(VOVWORLD) - Locals and visitors have flocked to the Gac Ma Soldiers Memorial Site in Cam Lam district, Khanh Hoa province, to pay tribute to Vietnamese naval officers and soldiers who died defending Gac Ma Island of the Spratly archipelago 37 years ago.
 Officers and soldiers of the Naval Region 4 Command pay tribute to fallen Gac Ma soldiers |
March 14 this year also marks 10 years since first stone was laid to build the Gac Ma Soldiers Memorial Site, which has, since 2017, welcomed about 580,000 visitors.
On Friday, the Gac Ma Veterans Liaison Committee and Quang Binh Province held a memorial service for 64 Gac Ma fighters. Quang Binh sent 300 troops on duty in the Spratly archipelago in 1988 and 13 died in the Gac Ma naval battle.
Veteran Nguyen Van Luc, said, “We, as living comrades, returned to Quang Phuc today and offer our gratitude to the 64 heroic martyrs who died at the age of 20 to protect the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago."
They are immortal milestones in protecting the sovereignty of the sea, islands and continental shelf of the Fatherland, Luc said, adding that the sacrifice of the 64 heroic martyrs affirms one thing: Gac Ma, Spratly and Paracel archipelagos belong to Vietnam.