Paying their respects to president Ho Chi Minh on the occasion of the 80th National Day anniversary were Party General Secretary To Lam; President Luong Cuong; National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man; Permanent Member of the Secretariat Tran Cam Tu; President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Do Van Chien; and many other high-ranking officials.

Also present at the ceremony were former Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh; former presidents Nguyen Minh Triet and Truong Tan Sang; former prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung; and former National Assembly chairpersons Nguyen Sinh Hung and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

The delegation's wreath bore the inscription, "Eternal gratitude to the great president Ho Chi Minh".

At the Bac Son street memorial, the delegation laid a wreath at the monument to fallen heroes with the inscription, "Eternal gratitude to the fallen heroes".

Party and state leaders, including former leaders, pay their respects to president Ho Chi Minh on the morning of 1/9. Photo: Hoang Phong

Party and state leaders, including former leaders, pay their respects to president Ho Chi Minh on the morning of 1/9. Photo: Hoang Phong

80 years ago, the August Revolution of 1945 succeeded in just 15 days, liberating the nation from French colonial rule and Japanese fascism. On 2/9, in Ba Dinh Square, before hundreds of thousands of compatriots, president Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and ushering in an era of independence and freedom.

Tomorrow, 2/9, at Ba Dinh Square, the parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day will begin at 6:30 a.m. The program will include a torch relay and traditional flame lighting ceremony, a gun salute, a flyover by the air force, a military and civilian parade, along with stationary formations, creating symbolic images and letters.

Participants will represent a diverse range of groups: 4 ceremonial blocks; 43 blocks representing the army and police (26 army blocks, 17 police blocks, including 4 blocks of foreign militaries); blocks of military artillery vehicles and special police vehicles; a naval parade; 12 civilian parade blocks; and a cultural and sports village block.

Nguyen Phong