Yen Ngua Pass, now in Hamlet 1, Ham Can Commune, Ham Thuan Nam, was the base of the Security Department of Zone 6 during the war. Also here, in 1973, Secretary of the Zone Party Committee Tran Le and Head of the Security Department Pham Thuan announced the decision to establish an armed security company called C25 with the mission of protecting the safety and important people of the Zone Party Committee of Zone 6 after the Paris Agreement.
A few days ago, Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Hung Dung, an officer of Tanh Linh District Military Command, called me with mixed feelings of joy and sadness when he visited the old Zone 6 Security Base in Yen Ngua Pass, where his father, Captain Dinh Hung Dung, once held the position of Deputy Commander before returning to earth at the age of 33, leaving behind an empty future for his two young children and young wife.
In early September this year, 77-year-old Vi Xuan Lieu, former Captain of Lam Dong Police, former Chairman of Loc Tien Ward, Bao Loc City, came to my house for morning tea. Holding a cup of hot fragrant tea in his hand, he said softly: “You are a former soldier of C25. In a few weeks, the brothers still living in our unit from Phan Thiet, Bao Loc and Ninh Thuan will return to Tanh Linh to meet each other and share many happy and sad stories. You are a soldier with a pen as a profession, trying to write an article published in Binh Thuan Newspaper to help our brothers feel less sad. Nearly 50 years after the day of peace, there has not been a single article from Binh Thuan about our company. Many times, seeing our brothers still alive gathered together in silence, I feel sad and tears flow. If the article is published, please buy a few dozen copies to commemorate and make our brothers happy.” At that time, without anyone telling anyone, the two old soldiers hugged each other, tears welling up in their eyes. Seeing him off, watching the crooked footsteps of a person's life passing through the war, in my mind appeared my dear friends from the past with their haggard faces and malaria from the wartime jungle, clearly appearing, I stood up to burn another stick of incense to remember a distant time.
That same morning, I called Nguyen Trong Hoang, my close senior friend, who also had many memories of the old Company 25. Hoang - former Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Lam Dong, on the other end of the line shared with a sad tone: "The C25 protecting the old Zone 6 were mostly ethnic minorities in the North. After the peace , some of the brothers asked to return to their hometowns, until 1978-1980 they returned to Da Lat to ask for confirmation papers to receive the allowance for discharge, disability, and sick soldiers, but unfortunately they did not have any papers on them. However, the Department also tried to find ways to help the brothers, now everything is fine."
On September 12, 2024, Mr. Lieu came to my house, wearing a police uniform that had been through many years of wind and dust. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket with lines of words, the old man's handwriting falling back and forth, looking very pitiful. He told me to make a new pot of tea, pour 3 more cups, set up 3 more empty chairs, and light 3 incense sticks. Under the flickering incense smoke outside, the cold wind and rain of Typhoon Yagi's circulation, he stood up and whispered to invite the C25 brothers who had sacrificed on the old battlefield of Zone 6 to come here and have a cup of hot tea with them. After the memorial, he sat down and said softly in tears: "This morning, I brought the words of my unit for you to see so you have more material to write, I have been diligently writing for 2 days, uncle." Mr. Lieu straightened the paper and read it slowly, sometimes stopping to explain to me in a leisurely manner, then raised his voice: In the fall of 1972, the Ministry of Public Security mobilized 52 police officers from 8 different provinces to Chuong My, Ha Tay for training. After the course ended, the Ministry's leaders announced Decision QL276 - the name of the group to the Bac Ke battlefield (the old code name of Zone 6). At that time, group 276 was mostly Tay, Nung, Muong, Thai... and a few Kinh people. The group's leadership consisted of 3 people, comrade Vu Lenh Sinh as the group leader, comrade Dinh Minh Cam and comrade Dinh Hung Dung as deputy group leaders, then the group was transported by car to Cua Nam River, Bo Trach District, Quang Binh. At that time, along the Cua Nam River, the enemy dropped flares all night to prevent Northern soldiers from crossing the river to support the Southern battlefield, so the barge driver ran along the river bank, waiting for the moment of darkness, turning the wheel to safely cross the river. After crossing the river, the group began to march, crossing the passes and streams through the slopes of Ba Thang, Cong Troi, and then across the border of Laos and Cambodia. At the Laos-Vietnam border, the group passed through the provinces of Khammouane, Xaphanakhet, etc., then through the border provinces of Cambodia. At the stopover station of the 559 line, there were only 3 comrades left in the group, but most of them had malaria and had to stay at the liaison stations. Because the number of troops was too small, the station chief ordered the group to stop and wait for 15 days, then 22 more comrades continued the march to Loc Ninh, Binh Phuoc, waiting for the liaison to lead them back to Bac Ke secret base. The group arrived at Suoi Chao, Loc Bac commune, Bao Lam district, Lam Dong now, waited for more, then lost contact, and no more rice and salt supplies. The brothers wore tattered clothes, with drums in the front and back exposed, digging for roots, cassava roots, and forest leaves to survive. At that time, the group was surrounded by the enemy on all sides, cutting off all routes, not allowing people to supply the revolution. During those times of near hunger, the ethnic people in Loc Bac gave them cassava to survive temporarily. A few weeks later, the group arrived at Huy Khiem commune, Tanh Linh district, old Binh Tuy, to gather and rest for a month to prepare to go to Yen Ngua pass, the base of Security Department Zone 6 in Binh Thuan.
