The Da Nang People’s Committee held a ceremony in the city on Thursday morning to award the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces from the State President to the Battalion No.3, Quang Da Front No.44.

Under the authorisation of the State President, Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang attaches the medal to the traditional flag of Battalion No.3, the Quang Da Front No.44. Photo: LE HUNG

In his remarks at the ceremony, municipal People’s Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh emphasised that the Quang Da Front was still considered one of the harshest places during Viet Nam’s resistance wars.

He informed that in order to prepare for the 1968 General Offensive and Uprising, the Standing Committee of Zone 5’s Party Committee and the Military Zone 5 High Command established the Quang Da Front No.44. In October 1967, the Party Committee of Zone 5 decided to merge the Quang Da Party Committee and the Da Nang Party Committee into the Party Committee of the Quang Da Special Zone.

The Quang Da Front No.44, at that time, consisted of 4 infantry regiments, 2 artillery regiments and 19 attached battalions. Of this, the Battalion No.3 was assigned by the 44 Quang Da Front High Command to stay firmly in Dien Ban and Duy Xuyen - the two most important districts of Quang Da Province.

Authorised by the State President, Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang awards the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces to Battalion No.3, the 44 Quang Da Front. Photo: LE HUNG

Chairman Chinh expressed his profound gratitude to officers and men of the Battalion No.3, and the 44 Quang Da Front as a whole, who overcame difficulties and fierceness of the war to contribute to the liberation of Da Nang and the national liberation.

He promised that local leaders and people will continue their efforts to build Da Nang into a civilised, prosperous, beautiful and modern city in order to deserve its titles of ‘worth living city’ and ‘the city of peace’.

Municipal People’s Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh speaking at the ceremony

Also at the ceremony, the Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, and Fatherland Front Committee of the city presented gifts to 17 veterans and relatives of martyrs of Battalion No.3, the 44 Quang Da Front.

Secretary Nguyen Van Quang (8th, left) and Chairman Le Trung Chinh (7th, left) give gifts to veterans and relatives of martyrs of Battalion No. 3, the Quang Da Front No. 44. Photo: LE HUNG

Also on the same day, a group of Da Nang leaders, led by municipal Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang, laid wreaths and offered incense in memory of heroes and martyrs at the city’s Martyrs Cemetery.

Leaders of Da Nang and the Veterans' Liaison Board of the Battalion No.3, the Quang Da Front No.44 lay wreaths and offer incense to commemorate heroes and martyrs. Photo: LE HUNG

The participants observed a minute’s silence to pay their respects to late President Ho Chi Minh and the heroic martyrs who laid down their lives for the nation’s re-unification.

Reporting by LE HUNG - Translating by M.DUNG