The Libyan airport in Ke Go lake

Ke Go Lake is located in Cam My commune, Cam Xuyen district (Ha Tinh). It has been known as the largest irrigation project in the North Central region. The construction was started in 1976 and completed in just 3 years instead of 6 years as planned.

This project also became more widely known after the late musician Nguyen Van Ty included it in the song "The person who built Ke Go lake", expressing the burning desire and longing of the Party Committee and people of Nghe Tinh province (old) in the process of building the homeland and country after the reunification of the country.

War relics in Ke Go lake

To have the Ke Go irrigation project, nearly 20 years before, on May 16, 1957, Uncle Ho visited the army and people of Ha Tinh province. During a talk with the Party Committee and people of the province, Uncle said: "Ha Tinh must look up the Ke Go records and study them in advance so that when the opportunity arises, it can be built."

19 years after that instruction, right after the merger of Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces into Nghe Tinh, the Ke Go Lake irrigation project was ordered to start construction. During the 3 years, the construction site always maintained about 60,000 people including laborers, youth volunteers, workers from 28 districts and towns in Nghe Tinh province, and there was also additional human resources and machinery from the Central Government to soon complete the national key project.

The poetic beauty of Ke Go Lake today.

Mr. Nguyen Phi Cong (born in 1964), Deputy Director of the Management Board of Ke Go Nature Reserve, said that Ke Go Lake is associated with strategic route 22, built by the Ministry of Transport in late 1966 to support the Southern battlefield and the Libyan field airport. Route 22 is 65km long, starting from Thinh Thinh intersection in Nam Dien commune, Thach Ha district, going around Ke Go Lake, running through many communes in Ky Anh district and ending in Tuyen Hoa district, Quang Binh province. The force participating in opening route 22 included 4 Youth Volunteer Teams with about 6,000 people. By early 1971, strategic route 22 was completed.

During the road construction process, the Ministry of National Defense chose the Da Bac area to build the 723 defense project, also known as the Libi field airport - named after a stream in Da Bac village. The project started on September 30, 1972 with the participation of 92 construction workers and 36 workers from Cam Thanh Brick Factory. At that time, Ke Go Lake had not been dammed or filled with water like it is now, so part of Highway 22 passed through the lake bed.

The Libyan field airport, connected to Route 22, was identified as the closest airport for the North to support the Southern battlefield. By early 1973, the Libyan airport was basically completed but was discovered by the US Air Force. On the night of January 7, 1973, the US massively used B52 aircraft to fiercely attack the Libyan airport in order to “wipe out” the Libyan airport.

This project was originally designed to have 2 flight lanes, mainly serving jet aircraft, but before any sortie could be launched, it was destroyed by hundreds of tons of bombs. Not only destroying the military base at Libi airport, the series of bombs from the US empire also buried nearly 100 cadres and people who were breaking rocks and clearing roads here. Those who sacrificed their lives were buried in the cemetery in Ke Go lake and Da Bac cemetery, and were later gathered at the Martyrs' Cemetery of Cam Xuyen district.

The story of the man searching for history under Ke Go Lake

The feat in Ke Go Lake and the martyrs who sacrificed here were almost “forgotten” for a long time, without any history books recording their identities. In the history book of Ha Tinh Transport, there are only a few short lines about Libi airport, about the fierce bombings on Route 22 that caused many Youth Volunteers, frontline workers and soldiers to sacrifice.

Since 1976, when the Ke Go Lake irrigation project was ordered to start construction and 3 years later, the lake began to accumulate water, the old front gradually sank into the lake. As a living witness to the bombing in the past, Mr. Nguyen Phi Cong always had a burning desire to return the names to the martyrs and reconstruct the war relics of the Libi airport.

Inauguration of the Martyrs Temple at Ke Go Lake.

But it was not until nearly 30 years later, on April 30, 2011, with initial support from a pilgrimage group from Ho Chi Minh City visiting Ke Go, that Cam Xuyen district joined hands, using socialized resources to build a small temple deep in Ke Go Lake. In 2014, this temple was granted a certificate of recognition as a provincial historical and cultural relic.

The story of this shrine has attracted the attention of many people, including living witnesses who participated in the construction of the Libi airport. They came to the site themselves and provided valuable documentary footage. By piecing together data, events, and information over the past 10 years, those who care deeply about Ke Go have gradually built a complete list of martyrs, all of whom were workers mobilized to build the Libi field airport.

Up to now, 62 martyrs who died in the Ke Go Lake area have been identified and provisionally listed, including 32 martyrs who died at Libi airport on January 7, 1973. Currently, there is still information that hundreds of martyrs are lying at the bottom of Ke Go Lake, so the search for information about the martyrs has not stopped. To obtain the list engraved on the two steles in the Temple of Heroic Martyrs at Ke Go Lake, many living witnesses have wandered around cemeteries to search for each person who died in the attack, and visited the homes of the martyrs' relatives to verify. There are cases where it took 4 years and dozens of witnesses to verify.

With funding from the Ministry of National Defense and businesses, in August 2023, the Martyrs' Temple in Ke Go Lake worth more than 10 billion VND was inaugurated. With the silent contribution of those who care deeply about the relics in Ke Go Lake, history is gradually being clarified so that the Libi field airport and strategic road 22 will never be forgotten and the martyrs, youth volunteers, and defense workers who sacrificed on this front will be forever grateful.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Tieu-diem-van-hoa/chien-tich-san-bay-libi-trong-long-ho-ke-go-i766668/