In the run-up to the 68th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day(July 27), a nationwide drive to pay tribute to war heroes and theirfamilies by giving presents, including cash, is currently underway.

In addition to gifts from the State President,almost 18,500 families of war heroes in the southern province of DongNai received 700,000 VND (33.3 USD) each from local budgets.

In 2013-2014, over 1,000 households accessed financial support reserved for housing repairs and construction.

In 2015, more than 18 billion VND (857,000 USD) will be spent on constructing 150 houses and repairing 600 others.

Dong Nai is home to 53,000 veteran soldiers, with over 14,000 familiesreceiving a monthly State allowance and 14,000 individuals obtaininglump sum grants.

On July 16, a Vietnam News Agencydelegation led by Deputy Director General Dinh Dang Quang visitedinvalids at a nursing centre in the northern midland province of Phu Thoand presented gifts.

The centre cares for 31heavily-wounded soldiers from all over the country, with most of themhaving fought in the wars against the French and American forces.

Meanwhile, the central city of Da Nang aims to repair and build morethan 1,000 houses for former revolutionaries and ethnic minorityhouseholds this year.

Thanks to support from localauthorities and philanthropists across the country, 201 new houses wereconstructed and 987 others were renovated at a total cost of 32.36billion VND (1.54 million USD).

On the occasion,the municipal authorities donated gifts to families in need, eachreceiving donations worth 4.5 million VND (214 USD).

This year, the central province of Nghe An will process 13,000applications to award certificates of merit to veterans for theircontributions during the wars. The local Emulation and CommendationDepartment has so far reviewed over 7,700 dossiers which were submittedto the Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee.-VNA