No reverse gear, 20 years old female drivers cross Truong Son fire

Amidst the rain of bombs and bullets, the Truong Son female driver platoon completed thousands of trips with tens of thousands of tons of goods, transporting hundreds of thousands of soldiers and wounded soldiers... contributing to the historic victory of April 30, 1975.

In the middle of the legendary Truong Son fire line, where "rain of bombs and bullets" seemed to be only for steel drivers, there was a special unit that went down in history - the female driver platoon named after the armed forces hero Nguyen Thi Hanh (later the Truong Son C13 female driver company) - the only female driver company of the Vietnam People's Army during the resistance war against America to save the country.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thi Hoa (left cover) - one of the "steel roses" of the Truong Son female driver platoon. Photo: Mai Loan.

The steadfast "steel roses" who day and night drove trucks to overcome difficulties, including Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thi Hoa, are a living symbol of the heroic and indomitable spirit of Vietnamese women, and at the same time a unique and creative feature of Vietnamese military art, contributing to the great victory of Spring 1975, liberating the South and unifying the country.

"Steel roses" on the Truong Son fire line

The Truong Son Road – Ho Chi Minh Trail during the resistance war against the US to save the country was not just a simple military transport route. It was a symbol of the iron will, courage and aspiration for national unification of the whole nation. On that legendary road, tens of thousands of soldiers and young volunteers faced danger day and night, enemy bombs and bullets, malaria, steep and steep roads to ensure the traffic lifeline to support the battlefield in the South.

In December 1968, when the war was at its fiercest stage, a female driver platoon named after heroine Nguyen Thi Hanh was established in Hung Pho commune, Huong Khe district, Ha Tinh . This was the first and only female driver platoon on the historic Truong Son route.

The female driver platoon consists of 40 girls, selected from young female volunteers. Photo: Archive.

Not artists, not logistics – they directly hold the steering wheel, drive trucks carrying goods, weapons, medicine through forests and streams, regardless of bomb craters, Agent Orange, enemy fire. The Zin 130, Gaz 51, Gaz 69 cars become close companions. They drive at night, the “apple” lights shining under the chassis – the tiny light is just enough to see the road without revealing one’s position.

They had passed through all the most fierce places in Truong Son: Road 20 Quyet Thang, Khe Tang, Cong Troi, Khe Ve... Once, a convoy of ammunition trucks had to cross Cong Troi Pass amidst a fog of bombs. A girl weighing just over 40kg, Pham Thi Phan, volunteered to drive and clear the way. That battle, the whole team escaped. "No one thought that girls could be so brave," a former male driver recalled.

Convoys of Truong Son troops continued to advance into the South. Photo: Archive.

The female platoon was not only good at driving, they were also nurses, stretcher bearers,... not afraid of anything, and especially... cheerful, always showing optimism. The saying "My car doesn't have reverse gear!" became a legend. Whenever they encountered difficulties, the girls "stuck on the slope" asked the male drivers to help push them, then giggled to the sound of the engine roaring.

The presence of the female driver platoon on the Truong Son route is not only a source of pride for women but also makes their male colleagues extremely admire and inspire them. Major General Nguyen Ba Tong once said: “The female drivers are small but their spiritual strength is very great. When the engineer brothers and drivers swear, they will fall silent when they see the green uniforms of the female drivers. They inspire the whole front line.”

A veteran shared that every time he saw the convoy of the “steel roses” passing by, he felt warm and admired. Amidst the blinding bombs and the roaring engines, the image of the women sitting firmly behind the wheel seemed to give strength to the brothers. They not only completed their transport mission, but were also a great source of encouragement along the entire route.

Many male drivers also learn from their female counterparts the virtue of being careful and meticulous in maintaining and taking care of their vehicles. "Their cars are always cleaner and tidier than ours," a former driver said with a laugh.

From its founding until 1975, the Truong Son "long-haired" driving platoon completed thousands of trips - transporting tens of thousands of tons of goods, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and wounded soldiers to the South and North.

"Fire keeper" of Truong Son female driving team

Among those "steel roses", Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thi Hoa stands out as the Party Cell Secretary and Political Commissar of Company C13. She is the one who directly fought side by side, shared and inspired the female soldiers under her command throughout the arduous but heroic years.

Transport team named after hero Nguyen Thi Hanh. Photo archive.

Talking to Knowledge and Life, Ms. Hoa emotionally recalled her twenties, burning with passion on the fiery road. “Back then, very few political cadres received professional training. Me too, at first I didn’t know how to drive. But later, I learned to drive from the sisters in the team. They were not only soldiers, but also my first teachers behind the wheel and in the middle of the Truong Son forest,” she said.

Ms. Hoa said that the roads where the female drivers passed were marked by the Engineering Command to come up with protection plans. Of the 45 women, 40 were directly driving, and 5 were repairmen. She and her teammates only studied for 45 days before they were able to take the wheel in real combat. Yet since 1968, there were female hands driving arched vehicles through forests, across streams, and on roads heavily bombed with bullets.

“At the end of 1968, the war entered a fierce period, we started to participate in the campaign. Those who were more confident in driving would take one person per car, those who were weaker would pair up with two people per car, taking turns to support each other. And so, each car rolled into the battlefield,” Ms. Hoa recalled.

To carry out military transport missions in harsh conditions, the resilience of Truong Son women is immeasurable. On the way to battle, men had to work hard, women had to work even harder. Resting during the day, traveling at night. The roads were full of bombs and bullets, full of bomb craters and burn marks. She and her comrades divided the work, the strong women drove directly, the weak women stayed at the rear to make tires, springs, and repair vehicles, no one stood aside.

During those days, the girls were all in their prime, but always on the edge, where life and death were just a hair’s breadth apart. Among them, there was the 050 checkpoint in Quang Binh – where “When our car was about to pass the 050 checkpoint, the squad had four women going first. Before leaving, we held a living funeral – as if we were dead first, to ease our minds. Yet, that first trip, we successfully completed two trips. The sisters were still very young at that time, and their forces were small, but their hearts were not small. Everyone was burning with the fire of youth and patriotism,” Ms. Hoa recalled.

Like many soldiers after the war, the journey back to civilian life for the sisters was not easy. “After liberation, in 1975, we had 36 sisters, 19 of whom were war invalids, 1 of whom was exposed to Agent Orange, 18 of whom were married, 1 of whom was married but had no children, and 2 of whom are still single. When they were demobilized, they did not receive a pension, so they suffered a lot.

Later, when the press reported it, the whole country knew about it, the story of the Truong Son Women's Drivers Company was written into a book, published in two languages. We sisters are still close and love each other very much", Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thi Hoa was moved.

"We did not make the victory, only contributed a small part on the way to the battlefield. But we lived our entire youth for the Fatherland. No regrets, no remorse," Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thi Hoa shared.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/khong-co-so-lui-tuoi-20-cua-nhung-nu-lai-xe-vuot-lua-truong-son-post269393.html