The Committee for Hoa People Affairs inHo Chi Minh City on April 25 held a ceremony to receive the StatePresident’s awards in recognition of the outstanding sacrifices the Hoapeople have made to the nation during the US war.

President Nguyen Minh Triet granted the title “Hero of the People’sArmed Forces” to the Hoa People Mobilization Board in charge of theSaigon-Cho Lon-Gia Dinh special zone (now the HCM City Committee for HoaPeople Affairs) and To Cam Vinh – an ex-member of the board’s specialtaskforce.

He also conferred posthumously the “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces”title on Truong Thanh – a fallen soldier who used to head team 198 ofthe Young Volunteers Force (the Young Volunteers’ Federation of thesouth liberation force).

The decoration, which coincides with the 35 th anniversary of theLiberation of Southern Vietnam, reflects the Party and State’s gratitudeto the immense services and sacrifices the Hoa people had rendered tothe nation’s liberation and reunification.

The State has recognized 235 fallen soldiers and eight Heroic Mothers ofthe Hoa ethnic group during the US war. Nearly 1,000 Hoa peoplewere captured, imprisoned and tortured by the US troops and theSaigon regime, and hundreds of others suffered from serious physicaland mental injuries from the war.

Nghi Doan, former chief of the Hoa People Mobilisation Board of theSaigon-Cho Lon-Gia Dinh special zone and the HCM City Committee for HoaPeople Affairs, recalled that under the Party’s leadership, Hoarevolutionary soldiers and people enthusiastically joined the fightagainst the imperialist invaders and their Saigon puppet troops fornational liberation and reunification.

He affirmed that the Hoa people in the country’s biggest economic hubtoday will work harder to contribute to defending and building thecountry and developing their city more prosperously./.