participating in building and rectifying the Party and political system into purity and strength. All-level Vietnam War Veterans’ Associations (VWVA) have always stayed close to the people, bringing into play their experience, knowledge, and responsibility, providing constructive opinions about the Party’s lines, the State’s laws, and socio-economic, cultural development and defence - security consolidation programs. In practice, tens of thousands of VWVA members have been elected to party committees, authorities, and people’s councils at all levels, and they have promoted a core role in their assigned tasks. All-level VWVAs have well performed their functions of supervision and social criticism, actively preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness, negative practices, and social evils. At the same time, they have proactively prevented and combated wrong, hostile viewpoints to defend the Party’s ideological foundation; they have collaborated with offices, sectors, and other organisations in giving advice to party committees and authorities on resolutely, cleverly, effectively dealing with “hot spots” and complex situations, contributing to foiling hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy. They have also well implemented Regulations on Grass-Roots Democracy to create a consensus within society and cement all-people great unity, thereby contributing to maintaining political stability in localities.

Returning home from the military environment, many of VWVA members are war invalids or sick soldiers; however, they have been proactively involved in socio-economic development programs with many encouraging results. Bringing into play the spirit of self-reliance, daring to think, and daring to do, many war veterans have adopted effective, creative approaches, mobilising all resources and support from local sectors and the State to help one another with production, life improvement, rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, thus contributing to the development of the country and society. Across the whole VWVA, there are 8,652 enterprises, 1,752 cooperatives, and 184,802 farms with about 779,693 employees; many of those businesses have reached an annual turnover of hundreds of billions or trillions of VND. On a yearly basis, tens of thousands of VWVA members at all levels have acquired the title of “good members in production and business”. Veteran Entrepreneurs’ Associations and Veteran Entrepreneurs’ Clubs have been established across all provinces and municipalities; a large number of products from war veterans’ businesses have been highly appreciated by consumers; some products have been exported to foreign markets. Those specific, practical deeds mentioned above have proved the spirit of “overcoming all difficulties” of a “heroic Army” on the new front.

Fully aware of their role and responsibility, generations of war veterans have always promoted the virtues and prestige of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”, proactively, enthusiastically taking part in local and national programs, movements, and campaigns. All-level VWVAs have well executed regulations on coordination with authorities, Vietnam Fatherland Front, agencies, ministries, sectors, and other organisations. In this regard, the program on coordination between the VWVA and the VPA has been effectively implemented, particularly in military call-up work, militia and self-defence force training, defensive zone exercises, border patrol, search and repatriation of martyrs’ remains. At the same time, the VWVA has closely cooperated with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and other organisations in educating the youth on patriotism and revolutionary heroism, initiating excellent youth union members into the Party, and encouraging youths to join the VPA.

War veterans across the country have always played an exemplary role in the movement entitled “all people unite to build cultural life in residential areas”, encouraging the people to build civilised life within families and residential areas, instilling fine cultural values into the people. Under the movement entitled “the whole country joins hands to build new-style rural areas”, a lot of war veterans have voluntarily donated their land or encouraged the people to do the same to construct roads and public works, thereby contributing to building new-style, advanced new-style, and exemplary new-style rural areas. War veterans have upheld their exemplary role, creativity, responsibility, and unity to join all people in preventing and combating Covid-19 pandemic, with thousands of collectives and individuals being commended. In the movement entitled “the whole country joins hands for the poor - no one will be left behind”, under the spirit of “compassion”, war veterans have actively made donations to “poverty reduction fund”, “fund for dilapidated house eradication”, “comradeship fund”, victims of agent orange/dioxin, and citizens and VWVA members affected by natural disasters and epidemics. Those activities have contributed to deepening comradeship, fostering the close-knit bond between the people and the Military, cementing the people’s faith in the Party, State, and VPA, building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds”.

Under our Party and State’s foreign policy, the VWVA has always actively carried out diplomatic activities with practical results. Notably, it has organised programs to foster its relations with the World Veterans Federation (WVF) and the Veterans Confederation of ASEAN Countries (VECONAC); it successfully held the presidency of VECONAC in 2020 and 2021. It has maintained a friendly, cooperative, trustworthy, mutually supportive relationship with the Lao War Veterans’ Association and the Cambodian War Veterans’ Association. It has strengthened cooperation with war veterans’ organisations from the US, Australia, South Korea, and Japan in settling post-war consequences. It has developed its relations with war veterans’ associations from Russia, China, and several Eastern European and African countries, thus contributing to raising its status in the international community.