Two days later, the delegation met comrade Chin Can, also known as Pham Thuan, Head of the Security Department of the zone and was warmly welcomed. Here, the zone committee decided to establish Company 25 from the QL276 group with the task of protecting security and the leaders of Zone 6. According to the above decision, comrade Vu Lenh Sinh was the company commander; military assistant was comrade Nguyen Van Tao; 3 deputy company commanders were comrade Dinh Minh Cam (political commissar), Tran Minh Hanh (in charge of organization) and Dinh Hung Dung (in charge of logistics). At that time, due to leaked information, in October 1973, the enemy's Division 23 surrounded and swept away, but with the determination and cleverness of the company, they protected the zone committee and safely evacuated the leaders. In a life-and-death situation, Deputy Company Commander Dinh Hung Dung, because he often hunted animals to provide more food for the unit, discovered a path at the foot of the mountain, so he organized the entire district committee to safely withdraw from the rear base. However, the company had two comrades, Hoang Minh Tram and Hoang Minh Thong, sacrificed. When burying their comrades, because of dealing with the enemy, the comrades only dug shallow holes and hastily filled them with soil. A few days later, when they returned, they saw a grave had been dug up. The very next day, Mr. Tran Duc Hoai, also known as Mr. Ba My - Deputy of the Security Department, ordered a guard to see who was digging the grave and discovered two large monitor lizards digging it up. After 1975, the remains of the two comrades were brought back to the cemetery. In October 1974, to prepare for the campaign, the company was reinforced in the provinces of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Binh Tuy, Tuyen Duc, and Lam Dong. On May 30, 1975, the entire company gathered in Da Lat. That was the last time we met before being assigned to provincial police units.
I remember a few years ago when I met Mr. Hoang Khai - former Lieutenant Colonel, Deputy Chief of Phan Thiet City Police - a former C25 soldier who confided: “During the march from North to South, the 276th Division was separated and had to wait due to illness, walking for 6 months and 21 days. Our company, in addition to its main task of keeping the regional committee safe, also protected important people and escorted the financial department of the region to transport money from the Central Bureau. During the 3 years, the company had to deal with hunger, disease, and was surrounded and attacked fiercely by the enemy, but with the spirit of a police soldier, we fought back fiercely and retreated when necessary, protecting the lives of our leaders and our unit.”
Now, the C25 brothers are all in their 80s, but every year they remember the day they went to B and came back to shake hands and greet each other, but gradually they are no longer there. The second generation is now well-educated, so every time they meet, their father's contemporaries take off their hats and bow their heads respectfully, which is a good thing. Ms. Linh Thi Nham, wife of Deputy Company Commander Dinh Hung Dung (deceased), is the one who proactively sought to meet and connect the brothers, and Dinh Hung Dung, a Lieutenant Colonel, the eldest son of Dung, often reminds his mother to visit his father's soldiers in times of hardship or when they return to the land. That is a noble gesture of a police officer who not only remembers his comrades but also volunteers to be a small fire to warm those who have gone through the war in his hometown of Binh Thuan.
Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/deo-yen-ngua-noi-luu-giu-phong-tuyen-an-ninh-xua-124370.html
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