The People's Army of Vietnam was founded on the 22nd of December 1944 when thirty-one men and three women gathered in a forest clearing. General Võ Nguyên Giáp stood at their head to establish this Propaganda Unit of the Liberation Army under the direct guidance of President Ho Chi Minh.
The founding members carried only two revolvers, seventeen rifles, one light machine gun, and fourteen breech-loading flintlocks during their formation. The United States Office of Strategic Services provided ammunition and logistic intelligence to these initial soldiers who faced French troops in late 1944.
The 308th Division emerged from the 88th Tu Vu Regiment and the 102nd Capital Regiment to become known later as the Pioneer Division. By late 1950, this division had grown to include three full infantry regiments supplemented by the 36th Regiment.
North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon on the 30th of April 1975 ending the twenty-year Vietnam war without direct support from American combat forces. This victory concluded eighty-three years of French rule in Indochina after four original Steel and Iron divisions defeated French Union forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
Seventy-six servicemen from the Border Guard Army Medic and Engineering Corps participated in search-and-rescue missions following the 2023 Turkish-Syrian earthquake alongside personnel from Public Security forces. This represented the first time ever that Vietnam officially deployed overseas for an international search and rescue campaign.