On 30 October 1949, the Standing Board of the Indochinese Communist Party Central Committee decided: “Vietnamese military forces will fight and work to help Laos establish their own system and will be organised as Volunteer Soldiers”. Under the leadership of our Party and President Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese Volunteer Soldiers excellently fulfilled their task of giving assistance to the Lao revolution, worthy of the cornerstone of the Vietnam - Laos combat alliance.

Vietnam and Laos are two close neighbours that share great Truong Son Mountain Range in the Indochina peninsula; the people of the two countries soon established a close-knit, mutually supportive relationship in the history of national construction and protection. Since 1930, the people of the two nations shared a revolutionary Party (Indochinese Communist Party), standing shoulder to shoulder with each other to form a combat alliance against imperialist and colonialist forces for national liberation. Patriotic overseas Vietnamese armed self-defence teams had been organised very early on, and then cooperated with the revolutionary forces and people of Laos in successfully conducting the August 1945 General Uprising. That victory ushered in a new era of the special solidarity and combat alliance between Vietnam and Laos in the fight against the common enemy.

Vietnamese volunteer forces and Pathet Lao troops during the Upper Laos Campaign of 1953 (file photo)

After the August 1945 General Uprising, at the request of the provisional Lao Issara Government, the Party Central Committee and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam decided to develop Overseas Vietnamese Liberation Units in Laos; these units stayed side by side with Lao patriotic armed units as the main components of the Laos - Vietnam allied forces, collaborating with units deployed from Vietnam to fight for fending off the enemy’s offensives, protecting the Lao revolutionary government and the Lao people’s life, helping the Lao revolution overcome difficult periods, gradually develop its forces, and foster its resistance war.

From scattered units on a small scale, as of mid-1949, the Vietnamese armed forces helping the Lao revolution were developed into companies, battalions, and regiments. Thanks to Vietnam’s support, revolutionary bases in Laos were unceasingly consolidated and expanded, political forces were developed extensively, Lao revolutionary armed units on different scales were established as an important prerequisite for the foundation of the Lao Issara Army on 20 January 1949 (the forerunner of the present-day Lao People’s Army), marking a new development of the Lao revolution. That could be seen as the outcome of the assistance provided by units of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) performing the international mission in Laos for the latter’s force development, laying a solid foundation for the two sides to strengthen cooperation and combat alliance.

Bringing into play those good results, on 30 October 1949, the Standing Board of the Indochinese Communist Party Central Committee came to a decision on establishing Vietnamese Volunteer Units in Laos, marking a new development of the Vietnam - Laos combat alliance, affirming our Party’s sound policies on performing the international mission. Since then, the task of our VPA’s units helping the Lao revolution was clearly defined as a “volunteering”, noble, sacred international mission, making their mark in terms of force size and quality, creating new strength for combat coordination on an increasingly large scale”. In addition to combat coordination, Vietnamese volunteer units promoted their role as “an army ready for work” to assist the Lao revolution in carrying out mass mobilisation and developing powerful political bases and forces.

The victory of the 1950 Autumn Winter Border Campaign opened up a new period for the two nations’ resistance war against the French, allowing the two countries to seize the strategic initiative, providing an important basis for the Vietnamese volunteer forces and the Lao revolutionary armed forces to launch numerous offensives for the sake of positive changes on the battlefield. In the Spring of 1953, the victory of the Upper Laos Campaign enabled the Lao revolutionary armed forces to liberate the entire province of Houaphanh, a part of Xiangkhouang province, and a number of districts of Luang Prabang and Phongsaly provinces along Nam Hou river, connecting Vietnam’s liberated areas with Laos’ liberated areas and revolutionary bases, facilitating the development of the two nations’ revolution. To sustain the growing swell of victory, during the 1953 - 1954 Winter Spring Offensive, the Vietnamese volunteer forces and the Lao armed forces continued to work with each other to win victories in Central Laos (November 1953), the second Upper Laos Campaign (February 1954), and Lower Laos (April 1954), annihilating a significant part of enemy troops, dispersing the enemy’s main mobile forces, creating a favourable condition for the people and military of Vietnam to concentrate all their efforts on destroying the heavily fortified base of Dien Bien Phu, forcing the French to sign the Geneva Accords, restoring peace in the Indochina.

