Scene at the inauguration ceremony (Photo: VOH)HCM City (VNA) – The public radio broadcasterVoice of Ho Chi Minh City People (VOH) on February 12 inaugurated a monument dedicatedto soldiers who died in fighting at the Sai Gon radio station during the GeneralOffensive and Uprising in the Spring of 1968.
The event gathered representatives of the HCM Cityauthorities, families of the war martyrs, war veterans, and local residents.
Huynh Van Chum, Vice Chairman of the municipal PartyCommittee’s Commission for Information and Education, recalled the fiercebattle when 11 liberation soldiers fought hard to take control of the then SaiGon radio station in the early morning of the second day of the 1968 lunaryear. Ten of them died during the fighting.
The monument reflects the city’s deep gratitude toward thesoldiers and the local armed forces, aiming to promote national patriotismamong younger generations.
The monument is located inside the VOH headquarters at No 3Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in District 1. Built on an area of 79 m2, its designdepicts the shape of two soldiers, both made of bronze.
The monument is one of nine structures crafted across thesouthern economic hub in commemoration of martyrs of the 1968 Genral Offensiveand Uprising.
The Offensive began in the early morning of January 31 in1968 when liberation forces simultaneously launched attacks on bases of UStroops and the US-backed southern government in cities such as Hue, Da Nang,Quy Nhon and Saigon, and hundreds of towns from Quang Tri to Ca Mau.
Sai Gon-Gia Dinh (now HCM City), the headquarters of theUS-backed Southern regime, was a focus of the offensive.
The fight helped destroy huge amounts of facilities andlogistics used by the US and the southern regime’s armies. The seven-month longcampaign ended with tens of thousands of enemy troops dead, 600 strategichamlets destroyed and 100 communes liberated with a population of 1.6 millionpeople.
The event marked a strategic turning point for the resistancewar against the US and its allies. It caused the US a ‘sudden shock’,disrupting their strategic plan, shaking the White House, the Pentagon and allof the US and forced President Johnson to deescalate the war and agree to signthe historic Paris Peace Accord. The victory also helped lead to the liberationof southern Vietnam and national reunification in 1975.-VNA
VNA
