PANO – An exhibit winning first glints by tourists at the Vietnam Military History Museum is a Tank T-54B, bearing the number 843, which was one of the first tanks to enter the Independence Palace, the Headquarters of the former Saigon regime, on April 30th, 1975.
In the archives of the museum, it is the original and precious item with rare historical values related to the Ho Chi Minh Campaign in the Spring 1975 General Offensive and Uprising.
Tank T-54B, numbered 843, at the Vietnam Military History Museum.
“Injuries” on the tank’s body are striking demonstrations of its glorious feats of arms during the war, making contributions to national independence and freedom.
The tank, T-54, built by the Soviet Union and used by the Vietnamese soldiers in the anti-American resistance war, was staffed to Company 4, Battalion 1, Brigade 203, Army Corps 2, from May 1974.
During the war, the tank andthe crew of five soldiers Lieutenant Bui Quang Than, driver corporal Lu Van Hoa, gunner 1 sergeant Thai Ba Minh and gunner 2 corporal Nguyen Van Ky, participated in historic battles to liberate Hue, Da Nang and other Central provinces, then advanced to Saigon to join the historic campaign to liberate the city (now Ho Chi Minh City).
In the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, after overcoming the final obstacles laid by the Saigon forces, the tank team went straight to the Independent palace, the last hideout of the puppet administration in the South. At noon on April 30th 1975, the tank approached the gate of the Independence Palace. Immediately, Lieutenant Bui Quang Than got out of the tank, took the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam from the tank’s antenna, climbed over the main gun and planted it on the Palace’s roof, asserting the entire victory of the Vietnamese people to the world.
On the 35th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army in 1979, the tank was moved to the North for display at the Vietnam Military History Museum. In October 2012, it was recognized as the national treasure by the Prime Minister.
Translated by Van Hieu
Đăng ký: VietNam News