The slingshot

Illustration: Phan Nhan

Just arrived at the office, sweat still dripping down my shoulders, before I could put the sack on the floor, Thanh jumped down from the hammock and hugged me, chattering:

- Did you buy rubber bands to make a slingshot for me?

I was annoyed and scolded lovingly:

- I'm so tired from downloading, you didn't ask about my health, but instead you wanted to buy... rope, rubber band, circus rope or something.
That said, it knew I never broke a promise, because before leaving, I told it: "This time when I go down to the hamlet, I will send a facility to buy elastic to remake the slingshot for you."

Although he was a ten-year-old boy, Thanh had a strong and agile figure and was beginning to show signs of maturity. After Mau Than (1968), Thanh followed his parents into the forest. His family was a revolutionary base in Da Phu hamlet (Ward 7, now Da Lat city). After the general offensive and uprising, his family was exposed, so Uncle Hai Chuan, Thanh's father, took the whole family into the forest to join the revolution.

Thanh came to work with me at the Tuyen Duc Provincial Party Committee Office. He was a liaison for the agency, his main job was to deliver documents, letters and vice versa, receive letters from the liaison station to the Provincial Party Committee Office.

At the end of 1968, the provincial agencies moved to the "Old Beard" base in the western part of Anh Dung district - Ninh Thuan (the reason for this strange name is because there is a village of the Rac Lay ethnic minority, the village elder in this village has a very long beard, so it is called the Old Beard base).

The enemy intensified their terror, they sent commandos and spies to scout and grasp the situation in order to control the access routes between us and the people in the Ka Do, Quang Hiep, Tu Tra areas of Don Duong district. Although the base was close to the people, the lives of the cadres and soldiers still faced many difficulties and hardships. From the lack of resources, we often thought of many ways to improve our daily lives, sometimes going fishing, sometimes making chicken traps, shooting birds...

I took down the backpack hanging from the ceiling. The musty smell was really unpleasant. I searched for the slingshot and explained to Thanh:

- I intend to use this slingshot to improve my bird shooting a little.

It happily shouted:

- Then make me one so I can go bird shooting with you.

- Someday when I go to the hamlet to do some loading, I will buy more rubber bands to make for you. I said.

Holding the slingshot in my hand, I was lost in thought about my childhood years... I told him about the slingshot that I kept to this day. On days off from school, I often wandered into the forest, waded across Cam Ly stream, circled around the airport to Ta Nung to shoot birds. Years passed, and childhood was also filled with memories. The slingshot hung in the corner of the classroom, a childhood souvenir. But one day... the story was interrupted, because Mr. Le Khai Hoan (later the General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism ), the Chief of the agency's Office, called me up to assign a new job.

***

Outside the guard post, some young men were sitting playing cards. Seeing Thanh and I coming home from duty, they called us in for a drink and a chat. Suddenly, Thanh suggested:

- Tell us more about yesterday.

I said, laughing:

- Marry your sister to me, then I will tell you the story about the slingshot.

The group of young men sitting on the stalls shouted in unison: "Yes, unanimously" accompanied by clapping, the boy was shy, his face red, his eyebrows furrowed, he hummed in his throat.

That day, in 1966, my classmates and I participated in the strike and took to the streets, raising slogans to fight for people's livelihood, democracy, and for the Americans to go home. We followed the university students to form a protest group and marched to the Abram-Lincoln library - also known as the Vietnam-America library (located in the campus of the Provincial Library today). Student Pham Xuan Te (former Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee's Organization Committee after the liberation day) held a battery-powered loudspeaker and stood on the roof of a car, calling: "American friends go home" - "American friends go home", the whole group responded loudly: "Go away, go away" and raised their fists. Then, one by one, they marched to the mayor's office. The Dalat authorities at that time had the military police and field police equipped with tear gas guns, vomit grenades, batons, and terrifying-looking machetes, lined up to stop the protesters.

