Under the forest canopy, there is a "strange army"

At the scientific conference “50 years of Tay Ninh province’s literature and arts after the country’s reunification - issues raised and development orientations” organized by the Tay Ninh Literature and Arts Association on September 12, screenwriter Duong Cam Thuy (Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Literature and Arts Associations, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Cinema Association) wrote an article about “a strange military branch” during the war.

The announcers of Liberation Radio.

Ms. Cam Thuy wrote that during the resistance war against the US, the Central Office of Southern Vietnam had the strangest military branch among the military branches fighting on the battlefields of the South, which perhaps can also be said to have never existed in any other war of national defense, that was the Propaganda Department of the Central Office of Southern Vietnam.

The Propaganda Department gathers cultural, information, propaganda, press, literature and art agencies... The Propaganda Department base is located in a small forest codenamed R, in the Northwest of Tay Ninh province, bordering Cambodia, located along the upper reaches of the Vam Co Dong River with places such as Xa Mat, Ben Ra, Lo Go, Xom Giua...

The forests interspersed with large grasslands of hundreds of hectares such as Ta Not grassland, Ta Xia grassland, Co Van grassland, Bau Lung Tung grassland... These names only exist in this familiar forest area and have become the names of historical feats of arms in the resistance war against the US. R was the base of the political , military and information and propaganda headquarters of the Southern revolution. Even though the US fiercely attacked and even launched a long-term sweep of Junction City, the R war zone still existed until the day of complete victory in 1975.

Considered an important strategic advisory body of the Party on political, ideological and cultural work during wartime, the Propaganda Department R or the Propaganda Department of the Central Office for Southern Vietnam was directly led or directly concurrently headed by comrades Nguyen Van Linh, General Nguyen Chi Thanh, Pham Hung... who were Secretaries of the Central Office for Southern Vietnam during the period 1961-1975.

At that time, the Southern revolution did not have a system of government apparatus. The Central Propaganda Department of the Southern Bureau had agencies serving the work of information, propaganda, serving the political front, culture, literature and art, journalism, performance; training in singing, dancing, reformed opera, cinema, writers, journalists... such as the Arts Subcommittee, Liberation Art Troupe, Liberation Newspaper, Liberation News Agency, Liberation Film Studio, Liberation Radio Station...

The Central Propaganda Department of the Southern Region opened schools to train political cadres, teachers, reporters, information officers, cultural and artistic officers, film directors, cameramen, actors, singers, dancers, reformed opera artists, etc. for the sectors, the Propaganda Department of the Regional Party Committee, the Provincial Party Committee. The Department sent propaganda cadre groups including writers, poets, journalists, painters, cameramen, photographers, shock art troupes, etc. to the battlefields to create works to serve the people and soldiers of the communes, hamlets, liberated areas, disputed areas, strategic hamlets, the Saigon - Gia Dinh urban area and other urban areas.

In the southern region, villages were formed and gathered along rivers and streams, along both sides of dirt roads and rocky roads. The Propaganda Department's base in the R war zone was the same, having to rely on rivers and streams to build the base. There was only one difference: all agencies in the R war zone were hidden under the dense forest canopy, discreet. Although far away, they were still close to the people, living off the people.

During the fierce war years, when the US army landed in the Southern battlefield, Base R still held on, moving back and forth in the Tay Ninh forest, sometimes as a disguise, some agencies moved to the edge of the forest, next to a barren, stunted field. Life and work had to be moved completely underground.

Documentary photos of Liberation Radio Station are being kept at Ho Chi Minh City People's Radio Station.

Ap Bac Hall next to Cay stream can accommodate thousands of people, roofed with 2m long sheets of Trung Quan leaves. This place was continuously held in 1963, 1964 to 1965, 1967 and Tet Mau Than 1968... Propaganda Department R organized many large rallies of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF).

In particular, this is the place to host receptions for international journalists: W. Burchette (Australia), female journalist Madelene Riffaut (France), female writer and journalist Monica Waneska (Poland), Soviet journalist Schedro, Chinese journalist and film delegation... to visit the liberated zone of South Vietnam (MNVN), visit the Liberation Radio Station, the Liberation Film Studio, visit the liberation army units, Deputy Commander of the MNVN Liberation Army Nguyen Thi Dinh and the liberated zone of Cu Chi Gia Dinh.

The vast forests, from above it is difficult to see all the life beneath the canopy. There, under the canopy of the forest, is a vibrant life of one for all, united in one heart, working, fighting and composing to serve the resistance against America, to save the country.

