Remember how the Soviets used to deny they were sending military personnel to Vietnam?
Cross posted from KeyWiki Blog
From the Vietnam News Agency April 26, 2010.
Vietnam always regards the people of Russia , Ukraine and Belarus as traditional, faithful and reliable friends, and will do its utmost to maintain and uphold these sentiments, a senior Party official has said.
Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Truong Tan Sang made the remarks while receiving a delegation of war veterans from Russia , Ukraine and Belarus , who once participated in Vietnam ’s resistance war against US aggressors.
Sang applauded the delegation’s visit, saying it not only serves as a chance for the former Soviet Union’s veterans to pay a call at their former battlefields and meet with old comrades and friends, but also help nurture the time-honoured friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the Vietnamese people and their Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian counterparts.
He took this occasion to thank the former Soviet Union’s people, including those in Russia , Ukraine and Belarus , for their valuable support extended to Vietnam during its past struggle for national independence as well as its present process of national construction and defence.
Representatives of the veterans said they were delighted to visit Vietnam and witness its sweeping transformation and its achievements as a result of the renewal process.
They praised the leadership role of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the nation’s revolutionary heroism and creativity during the fight for its national liberation.
Earlier, Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Khac Nghien, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, received the veterans–guests of the Ministry of National Defence and the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations.
Nghien, who is also Deputy Minister of National Defence, said during the resistance war against the US aggressors, the Vietnamese people received great assistance from international friends. The people and army of Vietnam will never forget the devotion of the Soviet war veterans, he stressed.
The Chinese were there, too. Ask the guys (mostly special ops troops) who served in the north.