THE BLUE SHIRT OF THE FEMALE COMMANDO OF SAIGON

The Blue Shirt of the Saigon Female Commando – Buddhist Nun Thich Nu Dieu Thong

“Saigon Special Forces” is the name in the resistance war against the US that made the enemy confused with the fierce and suicidal battles, creating glorious victories. Many battles of shooting, mine planting, kidnapping, prisoner exchanges, lightning guerrilla attacks made the enemy terrified, always on high alert. To achieve those victories, Southern women played an important role in the victories in the fields of intelligence, politics, women's transportation, liaison, armament, combat support. With their bravery and courage, Southern women contributed their blood and bones to create the proud historical victory of the nation.

In that army, there was a soldier with “no hair, wearing blue uniform”, who contributed to the reputation of “Saigon Special Forces”. That was Venerable Thich Nu Dieu Thong, whose real name was Pham Thi Bach Lien, born in 1931 in Lai Vung district, Sa Dec province (now Lai Vung district, Dong Thap province). However, many people are familiar with the name of nun Huyen Trang – the character in the film, who has entered the public’s memory as a resilient, indomitable Vietnamese woman, who, despite being severely interrogated, remained steadfast and loyal to the revolution and the country.

Nun Dieu Thong's real name is Pham Thi Bach Lien (alias Huyen Trang) born in 1931 in Lai Vung district, Sa Dec province (now Lai Vung district, Dong Thap province). She came from a family with a tradition of studying and loving the country. Both of her parents became nuns. Her father was Pham Van Vong, who became a monk and became Venerable Thich Giac Quang (1891-1969). Her mother's secular name was To My Ngoc, who became a nun and became Venerable Dieu Tinh. When she was young, she saw her parents gradually becoming monks and nuns, so at the age of 7, she made a vow to practice Buddhism. When she grew up a little, her parents sent her to Phuoc Hue pagoda (Sa Dec) with the dharma name Dieu Thong.

Venerable Thich Nu Dieu Thong in her youth and in the uniform of a soldier of the Vietnam People's Army. Photo by Dinh Phong

In order to easily carry out revolutionary activities and outwit the enemy, Ms. Bach Lien asked her parents for money to build a thatched-roof pagoda named Bon Nguyen (located at the corner of Tran Quoc Toan and Lo Sieu streets in District 11, Ho Chi Minh City, later renamed Tam Bao Pagoda). Bon Nguyen Pagoda became a revolutionary base, a regular place for Saigon intelligence soldiers at that time under the command of Mr. Nguyen Duc Hung (alias Tu Chu), Commander of the Saigon - Gia Dinh Special Forces. From then on, the life of nun Dieu Thong turned a new page, she became a soldier of the Saigon - Gia Dinh Special Forces (F100) - a revolutionary soldier not in the green uniform of a soldier but in the blue meditation clothes of a monk. Here, she made incense and lamps to sell to create a source of money for the "city special forces" to operate and perform reconnaissance missions to collect information.

Ms. Pham Thi Bach Lien was assigned by the organization under the cover of nun Dieu Thong to infiltrate the enemy ranks, drawing maps of many important locations occupied by the enemy for the "city commando" team to use as a base for attacks, including many battles directly commanded by her. She was organized by Mr. Tu Tang (a hero of the armed forces) to participate in the first battle at the puppet Senate near Bach Dang wharf. In the nun's outfit, she calmly walked through the target, understanding the enemy's rules. The documents she provided helped the commando team come up with a plan to attack the Senate. On the day of the attack, she led the "Dien Hong" female team to fight with extremely clever camouflage. The female commando team was able to bring a block of explosives with a timer into the building, placed it in the right place, and then quietly withdrew. When the terrifying explosion rang out from the Senate building, it caused dozens of casualties among puppet officials.

For nun Dieu Thong, revolution is understood in the way of thinking: "Revolution is to be far away from one's own life, also means selflessness". From that, no danger or difficulty can scare her. Buddhist philosophy and revolutionary philosophy have blended together towards a peaceful, prosperous, and happy life for the people, for humanity as a whole.

“In the monk’s robe, we are revolutionary soldiers” is what nun Dieu Thong said when she put on her blue robe. With the blue robe, nun Dieu Thong easily escaped the enemy’s suspicion and helped the commandos have a lot of secret information. Not only that, the temple was also a secret base for her and her teammates to operate and exchange reasonable combat plans to fight the enemy. In addition to working at the temple every day, she also wore this robe, holding an alms bowl to go begging to learn about the situation outside and facilitate her liaison work.

Many of the Saigon Special Forces' "divine" battles always had the blue-robed figure of nun Dieu Thong, constantly making the enemy confused and alert. Those were the battle at the high-voltage transformer station at the corner of Phu Tho racetrack in May 1969, the battle at the bachelor non-commissioned officer's residence (Poloma citadel) in July 1969... After these feats, the enemy paid attention to Tam Bao pagoda (Saigon) and leveled the pagoda. She was captured by the enemy, then released due to insufficient evidence, then transferred to Brigade 316 to continue fighting until the day the country was completely liberated. After peace, nun Dieu Thong continued to work at the General Staff of the Ho Chi Minh City Command and the Liaison Committee of Patriotic Buddhists until her retirement. She is currently the Head Nun of the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha - Thich Nu Dieu Thong, at That Buu pagoda (An Chau town, Chau Thanh district, An Giang province).

In 1969, the Central Committee of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam awarded nun Dieu Thong the Third Class Liberation Feat Medal. In 1985, she was awarded the First Class Resistance Medal by the President of the State Council of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. On August 19, 2011, she was awarded the "Vietnam Defense Intelligence Commemorative Medal" by the General Department 2 - Ministry of National Defense. In 2021, the Institute for Human Resources and Talent Research (Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations) awarded her the title "Vietnamese Talent" for her great contributions to the cause of fighting the US to save the country, liberating the South, and reunifying the country.

Currently, the Southern Women’s Museum is displaying the blue dress of nun Dieu Thong in the special exhibition room “Southern women through the two resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism”. The dress has long sleeves, a round neck, no pockets, and a split in the middle. The dress is 100cm long, 62cm wide, 49cm long sleeves, and 23cm wide.

We, with the gratitude of those fortunate enough to live in peace, remind ourselves that the life we have today is thanks to the blood and bones of millions of soldiers who sacrificed their lives, the special forces soldiers of F.100 like nun Dieu Thong. We must live positively, contribute more, live in a way that is worthy of the noble sacrifice of the heroic martyrs, the examples of selfless sacrifice for the cause of national liberation, including the Venerable Thich Nu Dieu Thong.

Nguyen Ha Thanh Truc

Department of Communication - Education - International Relations

Source: https://baotangphunu.com/chiec-ao-lam-cua-nu-biet-dong-sai-gon-ni-su-thich-dieu-thong/