My Loi Commune Receives Safe Zone Commune Status

(DTO) On the morning of August 7, My Loi Commune held a ceremony to announce the decision of the Chairman of the Dong Thap Provincial People’s Committee recognizing My Loi as a Safe Zone Commune during the resistance wars against the French and American forces. 

The ceremony was attended by Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu, former Party Central Committee member, former Member of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and former Chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs; Nguyen Thi Kim Tuyen, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Head of the Provincial Party Committee’s Commission for Communication and Mass Mobilization; Dinh Van Dung, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the province; and Phan Van Thuong, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Head of the Provincial Party Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs. 

My Loi Commune was formed through the merger of three communes: An Thai Dong, My Loi A and My Loi B. The area has a rich revolutionary tradition and once served as an important revolutionary base for Party and State agencies during the two resistance wars against French and U.S. forces. 

Through years of hardship and sacrifice, the Party organization, armed forces and people of My Loi Commune remained steadfast in protecting their land and stayed loyal to the Party, contributing to the nation’s glorious history. 

My Loi Commune was designated by Military Region 8 Command as part of Area A, where the primary mission was to ensure the safety of the revolutionary base. The commune also housed the headquarters of the Regional Military Medical Service, the Provincial Party Committee and district-level agencies, which operated safely there from 1965 to 1975. 

The area was also the site of the Co Co battle, a major attack on a transportation route that destroyed a French battalion on January 22, 1947. The victory came just one month after President Ho Chi Minh issued the Appeal for Nationwide Resistance. It was the first successful ambush on the Region 8 battlefield during the early months of the resistance, paving the way for later victories against large enemy forces. 

Upholding their steadfast revolutionary tradition, local residents wholeheartedly sheltered cadres and provided safe refuge for revolutionary forces, contributing to the establishment of liberated areas. The great sacrifices of 358 fallen heroes, 79 Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, as well as generations of cadres, soldiers and local residents, stand as vivid testimony to the special historical significance of My Loi Commune. 

On this occasion, the My Loi Commune People’s Committee presented Certificates of Merit to 20 individuals for their achievements in national defense before 1975, and to two individuals for their contributions to preparing the dossier for Safe Zone Commune recognition. 

By HA NAM
Translated by ANH DUC