The certificate recognising the route, better knownas the Ho Chi Minh trail, was presented at a ceremony hosted by theMinistry of Defence on May 16 in Hanoi to mark the 55thanniversary of the historical route and the Truong Son Soldiers’ Day(May 19).
Addressing the event, Senior LieutenantGeneral Ngo Xuan Lich, head of the General Department of Politics,reiterated that on May 19, 1959, a “special military mission” with aninitial 500 members was assigned the task of opening the route andtransport military supplies to assist the southern battlefield duringthe US war.
The team later became CommunicationsSquad 301, also in charge of transferring officials, soldiers anddocuments from the north to the south and vice versa, he said.
After half a year, the Truong Son route has become an important bridgelinking the great northern rear and the southern front line. Millionsof soldiers travelled the route to reach the battleground, he said.
General Lich stated that during 16 years of resolute struggle againstuncountable hardships and difficulties, Truong Son soldiers recordedmany resounding victories and the route became one of the decisivefactors in the final victory of the nation, completely liberating thesouth and reuniting the country.
At the ceremony, LeHong Anh, Politburo member and standing member of the Party CentralCommittee’s Secretariat, presented the Military Exploit Order, firstclass, to the Army Corps 12, which was formed on the basis of the TruongSon engineer forces, in recognition of its excellent contributions tonational construction and defence.
Deputy PrimeMinister Vu Duc Dam also handed over the special national heritagecertificate for Truong Son trail to the Army Corps 12 andrepresentatives from the 11 provinces along the route.
On the occasion, former Party General Secretary Do Muoi, formerPresident Le Duc Anh and Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen SinhHung also sent floral greetings to Truong Son soldiers on their specialday.-VNA