Between 1954 and 1958, to keep providing support for the Lao revolution after the withdrawal of the Vietnamese volunteer forces, during the resistance war against the US, Vietnam sent its military advisors to Laos through three channels, namely Ministry of National Defence, Military and Political Training Schools, military units, and localities. Since mid-1959, US imperialists intervened more deeply in the internal affairs of Laos, drastically implementing their “Special War” Strategy. In response to the proposals of the Party and Resistance Government of Laos, Vietnam established military expert Group 959 and then deployed military expert Groups 463 and 565 as well as military volunteer Groups 335, 316, 763, 766, 866, and 968 to assist the Lao revolution in developing forces and consolidating liberated areas and revolutionary bases. With support from Vietnamese soldiers, the Pathet Lao quickly managed to develop three-category armed forces, opportunely preventing the enemy’s operations into its areas, protecting its revolutionary bases in the provinces of Sam Neua and Phongsaly, stepping up political struggle in other provinces, foiling US imperialists’ and their lackeys’ scheme to isolate and destroy the Lao revolutionary forces.

General Secretary and State President of Vietnam To Lam, General Secretary and State President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, and Maj. Gen. Huynh Dac Huong, head of the national liaison board for Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and military experts in Laos during a meeting held in September 2024 (photo: VNA)

Surmounting all difficulties and hardships, Vietnamese volunteer units together with the people and military of Laos successfully conducted operations of critical importance, such as Namtha (1962), 128 and 74A (1964), Nam Bak (1968), Muang Soui (1969), 139 (1970), Route 9 - Southern Laos (1971), and Plain of Jars - Xiangkhouang (1972), destroying a large number of enemy troops, providing assistance for the Lao revolution in defeating U.S. “Special War” and “Enhanced Special War” strategies in Laos. Those landslide victories significantly contributed to forcing the US to sign the Paris Accords on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam (January 1973), compelling the US and Thailand to withdraw all troops, restore peace, and realise national concord in Laos after the Vientiane Conference (February 1973), creating strength for the Lao revolution to advance towards a complete victory. On 2 December 1975, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was founded, marking a great turning point in the Lao people’s revolutionary struggle.

After the success of the two countries’ national liberation cause, Vietnamese volunteer units were withdrawn; however, since late 1976, political security and national sovereignty of Laos were threatened. Against that backdrop, at the official request of the Party and Government of Laos, Vietnam deployed hundreds of military experts to Laos to provide support for the Ministry of National Defence of Laos, key provinces of Laos, and main units of the Lao People’s Army; at the same time, it sent volunteer troops to Laos to maintain control over crucial areas, proactively cooperate with the Lao armed forces in organising crackdowns on reactionary armed groups, thereby firmly protecting Laos’ key targets and political security. To defend the revolutionary fruits, Vietnam directly helped Laos conduct mass mobilisation work, strengthen authorities, build political bases, and develop the armed forces as the basis for the Lao side to gradually put the overall situation under control and thwart all plots and artifices of hostile forces.

In recognition of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers’ stupendous sacrifices and assistance, comrade Kaysone Phomvihane, General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee, Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic stressed: “the Lao revolution attributes all its victory to the Vietnamese revolution’s direct support; on every battlefield of our beloved Fatherland, the blood and bones of Vietnamese international soldiers were shed and mingled with those of our Lao cadres, soldiers, and citizens”.

Under a proletarian international spirit and President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings: “helping our friends is helping ourselves”, Vietnamese volunteer soldiers helping the Lao revolution always demonstrated high combat morale and political responsibility, overcoming all difficulties and hardships for the noble international mission. All Vietnamese cadres and soldiers remained extremely faithful to the Lao revolution, providing tremendous support for Lao friends to develop revolutionary bases and forces, staying side by side with the people and military of Laos to lead the resistance war against the common enemy to the ultimate victory and safeguard Laos’ revolutionary fruits, independence, and sovereignty. As the core component of the Vietnam - Laos combat alliance, by their direct, significant contributions to building and fostering the Vietnam - Laos special solidarity relationship, “Vietnamese volunteer soldiers have the right to be proud of their sacrifices for the victory of the Lao military and people throughout decades of combat and work on the heroic Land of a Million Elephants, excellently fulfilling the monumental task assigned by our Party, Uncle Ho, and people”, becoming a shining symbol of revolutionary heroism, indomitable spirit, courage, and solidarity strength of the militaries and people of Vietnam and Laos.

Those above-mentioned prodigious contributions have laid an important foundation for deepening and bringing the great, long-standing traditional friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos to a new height, for the interests of the people of each nation, for peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and throughout the world.

Sr. Col. LE THANH BAI, PhD

Deputy Director of the Vietnam Military History Institute