2 years, 3 positions - the story of an old man who once worked in the village and commune

Mr. Luong Van Tham happily recounted the milestones during his working time.

Orphaned at the age of 3, due to his family's poverty, the young boy Tham lived with his grandparents and aunt and uncle. When he was 7 years old, his mother remarried, and Tham was taken in by a family of a religious leader and educated. At the age of 15, after the August Revolution succeeded and the revolutionary government was established, Tham joined the Youth Union and participated in youth movements in Le Lai commune (the old name of Van Phu commune today). "A short time later, I was transferred to work as a secretary - that is, a "briefcase carrier" for the commune leaders. The main job was to take notes," Mr. Tham recalled with a toothless smile.

The time he worked for the commune leaders helped young Luong Van Tham study, practice and mature in his work. Therefore, in August 1949, he was elected as a member of the People's Committee of Le Lai commune and from then on he actively participated and increasingly contributed to the work of building the grassroots government, political struggle, propaganda, dissemination of new policies of the Party, mobilizing the masses to participate in patriotic emulation movements from the village to the district and was mobilized to Nghe An many times. In particular, implementing President Ho Chi Minh's call "every literate person must be a popular education teacher", Luong Van Tham became a core factor in teaching literacy to the people in the village and commune. In 1956 and 1957, comrade Tham was honored to receive the title of Emulation Fighter of the entire Military Region for his outstanding achievements in the movement "Elimination of Ignorance". Le Lai commune at that time was also one of the first localities to successfully "Eliminate illiteracy".

In 1965, Luong Van Tham was honored to join the Party while holding the position of Vice Chairman of the People's Committee and Chief of the Commune Police. In 1967, he was elected Chairman of the People's Committee and Chief of the Commune Police. In 1968, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee continued to appoint Tham as Secretary of the Commune Party Committee. "So in less than 2 years, I was appointed and held 3 positions: Chairman of the People's Committee, Secretary of the Party Committee and... concurrently Chief of the Commune Police. In 1969, when the new Chairman of the Commune People's Committee was elected, I only became Secretary of the Party Committee and held that position until 1975" - Mr. Tham recalled the unforgettable period during his work. From 1976, he was transferred to work in the district and retired in 1982. Returning to Cu Ta village, Mr. Tham participated in local mass organizations, using his work experience and prestige, he became an exemplary leader in participating in local patriotic emulation movements.

Feelings about the years of studying, training and working revived, Mr. Tham spoke each sentence slowly but passionately: “The ideal of a party member is to serve the people. Who are the people? They are our grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and children. Therefore, our time was difficult, hard, and deprived... but we always worked with pride, the spirit of selflessness, purity, responsibility and dedication of a communist.”

The pride recalled from the memory was transformed by Mr. Tham into a very simple joy when talking about his homeland and country: “Every day I read newspapers, listen to the radio and watch the news, so I am extremely proud that the country is transforming into a new era. That is also the opportunity and chance for Thanh Hoa to turn the potential of a large land, a large population and the unique advantages of natural conditions to move forward with the nation. Just looking at the village and homeland today with wide open roads, crowded and solid houses, busy traffic... we can see how great our belief in the new opportunities of our homeland and country is. In particular, after the arrangement of administrative units, I see that we have a team of young, capable, qualified cadres who dare to "take the lead", so as long as the cadres and the people are united, have a unified will, join hands and act together, the good goals will be achieved".

Talking with Mr. Tham was a neighbor, teacher Lu Van Dau (head of Pha village school - Tam Van Primary School, Van Phu commune). Through Mr. Dau's words, we learned more about Mr. Tham's hardships as mentioned at the beginning of the article. He had 2 sons, both of whom had to "send off the young with their white hair", the eldest son died of a serious illness, the second son died of a lightning strike when he was only 30 years old. The mental pain followed the illness of old age, but above all was Mr. Tham's ideals and simple but persistent will to live. He said: "From the day my salary was only 5 thousand dong, now it is 5 million dong... To see that the State always cares about improving the living standards of the people. Around me, there is also the attention of the local government, neighbors, to me those are good treatments. Therefore, I always tell my children and grandchildren to be united, compassionate and especially to maintain modesty. That is the core to live and work".

The old stilt house on the side of the road, with an old man who belonged to the cadre class of the early days of the uprising to seize power, is not remembered or known by many people. But they are the “sediments” of a period that we should not forget.

Article and photos: Nguyen Phong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/2-nam-3-chuc-chuyen-cua-ong-cu-nbsp-mot-thoi-lam-viec-lang-viec-xa-260329.htm