The life of the people in R at that time was difficult in every way. A simple life but full of difficulties, hardships, lacking everything materially and spiritually… Then sickness, then bombs and bullets falling every day. Life with all the harsh challenges that young people had to overcome. And grow up. Leaving behind for the world a huge treasure of literary, artistic, cultural, and informational works…

On February 1, 1962, at 7:00 p.m. Saigon time, a historic radio broadcast rang out: "This is Liberation Radio, the voice of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, broadcasting from the liberated zone of South Vietnam" quickly spreading throughout the country and broadcasting in 5 languages: Vietnamese, Khmer, Chinese, English, and French right from the first broadcast.

Works of literature, poetry, painting, photography, music, fine arts, drama, reformed opera, dance, film... are associated with the names of Vien Phuong, Giang Nam, Le Anh Xuan - Anh Duc, Nguyen Van Bong, Nguyen Thi, Nguyen Quang Sang, Le Van Thao, Chim Trang, Luu Huu Phuoc aka Huynh Minh Sieng; musicians Hoang Viet, Xuan Hong, Lu Nhat Vu, Pham Minh Tuan, Diep Minh Tuyen... It is impossible to list all the names of the artists who lived, fought, and created in the R-Tay Ninh war zone.

The liberation artists of that time in the Central Propaganda Department of the Southern Region were almost all absent from important campaigns such as Dong Xoai and Mau Than 1968. Many works of poetry, literature, music, painting, images, films... were born at this time and live forever with time: Marching to Saigon by Huynh Minh Sieng, Song of Saigon female self-defense by Pham Minh Tuan, Saigon girl carrying ammunition by Lu Nhat Vu; the story "The straw-shaped shirt" by Nguyen Quang Sang...

Liberation Cinema, Liberation Film Studio - B10 is a legend of the R Propaganda Department. Liberation Cinema's war films were present in the heart of Saigon, next to the Paris conference, in the heart of Tokyo, to Algeria in Africa, to the free island of Cuba and to the World Youth Festival in the heart of Europe... creating more persuasiveness for the diplomatic struggle, the political struggle. The names of Liberation Cinema at that time, such as director, People's Artist Mai Loc, Pham Khac, Tran Nhu, Le Dung...

News films and war documentaries, such as Tay Ninh Victory, Fiery Dong Xoai, Childhood Art, Belt Rice Grain, Cu Chi Guerrilla, Long An Women's Artillery Team, Fighting on the Streets of Saigon, The Road to the Front... are not only vivid images of the heroic and resilient fight of the people and soldiers of the South during the resistance war against the US, but are also award-winning works of art at film festivals at home and abroad.

Many famous songs of the Southern revolution were born in the R war zone, such as Spring in the war zone, The song of sewing clothes by Xuan Hong; Bamboo spikes by Tri Thanh... and many compositions by other artists...

At 12:07 on April 30, 1975, the Liberation Radio announced: “This is the Liberation Radio, the voice of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, broadcasting from Saigon. Saigon is witnessing glorious moments...”. The person reading the Liberation Radio’s radio station name at that time was Thanh Liem, real name Vuong Thi Hai, living in District 8, escaping to the war zone. When he first started his career, Thanh Liem read in a house recording the earthworks at the source of the Vam Co Dong River. The female announcer Thanh Liem, who read the radio station name of the Saigon People’s Voice on the day the country was reunified, had grown up in the Liberation Radio station.

Remembering the Southern Central Bureau Base, the R war zone - a meeting place, a gathering place for generations of cadres, youths... from the Mekong Delta, from the cities of the temporarily occupied area, overseas Vietnamese from Cambodia and many artists from the North. Under the forest canopy is a meeting place, a gathering place for all ages, innocent, full of patriotism and love of life. We can also consider the R-Tay Ninh war zone as a gathering place for rivers: the Mekong, the Red River, the Saigon River, the Vam Co Dong River, the Mekong River...

The forests of the East, Tay Ninh, which used to be the base of the Central Office of the South during the resistance war against the US to save the country, also welcome thousands of visitors every year. Everyone wants to learn about life there, under the forest canopy! And everyone needs to know that there are great works of literature and art that were born under the forest canopy.

Viet Dong (written)

Source: https://baotayninh.vn/duoi-tan-rung-co-mot-binh-chung-la-lung-a179072.html