HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc presented certificates honouring the fallen soldiers’ service to the country to hundreds of families to mark Vietnamese War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day, which falls on July 27.

Phúc attended a ceremony at the Sơn Tây Commune Martyrs Cemetary in Hà Nội along with several high-level officials including the Party’s Central Committee Secretary Phạm Minh Chính, Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam and National Assembly Deputy Chairman Uông Chu Lưu.

The PM led a delegation to offer flowers and incense to each tomb following a minute of silence in memory of the war martyrs resting at the cemetery.

Similar ceremonies were also held at the same time other five other martyr cemeteries – one in HCM City, the National Road 9 in Quảng Trị Province, the Vị Xuyên in Hà Giang Province, one in Đắk Lắk Province and another dedicated to those served as postal deliverymen in Tây Ninh Province.

Members of the Youth Union on the same night also lit thousands of candles on the tombs of the martyrs in more than 3,000 cemeteries across the country.

PM Phúc took the chance to present the honouring certificates to 30 families of the martyrs, who represented a total of 442 families awarded this year.

Phúc also officially opened the Government e-portal database which allow people to go online and learn more about those who died and where they are laid to rest.

This was the project co-coordinated between the Ministry of Labour - War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Information on nearly 850,000 martyr tombs at more than 3,000 cemeteries in Việt Nam can be found on the website www.thongtinlietsi.gov.vn, accounting for 95.6 per cent of the total tombs recorded by MOLISA.

According to MOLISA, there were still more than 200,000 tombs yet to be moved to a cemetery while more than  300,000 soldiers’ remains are still resting at the cemeteries but without personal information. 

Martyrs’ families visits

Phúc visited the families of war martyrs Trịnh Đình Khôi and Đặng Thùy Trâm in Hà Nội to mark the day. 

At Khôi’s house in Minh Khai Ward Hai Bà Trưng District, the PM lit incense in memory of the young soldier, who died aged only 19 years old on the Quảng Trị battlefield. His remains are yet to be found. 
Later, he paid homage to military doctor Đặng Thùy Trâm at her mother’s house in Đội Cấn, Ba Đình District. 
Born in 1942, Trâm worked at the Đức Phổ District hospital in the central province of Quảng Ngãi. She died during an ambush in 1970. 
The PM stated the Vietnamese Party and Government always remembers the contributions of war martyrs and pays attention to caring for families of revolutionary contributors. — VNS