Winners of writing contest on Ho Chi Minh Trail announced

The organising committee of the “Ardent Spirit of Truong Son” writing contest presented five collective prizes and 44 individual prizes, worth VND300 million (US$12,900) in total, to the winning authors at an award ceremony in Hanoi on May 4.

Maj. Gen. Vo So, President of the Truong Son - Ho Chi Minh Trail Traditional Association, presents the collective prizes to the winners.
Maj. Gen. Vo So, President of the Truong Son - Ho Chi Minh Trail Traditional Association, presents the collective prizes to the winners.

The event was part of activities to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Traditional Day of Truong Son Army Corps which falls on May 19.

The individual prizes included two first prizes, four second prizes, eight third prizes and 30 fourth prizes, while the collective prizes were awarded to the units with many entries.

Addressing the ceremony, Colonel Nguyen Duy Tuong, Editor-in-chief of Vietnam Veterans Newspaper and deputy head of the organising board, said that the submissions closely followed the topics of the contest as they reflected the typical examples of Vietnamese soldiers and youth pioneers fighting on the Truong Son battlefield during 1959-1975 and the outstanding examples of the Truong Son soldiers, veterans and former youth pioneers in the post-war production activities.

The writing contest was launched by the Truong Son - Ho Chi Minh Trail Traditional Association, in association with Vietnam Veterans Newspaper and the Pacific Group Corporation, on March 23, 2018.

After one year since its launch, the organising board received nearly 1,170 entries sent from every corner of the country, with Colonel Nguyen Ngoc Toan, 90, in Hanoi, being the oldest and Vu Tra My in Ho Chi Minh City, 20, being the youngest author. Especially, the contest was enthusiastically responded to by war veterans, former youth pioneers and many senior officers of the Army.

The contest aimed to honour the fighting spirit and heroic sacrifice of Vietnamese troops and civilians during the resistance war for national salvation from 1959 to 1975 on the Truong Son Trail and to praise units that upheld the tradition of Truong Son soldiers in the national construction and protection cause, as well as outstanding examples of Truong Son soldiers in daily life.