Ambassador Le Anh speaking at the meeting (Photo: baoquocte.vn)
More than 40 veterans were present at the meeting, of a total of nearly 100 people across Belarus and the list of more than 200 Belarusian soldiers who had been side by side with Vietnamese soldiers to repel bombings by American planes from 1965 to 1972.
Belarusian experts arriving in Vietnam at that time were mainly in units operating artillery, missile and aircraft. The young soldiers in the old days are now about 70 years old. They were all cheerful because this was a rare opportunity for them to meet each other.
Vietnam is the only country with a tradition of organizing annual meetings and paying tribute to the Belarusian veterans doing international duty.
Speaking at the meeting, Vietnamese Ambassador to Belarus Le Anh praised and thanked the contributions of the Soviet veterans in general and Belarusian veterans in particular to the cause of protection and unification of Vietnam. The Ambassador wished the Belarusian veterans health, happiness, and that they would continue to contribute to the Vietnam – Belarus friendship.
The experts recounted moving stories about the resistance war, comradeship among the soldiers and the people. Songs about the war in Russian language were sung, rekindling memories, which they will never forget.
They also talked about visits to Vietnam a few years ago organized by Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence for Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian veterans, who were received by the State President, the Minister of National Defence of Vietnam and visited places where they had been in and engaged in combat. These veterans wore medals and badges, honours presented by the Ministry of National Defence, the Service of Air Defence - Air Force of Vietnam with great pride.
Respecting the past and the good sentiment of the soldiers of the two countries, Colonel Uporov Dmitry, Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation, under the Ministry of National Defence of Belarus, confirmed that the friendship and the good cooperation between the two countries would further develop, including the military field. Along with the veterans, the Colonel thanked the Vietnamese Embassy in Belarus for organization of annual traditional meetings and hoped that it would be maintained regularly.
"Our love for Vietnam is still intact and will be passed on to younger generations," are words from the heart of the Belarusian comrades./.