Laying wreaths to commemorate fallen soldiers from Gac Ma Island battle

A memorial service was held in Da Nang on March 14 for the 64 martyrs who died in a battle against Chinese forces to protect Gac Ma Island, part of Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, in 1988.
 

A minute of silence to commemorate the 64 fallen heroes.

Many veterans and former officers and soldiers of Vietnam’s People's Navy burned incense and stood in memory of their comrades who died protecting the Truong Sa Archipelago.

Delivering his memorial speech, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Van Hoan, former political commissar of the Brigade 83, one of the units directly involved in the Gac Ma battle in 1988, read the 64 fallen hero’s names. He emphasised that the memorial service was in remembrance and gratitude to the sacrifice of the 64 soldiers to protect the nation's sacred sea and island sovereignty. National sovereignty is inalienable, he stressed, while reminding younger generations to firmly defend the Fatherland.

Sixty-four wreaths symbolising the 64 Gac Ma martyrs were dropped into the sea, showing the Vietnamese people’s gratitude for the soldiers who died protecting the country’s territory.

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)