On the banks of Hien Luong...

Festival at the Hien Luong - Ben Hai National Monument - Photo: AK

National Highway I is as beautiful as a silk strip, taking us to Hien Luong Bridge. Along both sides of the road, there are no longer bomb craters that the enemy dropped, instead there are houses close together, constructions and green fields. In the distance, Hien Luong Bridge is gradually appearing before our eyes. So we are almost to the North bank. Everyone's heart is excited when the lyrics of the song "Cau ho ben bo Hien Luong" from someone's house on the South bank resound: "Ben bo Hien Luong, this afternoon I stand and look back...". It has been 50 years since the country was unified, listening to those lyrics, the melody still seems to be deeply ingrained in the flesh and blood.

Walking on the historic bridge, only over a hundred meters long, everyone felt a pang of sadness, because just such a short distance, the people of the two regions had to endure separation for nearly 20 long years. Hien Luong Bridge is a testament to the enemy's crimes and a place to affirm the heroic fighting spirit of our army and people.

After the signing of the Geneva Agreement, the country was temporarily divided into two regions, the North and the South, with the 17th Parallel as the temporary military boundary. In this area, throughout the division, the Ben Hai River and Hien Luong Bridge were the focal points of the intense and fierce struggle between us and the enemy. Many touching and heartbreaking stories took place on both sides of the border.

Just a hair’s breadth apart, for decades the son could not see his father, the wife could not see her husband, the relatives on both sides of the river were far apart. Every year, on holidays and Tet... People on both sides of the river flocked to the riverbanks to look for their relatives. Because the number of people was so large, it was difficult to recognize each other, so they had to stand on this side of the river, looking at their clothes and appearance, and secretly guessing “that is our family member”.

The loudspeaker system of the Voice of Vietnam on the North bank of Hien Luong Bridge - Photo: NGUYEN HUY THINH

When the bridge was divided in two, a white horizontal line was drawn in the middle of the bridge, 450 planks on this side belonged to the North, the other half of 444 planks were managed by the Saigon government. Not only did they find every way to sabotage the Geneva Agreement, the enemy also used color to divide the bridge. At first, they painted the southern half of the bridge blue, so we painted the other half blue. They then switched to brown, so we painted brown again. Just like that, Hien Luong Bridge always changed color, whatever color the enemy painted, we painted the other side the same color. In the end, the enemy had to give up, leaving the bridge with only one unified color.

Next to the historic Hien Luong Bridge is a symbol of the entire nation - the border flagpole on the North bank. The history of the border flagpole has also gone through many ups and downs and is associated with the uncompromising fighting spirit of our nation against the invaders. The flagpole is a symbol of the indomitable fighting spirit of our army and people.

Hien Luong Bridge - Photo: TRA THIET

From May 19, 1956 to October 28, 1967, the border soldiers hung a total of 267 large flags, 11 times raised the flags on wooden poles 12-18 m high, and 42 times changed the flags because they were damaged by bombs. In order for the national flag to fly at the border, many soldiers heroically sacrificed themselves, many examples of selfless sacrifice to protect the national flag.

Every time the flag was punctured by a bomb, another flag was immediately raised so that the national flag would always fly in the sky of Vietnam. In 2001, at the old location, a new flagpole 38.6 m high was erected, modeled after the 1962 design. Below the flagpole, a magnificent flagpole was built with many reliefs expressing the desire for unification and the joy when the North and South reunited.

In 1996, a new concrete bridge was built to meet the requirements of traffic development in the new era and replace the old, degraded bridge. The historic Hien Luong bridge is still preserved. Every day, a stream of people and vehicles cross the bridge.

It seems that everyone looks back at the historic bridge, then looks up at the national flag fluttering on the flagpole at the border to remember, and then cannot forget, a painful yet heroic time.

Ben Hai-Hien Luong in the painful past is now the place where the whole country turns to with pride. Ben Hai-Hien Luong embraces the spirit of patriotism, pride and the indomitable will of the nation.

An Khue

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/ben-ven-bo-hien-luong-193374.htm