A hero, but no street has been named after him.

HNN - At the end of 2007, President Nguyen Minh Triet signed a decision posthumously awarding the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces to Mr. Nguyen Van Tu and Mrs. Thai Thi Ngoc. Perhaps they are the only married couple in Vietnam who sacrificed their lives for the cause of national liberation and were both honored by the State at the same time. In the process of Hue's urban expansion towards the sea, these two outstanding sons of the former Phu Vang district have yet to have streets named after them.

Mr. and Mrs. Thai Thi Ngoc - Nguyen Van Tu

The husband - former acting Secretary of the Phu Vang District Party Committee

Mr. Nguyen Van Tu (Tuan), born in 1931; and Mrs. Thai Thi Ngoc, born in 1932. Both hailed from My Thuong, Hue City, and participated in the resistance against the French and died during the war against the Americans. After the 1954 Geneva Accords, they relocated to the North and later married.

Implementing Resolution 15 of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, at the end of 1959, Mr. Tú bid farewell to his wife and two young children, secretly returning to the South to settle in Phú Vang district, rekindling a movement to oppose the "Anti-Communist" and "Exterminate Communist" policies of the Ngô Đình Diệm regime. Like many of his comrades, Mr. Tú endured hardships, secretly contacting and rekindling the revolutionary flame that seemed to have been extinguished by violence, contributing alongside the Party committee, army, and people of the localities to taking control of many communes in southern Phú Vang in 1965 - before the US directly sent troops into the South to invade.

Together with his comrades, he built a base and organized resistance against enemy sweeps in Phu Vang. In late 1967, although Nguyen Van Tu escaped the encirclement in Phu My, he was seriously wounded. Thanks to the timely emergency treatment by Doctor Le Minh Toai, he survived. Due to his poor health, he was transferred to the North for recuperation and treatment. In mid-spring of 1968, he and former Provincial Commander Phan Bang (Huong) returned to the Thua Thien battlefield.

In 1970, due to the serious illness of the Phu Vang District Party Secretary, Ho Dong, who had to go to the North for treatment, Nguyen Van Tu was appointed Acting District Party Secretary of Phu Vang. After the Spring of 1968, Phu Vang was repeatedly ravaged, with many villages becoming "white zones" as people were forcibly relocated to concentration camps.

Due to the difficult terrain, during his time directing the movement, Mr. Nguyen Van Tu had to borrow the territory of Thuy Thanh commune (Huong Thuy) for shelter, because Lang Xa Bau had a "hidden" base only separated from Dong Di village - Tay Ho by a river, making communication convenient. Lang Xa Bau was also where Mr. Hoang Lanh, Mr. Nguyen Trung Chinh, Mr. Le Quy Cau, Mr. Tran Phong, and Mr. Le Duy Vy - key cadres of Hue and Huong Thuy at that time - were based.

In mid-1972, while on a business trip, Mr. Nguyen Van Tu fell into an ambush. They surrounded him, intending to capture him alive, but he fiercely resisted and bravely sacrificed his life in what is now Thanh Thuy ward.

The wife was both a doctor and a soldier .

His wife, Thai Thi Ngoc, was born into a patriotic intellectual family, so she received a good education from a young age. She joined the revolution at the age of 15 and was honored to be admitted to the Party at the age of 18. It was during the days of resistance against French colonialism that she fell in love with Nguyen Van Tu, a revolutionary cadre from the same hometown. At that time, they were both working at the Phu Vang District Party Committee Office, but they only got married after relocating to the North.

Raising two young children on her own, Ms. Thai Thi Ngoc not only performed well at her job but also strived to learn and become a doctor in 1964. In 1965, the US massively deployed troops to the South and began bombing the North. Like many other intellectuals, she understood the sacred duty of a patriotic Vietnamese citizen at that time to fight against the US. While serving as a Party Committee member and Deputy Head of the Obstetrics Department at Ha Dong Hospital, Ms. Thai Thi Ngoc volunteered to go to the Southern battlefield to participate in the fighting.

Leaving Hanoi , Mrs. Thai Thi Ngoc entrusted her two sons, Nguyen Anh Tuan (born in 1956) and Nguyen Chi Thanh (born in 1957), to her aunt-in-law, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hanh (wife of Mr. Thai Doan Man, a high-ranking police officer who was then working in the South), to take care of them.

Upon arriving at the battlefield in August 1965, Ms. Thai Thi Ngoc was assigned to work at the Thua Thien Civilian Medical Service (in April 1966, she transferred to the Civilian Medical Service Department of the Tri Thien - Hue Regional Party Committee), headed by Dr. Thai Tuan. This was also the time when the US had landed troops at Phu Bai and established many new military bases in Thua Thien Hue.

The battlefield had become fierce. Many officers, soldiers, and civilians were wounded and urgently needed the care and treatment of medical personnel. Dr. Thai Thi Ngoc was assigned to open several nursing and midwifery classes in Doc Truc - Phong Dien, and in the pine forest on the Vietnam-Laos border. Later, from February 1966, while serving as a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Women's Liberation Association, she was sent to the remote area of ​​Phu Vang. There, she and Dr. Le Minh Toai successively opened three nursing and midwifery classes. They both taught and treated wounded soldiers.

In 1967, due to intense enemy raids, Dr. Thai Thi Ngoc had to constantly move from one location to another. She remained in Phu Da commune, sometimes in Vien Trinh, sometimes in Duc Thai, and finally, just a few days after returning to Truong Luu, she was killed when the enemy discovered her secret bunker where she was hiding.

Ms. Thai Thi Ngoc simultaneously held the roles of both doctor and soldier, especially when she returned to Phu My (now part of My Thuong) - her hometown - to live and fight.

In the Phu Vang District Party Committee's assessment, Secretary Ho The Hien wrote:

Throughout her service, Comrade Thai Thi Ngoc always placed the interests of her homeland and country above those of her family. She suppressed her maternal feelings, accepting the separation from her two young children, entrusting them to the care of her comrades, and volunteered to return to her hometown to fight. She remained close to her assigned area and the battlefields, undeterred by hardship and ferocity, dedicated to her work, and always upheld the noble qualities of a medical professional, saving hundreds of wounded and sick soldiers and civilians from danger. She bravely fought to protect the wounded and sick; at the same time, she closely coordinated with local guerrillas and the main army units to organize many battles, eliminating many enemy forces. She fought courageously, resolutely refusing to fall into enemy hands, determined to uphold the integrity of a communist party member, and heroically sacrificed her life. Comrade Thai Thi Ngoc is a shining example for many generations to follow. These heroic deeds have contributed to the glory of Phu My in particular, and the heroic Phu Vang district in general.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tu and Mrs. Thai Thi Ngoc were a handsome and talented couple. They were intellectuals who set aside their personal feelings and dedicated their entire lives to the cause of national liberation.

Eighteen years after being posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces, this couple still has not had a street named after them.

Honoring the heroic martyrs not only contributes to traditional education but also enhances the patriotic spirit of present and future generations.

Pham Huu Thu

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/chinh-polit-xa-hoi/anh-hung-nhung-chua-duoc-dat-ten-duong-160881.html