50 years of unification & a time of war

This April, Binh Dinh joins the whole country in commemorating the 50th anniversary of the country's complete liberation (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025). Half a century has passed, the war has ended, but the memories of a bloody time are still vivid in the hearts of many generations...

Those pages of history written with blood, tears and faith are still evident on every road, street corner, river, field - and on the faces of the people who lived and fought for the cause of unification.

1. In the last years before 1975, Binh Dinh was a fierce battle between the liberation army and the puppet army. Returning from Hanoi to Binh Dinh in 1973 as a female war journalist, poet - journalist Le Thu truthfully recorded a part of the history of that period in the book Diary of a Female War Journalist. Recalling the past years, she could not hide her emotions about the love between the army and the people for each other, her feelings for her hometown Tuy Phuoc, or the soldiers who fell just before the day of victory. Among them, the story is about a soldier named Ly, the captain of Phuoc Hung commune, who went to battle in a very luxurious and neat outfit. A comrade asked in surprise: "Why are you dressed so luxuriously when you go to fight?", Ly replied: "You have to dress properly, if you die, the enemy will not look down on the poor communists!" That sentence was like a knife cutting into the heart. Because the next day, Ly sacrificed himself for real...

Former Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Trung Tin read a speech on the morning of April 8, 1975 to celebrate the Liberation Day of Binh Dinh province. Photo: Archive

It is impossible to record all the losses and crimes of war, so in a meeting with American journalist Charles Benoit in February 1974, when asked "What do you think about American men?", journalist Le Thu replied both politely and firmly: "Healthy, handsome, delicate, generous... Women everywhere like men like that. Of course, except for the American invaders - those who hold guns and shoot at my people!" (Diary of a female war journalist, p.87).

2. Sacrifice is inevitable in war, but the most painful are the soldiers who fell just hours before the historic moment. In his memoir "The Eastern Mountain of Ba", former Deputy Secretary of Binh Dinh Provincial Party Committee - Mr. Dinh Ba Loc - recounted the story of Le Minh Chinh, born in 1956, from Hamlet 1, An Quy village, Hoai Chau commune (Hoai Nhon). Chinh came from a poor farming family and joined the resistance war when he was only 17 years old. He sacrificed himself on the night of March 31, 1975 - just hours before Binh Dinh province was completely liberated. He did not have time to see his homeland shake off its shackles, did not have time to hear the announcement that his homeland had been completely liberated echoing in Quy Nhon stadium on the morning of April 8, 1975...

Memories of those losses also live forever in the heart of writer Tran Duy Duc (currently living in Binh Dinh ward, An Nhon town). Sharing with us a handwritten letter from his father - a letter that has turned yellow over time, his voice was sad: "In 1966, my mother was killed by South Korean soldiers, and she still hid that letter on her person. My father's letter was written on thin, smooth polythene paper, so my mother rolled it up with her thumb, wrapped it with my parents' two gold wedding rings, put it in a small square cloth bag like a belt, and pinned it inside the chest of her camisole. Then in 1970, my father also sacrificed himself on the fierce Phu Yen battlefield. For more than half a century, my father's letter has been kept to this day, and every time the anniversary of my mother's death or my father's death comes, I take it out and read it."

Writer Tran Duy Duc joined the revolution early, working in the An Truong resistance base, fighting with his comrades until the day of liberation. The moment his homeland gained independence is still imprinted in his memory. “Standing in our homeland, feeling the moment of complete freedom, we were so happy that we choked up. After liberation, I returned to work in An Nhon, writing many works about the history and culture of my hometown, as a way to repay the land that raised me,” writer Tran Duy Duc confided.

Portrait of poet and journalist Le Thu during her years of working in the Binh Dinh battlefield. Photo: NVCC

On March 31, Binh Dinh was completely liberated. On the morning of April 8, 1975, in front of tens of thousands of people and soldiers at Quy Nhon Stadium, former Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Trung Tin read a historic speech: “After more than twenty years of steadfast and heroic fighting, our people's national liberation revolution has achieved glorious victory, Binh Dinh province and Quy Nhon town have been completely liberated. 5:00 a.m. on April 1, 1975 was a glorious historical moment for the people of Binh Dinh province. From that moment, the people of Binh Dinh were completely freed from the heavy yoke and murderous policies of the puppet government of Nguyen Van Thieu, and were able to live freely on their beloved homeland.” That day, the whole city was ablaze with red flags. But in the hearts of many people, joy was still accompanied by sobs.

3. After the victory, Mr. Nguyen Trung Tin wrote in his memoir Staying with the River: “There were people of the same blood but on different sides, coming together under one roof in such ironic circumstances. My heart was filled with surprise, love, and an unspeakable pain... But then, people with good hearts knew how to suppress all their pain, gradually put aside their hatred, calmly guide each other on the new path of victory, praying for good things in the future...”. That was not just kindness. That was a post-war feeling - a deep compassion for all those who had been caught up in the war, regardless of which side they stood on. And deeper down, one could see the tolerance of a true veteran communist.

Five decades have passed, but the glorious traces of a heroic struggle have not faded in the memories of every Binh Dinh citizen. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Binh Dinh Liberation Day, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Ho Quoc Dung once again affirmed: “It can be said that every road, every street corner, every village, hamlet, every mountain, every river of Binh Dinh homeland is soaked with the blood of many heroic martyrs, shining with the glorious feats of our army and people. This pride and shining glory forever belong to our beloved compatriots and soldiers - the people who made the victory”.

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50 years have passed, the war has ended, but from loss and sacrifice, patriotism and humanity have quietly revived, nurturing a proud, tolerant and aspirational Binh Dinh...      

NGO PHONG

Source: https://baobinhdinh.vn/viewer.aspx?macm=1&macmp=1&mabb=355170