Those taking part also paid tribute to the 10 young female volunteers who sacrificed their lives while leveling bomb craters on July 24, 1968.
State Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan and Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan attended an incense lighting ceremony at the tombs of the 10 young women.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan praised the great sacrifice the volunteers had made during the liberation of the South to unite the country.
“People are eternally grateful to heroes, martyrs, soldiers and young volunteers who had fought bravely and won the final victory,” Nhan said.
Dong Loc Junction was an important site in the liberation forces’ North-South sully line.
US aircraft dropped almost 50,000 bombs and fired thousands of rockets on the 50ha area between 1965 and 1968.
As many as 16,000 soldiers and young volunteers took part in maintaining the supply line. Of those, 465 people were killed over the three-year period.
Between 70,000 and 80,000 visitors from all over the country visit the site every year to lay flowers and burn incense joss sticks.
State Vice President Doan and Deputy PM Nhan gave presents to the relatives of the 10 female volunteers, burned incense joss sticks to the former Party general secretaries, Tran Phu and Ha Huy Tap, and visited families of war invalids and martyrs.
More than 2,000 young people participated in activities to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the momentous victory on July 24.
They cleaned the area surrounding the Dong Loc War Martyrs Monument and Victory Statue. They also took part in offering incense to martyr soldiers and volunteer labourers and other activities.
A programme entitled Dong Loc-Immortal Flowers was also performed on the same day.
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