In the morning on April 18, at the Hoa Lo Prison, the opening ceremony of the “Bare feet, Iron will” exhibition was held on the occasion of the 43th anniversary of the Liberation of the South (30/4/1975 – 30/4/2018); 64th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu victory (7/5/1954 – 7/5/2018); 128th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh (19/5/1890 – 19/5/2018).
Ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Exhibition
With four contents: Following His footsteps, Rising from the prison, Bare feet, Iron will and Bravery and Wisdom of Vietnam, the Exhibition is a chance to arouse the great moments of national history and to recall the fierce life of war.
Following His footsteps is the opening content of the Exhibition, regarding the stamps of President Ho Chi Minh associated with the great victory of the Vietnamese revolution in the twentieth century. His thoughts, morality and personality are manifested in His daily actions and words, to become a legacy for Vietnamese generations to “Study and follow Ho Chi Minh’s Morality”. In the 10th National Public Security Conference in January 1956, “We have two forces. One is the army force to fight foreign invaders, to protect the country and keep the peace. Another is the public security force to fight against the domestic enemy and the vandals. Sometimes war, sometimes peace. The army force fights against enemies in wartime, and improves in peaceful time. The public security force always fight against enemies, they must work hard in wartime, but harder in the peaceful time…”, spoke President Ho Chi Minh.
In the framework of the opening ceremony, the war memorials were donated to the Management Board of Hoa Lo Prison Historical Relic by Major General Huynh Dac Huong and Major General, Hero of the People’s Armed Forces Nguyen Duc Minh
“Iron spirit” of the brave revolutionary soldiers enlightens. “The darkest dungeon is the brightest”. They transformed the colonial and imperial prison into a revolutionary school, where they trained and generated the outstanding leaders of the revolution in Vietnam. It is embodied in the second content: Rising from the prison. Hoa Lo, Son La, Con Dao, Kham Lon, Lao Thua Phu Prision…were special “schools” helping them to become the brave revolutionaries with strategic vision, to master and apply creatively the way of the Party, strictly and loyally follow the way chosen by President Ho Chi Minh, selectively learn from their comrades to serve the revolution, serve the people and become the “Compassionate – Intellectual – Brave” generals. They contributed to creating the great history from the Dien Bien Phu Victory in 1954, and the liberation of the South and reunification of the country in 1975.
In the opening ceremony, the Exhibition attracted the high number of audiences
Bare feet, Iron will as the third contents, introduce the “Generals in the heart of the people” such as: Generals Vo Nguyen Giap, Nguyen Chi Thanh, Van Tien Dung, Chu Huy Man, Hoang Van Thai … . They are the excellent students of President Ho Chi Minh; excellent at terms of both academic and military achievements; outstanding advisers and leaders, strict commanders who love other soldiers and are close to the people. They were pioneer, ready to sacrifice on the battlefields and able to spread their “iron spirit” to others.
Through the two great and long-term resistance wars of Vietnam, the elite people with “barefoot” entered the wars against the enemies with the “iron will”. The “iron will” were concentrated and promoted into the extraordinary strength, helping them overcome all difficulties and challenges to finally, regain independence and happiness for the people. Referring to them, we must mention the great victories, in which the Dien Bien Phu victory (May 7, 1954) and the Ho Chi Minh Campaign (April 30, 1975) are the climax.
Bravery and Wisdom of Vietnam, as the last content of the Exhibition, expresses the iron will of the Vietnamese people: being resilient in fighting, creating great victories, gaining independence and freedom for the people. Those victories are carved into history and the emotional moments do not fade in the minds of the Vietnamese people. The victories of the two wars against the French and the Americans were the pride and the spiritual foothold for all soldiers to further build their will, strive to overcome all difficulties, make them ready to complete excellently all duties assigned.
With more than 250 images and exhibits, the war stories become detailed and lively. Thus, the people becomes more aware of the hardships and fierceness of war; further builds up their national pride and improves their will and ambition, contributing to developing Vietnam to reach the same level to other great powers in the world as taught by President Ho Chi Minh.
Some pictures at the opening ceremony of the Exhibition:
Former Member of Political Bureau, Former Secretary of Hanoi City Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi attended the opening ceremony of the Exhibition.
“Dien Bien Phu Milestone – 1954” combination shows impetus of the militia using bicycles as means of transporting and supplying weapons, food and necessities to soldiers in battlefields
“Historical Pages of Great Victory – 1975” combination reconstructs the interconnection stations on the way of Truong Son crossing of millions of soldiers
Major General Huynh Dac Huong passionately tell about the memories of a glorious time
Thuy Nga