The VWVA’s significant contributions in various aspects of social life have been acknowledged and highly appreciated by our Party, State, and people, profoundly demonstrating war veterans’ patriotism, willpower, and responsibility for the country’s development. In the new period, the VWVA’s operations will have a lot of advantages but face numerous difficulties. In order to continue promoting the virtues of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” and the “Loyal, United, Exemplary, Innovative” tradition in the cause of Fatherland construction and protection, all-level VWVAs and their staff should focus on a number of measures as follows.

First, heightening a sense of responsibility to actively contribute to the building of the Party and all-level authorities. Emphasis should be placed on engaging in preparing and organising all-level party congresses towards the 14^th National Party Congress and the elections of deputies to the 16^th National Assembly and all-level people’s councils. All-level VWVAs should closely cooperate with offices and sectors in preparatory work to enable the possible largest number of members to access draft documents of all-level party congresses and bring into play their experience and knowledge to make comprehensive, scientific contributions to the Party’s lines at all levels. Coordination should be maintained to opportunely combat wrong, hostile viewpoints, defend the Party’s ideological foundation, and step up the fight against degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle as well as “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” among cadres, party members, and VWVA members. At the same time, due attention should be paid to joining the entire political system in successfully realising the National Digital Transformation Program and the Party’s lines on innovating and re-organising the apparatus of the political system to be streamlined and operate effectively and efficiently.

Second, bringing into play all potential, heightening self-reliance, actively participating in socio-economic development. All-level VWVAs should continue to grasp and execute the Party’s resolutions and the Government’s socio-economic plans, particularly the National Target Program on poverty reduction, new-style rural area building, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the period of 2021 - 2030. Consideration should be given to restructuring crops and livestock towards the production of commodities and developing farm economy, household economy, cooperatives, and businesses owned by war veterans to create more employments and increase the rates of rich households. Great value should be attached to deepening international cooperation, developing international business according to war veterans’ potential in each locality, and fostering cooperation in tourism, services, and investment. Via people-to-people diplomacy, it is necessary to create a favourable condition for Vietnamese war veterans to develop market and partnership with other countries’ war veterans. Besides, all-level VWVAs should promote democracy, play an exemplary role in exercising democracy and abiding by law, uphold social morality, encourage the people to take part in building the Party, the socialist rule-of-law State, the Fatherland Front, and political - social organisations, with a view to contributing to social management, economic development, enjoyment of culture, and the building of a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds”.

Third, effectively contributing to defence - security consolidation and Fatherland protection. The VWVA should continue to implement programs on coordination with the VPA and the Public Security Force in enhancing propagation and education work to raise public awareness of national defence and security among war veterans and citizens. Due regard should be paid to participating in defensive zone exercises, the training of militia and self-defence and reserve forces, border patrol, protection of national sovereignty over seas and islands, and combination of economic development and defence - security consolidation. All-level VWVAs should continue to cooperate with youth unions and military agencies in educating the youth on patriotism, revolutionary tradition, and the Military Service Law. At the same time, they should actively take part in building the Party’s military - defence lines and join hands to realise the goal of building revolutionary, regular, elite, modern VPA and People’s Public Security Force.

Fourth, building a politically, ideologically, organisationally strong VWVA, renewing its methods and content of operation to well perform its tasks and function as the core force in encouraging war veterans. Importance should be attached to developing and consolidating VWVAs, particularly in remote, isolated, border, sea, island areas and within state agencies, unions, and enterprises. It is essential to actively renew the content and methods of operation of all-level VWVAs in accordance with each group of war veterans, direct all activities towards grass-roots level, avoid signs of ostentation and formalism, protect and take care of rights and legitimate benefits of war veterans. Measures to raise the quality of a contingent of VWVA cadres should be synchronously implemented to meet the VWVA’s task requirements in the new period.

The 80^th founding anniversary of the VPA and the 35^th anniversary of the All-People National Defence Festive Day constitute a special occasion for generations of Vietnamese war veterans to recall their courage and tireless devotion to the country’s glorious revolutionary cause. It is also a strong incentive for each war veteran to continue to bring into play the noble virtues of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” and make a worthy contribution to the nation’s new era and the cause of Socialist Fatherland construction and protection.

Sr. Lt. Gen. BE XUAN TRUONG

President of the VWVA