The fight broke out right on the street. Stones, bricks, and pebbles were thrown around. But it was no use. At that moment, I thought: "I have to use slingshots." After a quick meeting, my friends and I split up and ran home to find slingshots. One by one, the pebbles from our small slingshots flew into the faces of the riot police. They used bulletproof shields to form a wall in front to block the pebbles from these slingshots. Then, they reacted by giving us a taste of tear gas. Only when you taste tear gas can you know. It was so hot that tears flowed out unbearably, the schoolgirls couldn't stand it, fainted, and had to be carried to the rear. Luckily, at that time, the mothers and vendors at Da Lat market had prepared wet towels and fresh lemons to apply on their eyes to relieve the pain.

***

In the dry season, the forests in the West - Anh Dung district have fallen leaves, the trees are bare, only a few green clumps of trees grow along the streams. Birds and wild animals often come here to nest, hunt, and drink water. Since Thanh got his new slingshot, he always brings it with him when he goes on duty. He often goes to dry streams to shoot birds. Some days he brings back a whole string, his face happy and cheerful. Waiting until evening, the whole group goes to the guard post to grill the birds with lemongrass and chili, and sit down to sip tea.

One day, he followed the stream and accidentally discovered a strange black object lurking on the other side of the stream. Thanh thought to himself: "It must be a bear" and raised his slingshot to shoot for fun. As soon as the stone escaped, there was a "pop" sound followed by a series of M16 bullets. It turned out that it hit the commando's helmet and he ran away with all his legs and sandals flying off. Luckily, because he was a bird hunter, he knew the way and cut through the forest, hiding inside the jungle.

Hearing the gunshots, knowing that the enemy was sweeping into the base, the agency proactively deployed a plan to counter the sweep. The militia and guerrillas in Gia Rau village were ready to fight. All the paths leading to the village were camouflaged. Stone traps, crossbows, and spike pits were set up in advance. If anyone did not know how to cut the road and followed the old path, they would immediately fall into the spike pit.

The enemy used OV10 and L19 aircraft to continuously circle the island, giving guidance for artillery, and F105 aircraft to bomb the village and the base area. The sky of the base area was dyed with billowing smoke from bombs. The next day, the enemy landed troops on a large scale. They used chainsaws to cut down old trees in the forest to make a makeshift airport for helicopters to land troops on high points. They used artillery to bomb day and night the places they suspected were the bases of agencies. On the ground, they used commandos to coordinate with infantry to enter the fields of the people, destroying crop production. Some infantry groups aggressively went into the village to search, got caught in a trap, brought bows and the guerrillas fought back. The agency's self-defense brothers clung to the enemy day and night to fight the sweep, causing many casualties to them. After seven consecutive days and nights, they could not find the command post of the base area, so they called in artillery to bombard and then withdrew their troops to Phan Rang.

Busy with fighting the enemy, the agency brothers forgot about Thanh. An emergency agency meeting was called, Mr. Hoan ordered:

- We must find Thanh by all means, especially the security guards must leave immediately at any cost to find her and bring her back here.

The whole office was listening attentively when Thanh walked in from outside and said:

- Guys, I'm home.

Everyone in the office gasped. I was so happy that I jumped up and hugged him. He then recounted:

- The gun went off, I ran down to the end of the field. I crossed the other side of the hill and cut through the forest to the station, then stayed with the liaison officers. I asked:

- Why don't you go back to the office?

- If you return to the office, you will be trapped in a trap and easily be attacked by guerrillas.

I clicked my tongue: "That kid is really smart."

Only Thanh and I knew about the bird shooting and the discovery of the commandos. If it were revealed, the agency would have disciplined us for disorganization. After all, Thanh's actions had unintentionally saved the base from a major raid, without any casualties, all thanks to Thanh's small and simple slingshot.

The story of the slingshot is as simple as the slingshot itself, but even though nearly 50 years have passed, there are still in my memory unforgettable little memories of a fiery time, a heroic time in which the simple and plain slingshots that we used were included.

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