The story of a girl's hair

(On the occasion of April 4, 1965, the US Air Force bombed and destroyed Dong Hoi)

(QBĐT) - "Teeth and hair are the roots of a person"

Every time we met, we made an appointment to meet her to find a valuable document about the day the US Air Force destroyed Dong Hoi. How did she escape death and... how did she keep her hair from her youth? There are hidden corners, valuable historical details that if not preserved will forever be lost.

So today, a day approaching the Qingming Festival of 2023, musician Duong Viet Chien is the driver, poet-folklorist Dang Thi Kim Lien is the guide, let's go!

It turns out, her house is not far, just over the Dai bridge, turn right, right near the bank of the Luy river. Opening the door is a very... beautiful, kind and elegant old woman. Looking at "her" today, it is not difficult to imagine what she was like at the age of 16 and what her hair was like. The story revolves around the life-and-death moment and the wonderful human values in the midst of war in dealing with the hair of young women in the middle of the twentieth century.

After two raids of “Fire Spear” on the 6th of January, Tet At Ty (1965) basically destroyed the urban institutions of Dong Hoi, less than two months later, on April 4, 1965, within four hours from 12 to 16 o’clock, the US Air Force officially carried out the “total destruction” of Dong Hoi Town. In the rubble like an earthquake, people collected hundreds of corpses. The militia and the Youth Union urgently dug to find the injured, buried by bombs...

- I was buried upside down... - The old woman named Tu Khanh sitting in front of me said calmly: Next to me, Quang was also buried by the bomb but his head was up. As for me, I was buried but my feet were up, my head was down, both sides of my temples were tightly clamped by two dashboard bullets, I started to suffocate. Quang shouted: "Save me!". I heard someone shout: "Is anyone still alive?". I quickly shook my feet that were still sticking out of the ground. Luckily, the man saw me and said to Quang: "You be patient a little bit, let me dig this person out, otherwise if you are a little slower you will suffocate to death".

War relics of the bell tower of Tam Toa church. Photo: Nguyen Hai

And that young man used all his thirty-year-old strength to fight with the grim reaper who was holding a scythe waiting to take the life of the 16-year-old female student. That young man was Secretary of the City Youth Union Nguyen Xuan Cham!

- Just him?

- One is sure of him. Then everyone must spread out to save other places. The whole town was bombed, hundreds of people were buried...

- So what?

- When I was dying, he dug in time and pulled me up but couldn't.

- ???

- My two pigtails were stuck between the dashboard tiles. The bunker we took shelter in was a brick bunker, when the bombs hit, the dashboard tiles were stacked on top of each other. My two pigs were stuck inside, couldn't be pulled out...

The situation was extremely urgent, no one knew if the American planes would return to attack again. Nguyen Xuan Cham pulled out a dagger to cut off the "two girls" but the young girl, who had now regained consciousness, quickly pleaded: Uncle, please hold my hair back, I beg you!...

Fifty-eight years have passed, and the Secretary of the City Youth Union at that time has passed away, so no one can answer what he was thinking at that time, when he "put the dagger in its sheath, picked up the digging tool and tried to save the girl's hair...

No one can answer, but those who have been lucky enough to have had many contacts with the Secretary of the Town Youth Union, then the Vice Chairman, Chairman of the Town People's Committee, Director of the Department of Fisheries Nguyen Xuan Cham can all explain. Perhaps this is the most special detail in the thirty-year long war in Vietnam in which Quang Binh was always at the forefront, from the nine years of fire and smoke of Binh Tri Thien against the French to the front line during the war against the Americans. And this is also a typical detail of the humanistic spirit, respecting and protecting beauty, decided right at the moment of life and death...

Two years later, Tu Khanh turned 18 and volunteered to join the army. After basic training, with her talent for art, she was recruited into the Provincial Military Art Troupe to serve in fierce combat areas until the day the country was reunified. The year of the Ox was somewhat lucky, she had a beautiful relationship with a talented comrade from Nghi Xuan ( Ha Tinh ) who was also in the Provincial Military Art Troupe, returning to normal life to make a living, have children and build a family. Looking at the couple sitting under the large family photo, I admired them. They gave birth to six children. How many grandchildren do they have?

- Let me count slowly, there are nine grandchildren!

Oh, what a blessing, husband and wife are both perfect, still this healthy and already promoted to great-grandfather nine times. If the grown-up grandchildren start their families early, they can become great-great-grandfathers with five generations of "great-great-grandchildren" living under the same roof.

Recalling memories of the war, as the ancients advised: "Forget if you are grateful, remember if you are grateful!" , the person who owes her life always remembers, but Secretary of the City Youth Union Nguyen Xuan Cham seems to consider it a small matter, an everyday matter in... the town. She said:

- From then on, every time we met by chance, he would just ask: "Is that Tu Khanh?" and then leave, never mentioning any of his achievements. Only once did he visit his relatives in the evacuation area and conveniently stop by my house, and my mother said: "You are the one who gave birth to him a second time!". He smiled heartily and said: "It's nothing!".

- Why was your hair long back then…?

- Too long for the butt, thick and smooth, honestly, few people have….

As the years go by, life changes and the concept of beauty also changes. Nowadays, women can calmly cut their hair short, curl it, and consider it beautiful and modern. Thinking back to a time when parents gave birth to their daughters, giving them long, smooth, shiny hair was considered a priceless asset. In the most difficult moments of life and death, having the courage and sobriety to keep that "priceless asset" for the young woman was also considered a noble, humane act that was worthy of respect.

Tuong Huyen

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