The Air Defense-Air Force Veterans’ Association in the south held a get-together for historical witnesses on December 2 in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the "Hanoi-Dien Bien Phu in the Air" victory.

Present at the event were Nguyen Minh Triet, former Politburo Member and former State President; Senior Lieutenant General Pham Thanh Ngan, former Politburo member and former Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army; and 30 historical witnesses who took an active part in the "Hanoi-Dien Bien Phu in the Air" campaign.

Delegates at the meeting (source: PANO)

During the meeting, delegates recalled the historic battle against US B-52 bombers in December 1972 - the “Dien Bien Phu in the Air" and affirmed the significance of the contribution of the victory to Southern Vietnam's liberation and the reunification of the whole country.

During the “Hanoi-Dien Bien Phu in the Air” campaign, the Vietnamese army and people shot down 81 US aircraft, including 34 B-52s and five F-111s. The Vietnamese Air Defense-Air Force Service, a core force of the campaign, alone shot down 53 aircrafts including 32 B-52s.

Since then, the service’s soldiers have preserved and promoted the tradition in the national construction and protection campaigns./.

( VNF/PANO )