Heroic Trường Sơn Driver

Veteran Vu Xuan Nhuong (on the left) shares with his comrades about his years driving in the Truong Son Mountains.

He left to join the army just three days after getting married.

Every time he returns to the K65-34 road in Huong Hoa district ( Quang Tri province ), the image of transport vehicles traversing through the rain of bombs and bullets of the American imperialists on this road in the past comes back vividly in the memory of veteran Vu Xuan Nhuong.

Born into a farming family with seven siblings, and being the eldest child, after finishing 7th grade, due to a lack of resources for vocational training, Mr. Nhuong applied to work as a factory worker.

In September 1965, three days after his wedding, Mr. Nhuong received orders to enlist in the army and was assigned to the 312th Division, also known as the Victory Division, under the Ministry of National Defense and later part of Military Region 1, stationed in Thai Nguyen.

After three months of training, he was assigned to Company 31, 16th Signal Battalion, received driving lessons, and was subsequently assigned to drive at the 4th Ground Artillery Regiment, 312th Division.

In July 1967, due to battlefield demands, the 559th Regiment needed additional drivers to transport supplies to the battlefield. He was promoted to sergeant and appointed as Squad Leader of the 56th Motor Transport Battalion, 559th Regiment, to transport goods to the Southern battlefield.

At that time, transport convoys were always the number one target of enemy aircraft. The Truong Son Road was extremely treacherous, narrow, and its surface was heavily damaged by enemy bombs and bullets, making it very difficult to travel. But with courage and resilience, Mr. Nhuong and his comrades overcame the enemy's bombing and shelling to transport goods safely to the assembly point.

Mr. Nhuong often exceeded the assigned routes and made more trips than his superiors had stipulated, earning him the nickname "The Gallant Horse" from his comrades. Many times, he and his teammates transported supplies through heavily bombed areas targeted by American aircraft, ensuring timely support for the battlefield.

During the dry season of 1968, the battlefield's supply demands grew increasingly large, and fuel shortages were severe because there were no pipelines. Fuel supplies to the supply depots in the interior were mainly transported by truck, and many fuel trucks were destroyed by American aircraft before reaching their destinations.

To ensure the vehicles operated, the unit's automotive engineers researched and developed a system that drew combustion gases from a charcoal furnace and fed them into the carburetor to start the engine, replacing gasoline. This system was installed on two Gaz 63 trucks. His squad was assigned to operate these two trucks on the 30km K65-34 road.

"The modified vehicles, powered by coal gas, sometimes had weak coal flames halfway up the mountain pass, requiring us to stop and replace the coal. Many times, unintentionally, sparks would fly, singeing hair, cutting off eyebrows, or blinding us, but for the sake of our beloved South, I and my comrades continued driving," Mr. Nhuong said.

Suicide mission

During peacetime, Mr. Nhuong (on the left) actively participates in social activities.

The years spent on the Truong Son battlefield hold countless heroic memories, but perhaps the most unforgettable memory for veteran Vu Xuan Nhuong is from the dry season of 1971-1972, when the US imperialists fiercely attacked and blocked the 44th military supply route. They dropped all kinds of bombs and mines on the Truong Son route, such as magnetic bombs, delayed-action bombs, booby traps, cluster bombs, etc., in order to block and cut off the supply line to the Central Highlands and Military Region 5.

A new type of magnetic bomb dropped by the Americans landed right in the wheel track, halting a convoy of supply vehicles heading to the battlefield. Despite using a magnetic launch vehicle and employing a wire frame to detonate the bomb and clear the road, the bomb failed to explode.

Faced with the urgent situation and the need to clear the road to allow the convoy to pass through at night, the unit discussed and agreed that the only option was to use a truck to detonate the bomb using a magnetic field. This was considered a "suicide" mission because simply driving over the bomb would trigger its detonation. At that time, he volunteered and was assigned the task of defusing the bomb.

Sharing his feelings at the time, veteran Vu Xuan Nhuong said that when the unit held a meeting to discuss and encourage volunteering, he volunteered and was assigned the task of defusing the bomb. At that moment, life and death were separated by only a hair's breadth, but that could not discourage him, because in the hearts not only of him but of all those truck drivers, there was the flame of love for the homeland guiding them.

"I got in the car, honked the horn, tested the brakes, then revved the engine. All I saw behind me was a blinding blue flash, my ears were ringing, the car bounced as if being pushed around, but I felt like my car was still moving. At that moment, I knew I was still alive and had completed my mission. With that heroic deed, I was honored to be admitted into the Communist Party of Vietnam ," Mr. Nhuong recalled.

After being injured multiple times while driving a truck transporting goods to the battlefield, veteran Vu Xuan Nhuong was hit by two shrapnel fragments in his head and chest. In 1973, he was sent to the North for treatment and was assessed as having lost 51% of his health and suffering a Class A disability of 45%.

He was discharged from the army and returned to his hometown at the end of 1974.

Returning to civilian life, he actively participated in local work, holding positions such as Deputy Head of Labor, Deputy Head in charge of cooperative industries, and working in land administration, agricultural taxation, and irrigation and transportation, later also taking on statistical and planning duties.

In 1998, fulfilling the wishes of friends and comrades who fought on the battlefield, he and his comrades in Van To (Tu Ky) sought out and gathered former comrades who had fought and worked in Unit 559 to establish the Truong Son Soldiers Liaison Committee of Tu Ky District, which was later renamed the Ho Chi Minh Truong Son Tradition Association of Tu Ky District. He has served as the association's president from 2012 to the present.

In his capacity, he coordinated many meaningful activities such as awarding Trường Sơn soldier badges to members; mobilizing and donating hundreds of gifts to disadvantaged and elderly members; and socializing the construction of 7 charitable houses for members facing housing difficulties...

When asked, "What message would you like to convey to today's young generation?", he said he only hoped that future generations would live useful lives, have ideals and dreams to build a stronger and more prosperous homeland. "Learn to cherish the life you have, because the price of peace was paid with the blood of countless fallen heroes," Mr. Nhuong said.

NGUYEN NGAN

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/dung-si-lai-xe-truong-son-400628.html