The rememberance ceremony in Gạc Ma — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Lê Lâm

A ceremony was held on March 12 in Đà Nẵng to mark the 35th anniversary of the sacrifice made by 64 Vietnamese Navy soldiers on Gạc Ma Reef, belonging to Việt Nam's Trường Sa (Spratly) archipelago. 

The event was organised by the Traditional Communication Committee of Trường Sa soldiers in Đà Nẵng to offer incense, offers wreaths and pay tribute to the fallen soldiers at the Nại Nam communal house in Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng.

The battle was to safeguard the country’s island territory over the reefs of Gạc Ma (Johnson South), Cô Lin (Collins), and Len Đao (Lansdowne) in Việt Nam’s Trường Sa (Spratly) archipelago in 1988 against China’s forces. 

At the commemorative ceremony, Nguyễn Văn Tấn, Head of the Traditional Liaison Committee of the Trường Sa Military Corps (1984-1988), stated that the ceremony was to commemorate and pay tribute to 64 martyrs who sacrificed their lives on Đảo Gạc Ma Island in Trường Sa (Việt Nam) on March 14, 1988, for the noble cause of protecting the country's sacred territorial waters, including nine martyrs from Đà Nẵng and one from Quảng Nam.

According to Tấn, Gạc Ma demonstrated the qualities of revolutionary soldiers who were loyal, determined and outstanding sons of the country and ready to sacrifice themselves without hesitation. 

The soldiers of the Vietnam People's Navy fought fiercely and bravely to defend the sovereignty of the country's seas and islands.

At the ceremony, representatives of the families of martyrs who sacrificed their lives in Gạc Ma, as well as former soldiers who had worked and fought in Trường Sa, held a minute's silence and offered incense in remembrance of the martyrs who died in Gạc Ma.

In addition, a flower-releasing ceremony was held on the Hàn River to pay tribute to the martyrs.

Lê Thị Lan (80 years old, mother of martyr Nguyễn Hữu Lộc) shared that she was very proud that her son bravely fought and sacrificed himself to protect the sovereignty of the country's islands and seas.

Every year, the concern of comrades and local authorities helps ease her loss.

Dương Đình Liễu, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front of Đà Nẵng, said that the commemoration aims to pay tribute and remember the heroic martyrs who sacrificed themselves to protect the sovereignty of the country's sacred seas and islands.

The ceremony also helps educate younger generations on patriotic traditions, instills a spirit of readiness to protect the country and peace, and maintains the sovereignty of the country's seas and islands.

At the event, representatives of Đông Á University presented ten gifts worth VNĐ1 million per gift to the ten families of martyrs in Quảng Nam and Đà Nẵng. — VNS