Attending the ceremony was the General's family, representatives of local authority, Thanh Hoa Provincial National Assembly Delegation, the Thanh Hoa Antiquity Society and the Lam Kinh Association of Cultural Heritage and relevant units.

The bronze drum and cannons were offered to the General’s grave with people’s gratitude and respect.

The bronze drum, which was modelled on the Ngoc Lu drum, is 103 centimetres in diameter, symbolising General Vo Nguyen Giap’s age of 103, and 91.1 centimetres in height, symbolising his birth year of 1911.

The body of the drum is decorated with five remarkable images, depicting General Vo Nguyen Giap’s life and career, including his memorial house in his homeland in An Xa Village, Le Thuy district, Quang Binh province; the general and the first 34 soldiers in founding day of Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army Team; President Ho Chi Minh empowering the General to be the army's supreme commamder; the national flag flying on General De Castries' tunnel and a tank running into the Independence Palace.

The general's family received offerings

The pair of cannons measures 103 centimetres in length, symbolising General Giap's longevity. Each cannon is 200kg in weight.

Two swords are moulded in the version of Dong Son bronze swords with 65cm in length, symbolising his 65 years as a general. The hilt is engraved with images of Vietnamese Heroic Mothers throughout the country who nurtured and sheltered soldiers during the wars against the French and Americans.

A representative of Thanh Hoa respectfully offered the swords to General Vo Nguyen Giap's grave

The offerings raised by the Thanh Hoa Antiquity Society and the Lam Kinh Association of Cultural Heritage show the people’s love, respect and gratitude to the legendary general Vo Nguyen Giap for his great contributions to the nation.

At the ceremony, representative of the General's family, Mr Vo Dien Bien, the oldest son of the General expressed his sincere thank for deep sentiments of Thanh Hoa people to General Vo Nguyen Giap - a general, commander-in-chief of the Vietnam People's Army.

Reported by Minh Huyen
(www.quangbinh.gov.vn)