71st Anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory: Visiting the General's House on the Kien Giang River

Ms. Nguyen Thu Hoai, a long-time tour guide at the General Vo Nguyen Giap memorial house in An Xa village, Le Thuy district, Quang Binh province, said that in recent days, on average, more than 1,000 tourists have come to visit and offer incense to commemorate the General. Many delegations from the North and the South were moved when they visited the house where General Vo Nguyen Giap was born. Many people brought their children to the General's memorial house to learn more about history and the homeland where he grew up and nurtured his aspiration for national liberation.

The memorial house of General Vo Nguyen Giap in An Xa village is a level 4 house with 3 old-style rooms nestled under the green trees. For more than 30 years, every day, Mr. Vo Dai Ham (who calls the General "uncle") has stayed up late and woke up early to cherish each souvenir in this house. The table and chairs, the bed, the photos... after decades are still intact thanks to Mr. Ham's meticulous care. In recent years, because Mr. Ham is old and weak, Mr. Vo Xuan Hoa (the General's uncle) has joined the house, and the two of them take turns preserving the General's childhood home.

In 1947, knowing that General Vo Nguyen Giap was joining the revolution, the French burned down his family's house, which was over 100 years old. In 1977, the General's house was restored to its original state by his family and the local government on the old land. At first, the local government proposed to build a spacious house, but the family did not agree. Later, the wooden house with 3 rooms, 2 wings, and tiled roof in the traditional style of the old rice fields of Le Thuy was restored.

When building the house, the local people wanted to use ironwood, but the General firmly disagreed because according to him, doing so would set a precedent for everyone to destroy the forest and use ironwood to build houses. According to the General, the house was only made of garden wood, and later the house was made of garden wood grown in his hometown of Le Thuy.

The house has a simple thatched roof, under the roof is a thatched roof to act as a door to protect from the rain and sun. The main room of the house has an ancestral altar, on the altar hangs the portraits of General Vo Nguyen Giap's parents and below is the General's portrait. Outside the altar is a simple reception table and next to it is a bedroom with a bed covered with a rush mat. Around the rafters of the house hang some photos of the General with Uncle Ho and photos of the General with many soldiers. Household items in the countryside of Le Thuy rice fields such as plows, harrows, hoes, shovels, jars, pots... are neatly arranged.

It is known that during his visits to his hometown, the General was very moved to see his family's house meticulously restored just like the years he lived there. Behind the General's house is a sweet star fruit tree that is over 100 years old and full of fruit. Thanks to that star fruit tree that is over 100 years old, people were able to determine the exact location to restore the General's house on the old ground. The gentle breeze blew through the star fruit branches, causing purple flowers to fall all over the path. When he was still healthy, every time he visited his home, the General often looked at the star fruit tree with many clear memories of his childhood. Under the shade of this star fruit tree, during his youth, the General often studied and played shuttlecock and marbles with his friends.

In the past, when he was still alive, every time he returned to his hometown, the first place the General went to was the district martyrs' cemetery, to burn incense for his beloved father - martyr Vo Quang Nghiem and his soldiers who had fallen in two long campaigns. Then the General went to burn incense on the graves of his mother and deceased relatives in the family cemetery. After that, returning to his small house, the General respectfully burned incense on the ancestral altar. He asked his childhood friends who were still alive and who were dead, shook hands and hugged each relative and neighbor. The legendary general's memory was always filled with the image of the clear, gentle Kien Giang River and the folk songs of Le Thuy, Quang Binh. To him, they were a part of his homeland.

In the world's military history, there is probably no one who started out as a history teacher, never attended any formal military school, and was given the mission of commanding troops and then became the soul of the Dien Bien Phu campaign like General - Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap.

In the spring of 1954, when the whole nation was entering spring, Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap and the Forward Command of the General Command set out for the front. As someone who had experienced many campaigns, including some major ones such as Border, Peace, Northwest, etc., Vo Nguyen Giap understood better than anyone the great responsibility that the Politburo and Uncle Ho had entrusted him with through his instructions before leaving: “Commander-in-Chief goes to the front. The general is at home. I give you full authority to make decisions. This battle is important, we must fight to win! Only fight if we are sure of victory, and only fight if we are not sure of victory.”

General Vo Nguyen Giap was assigned by the Politburo to be the Commander-in-Chief, directly commanding the Dien Bien Phu campaign. Our initial combat motto was "fight fast, win fast". However, on January 26, 1954, before the day of opening fire on Dien Bien Phu, General Vo Nguyen Giap made the most difficult decision in his commanding career. That was to change the motto of destroying the enemy from "fight fast, win fast" to "fight steady, advance steady". "Now we decide to postpone the attack, order the troops on the entire line to retreat to the assembly point and pull out the artillery. Political work ensures that the order to retreat is strictly followed as the order to fight". (Excerpt: General Vo Nguyen Giap's Memoirs).

The Dien Bien Phu victory, "famous in five continents and shaking the world", is closely associated with the role, intelligence and bravery of General Vo Nguyen Giap - Commander-in-Chief of the campaign. This victory became a brilliant milestone, completely ending the French colonial invasion of our country and other countries on the Indochina peninsula, opening new steps in the history of the nation, moving towards national unification.

Mr. Ruscio, a former reporter for the French newspaper L'Humanité (Humanity) in Vietnam and the author of many research works on the French colonial period in Indochina and the Indochina War, commented that the French army's defeat at Dien Bien Phu could be considered a victory for all colonial peoples, opening the way to liberation for oppressed peoples. He said that at that time, the Indochina War was being watched by the whole world. It was not simply a war between France and Vietnam but an international war. Therefore, according to him, the French army's defeat at Dien Bien Phu could not only be considered a victory for Vietnam but also a victory for all colonial peoples, opening the way to liberation for oppressed peoples.

Visiting the memorial house of General Vo Nguyen Giap in Le Thuy, Quang Binh, many people wrote touching words in the guest book at General Vo Nguyen Giap's house. Those were the innocent handwritings of elementary school children from Ca Mau Cape who came to visit the General's house; the handwritings of officers and soldiers of the armed forces who throughout their lives always considered the General as the eldest brother of the Vietnam People's Army; or mothers in the South and the North who were satisfied and happy just by visiting the General's house once.

Dang Phuong Nam, a student at the People's Police Academy, wrote, "As a son of Phu Tho - the heroic homeland, today I am very lucky to visit the General's hometown in An Xa village. When I arrived here, I felt extremely moved, proud and grateful for the General's contributions and contributions. I write this here to love, to remember, to engrave, to be grateful to the General..."

Taking her two children, who are in grades 12 and 9, to visit the General's memorial house, Ms. Tran Hoai Thuong in Long An said that everyone in her family admires the General, especially her two children. Every time a documentary about the General is shown on TV, no matter if they are having a meal or doing anything, the whole family stops to watch the film.

Dinh Cong Thanh - D48 People's Police Academy wrote: "We would like to express our deep gratitude for the General's contributions. We vow to follow and learn from the General in terms of morality, character, humble and simple lifestyle. We always strive to be worthy of the efforts of the Party, Uncle Ho and generations of revolutionary veterans, including the General."

And here are the memorial lines at the General's house of the Airborne Special Forces Division: "Our delegation came to offer incense to pay respect to the General and his family. Witnessing the relics of the General's memorial house, we saw more clearly the glorious revolutionary tradition of our family, homeland and the shining revolutionary morality of the General's entire family. We vow to learn and follow the General's example, striving to excellently complete all tasks assigned by the Party, State and people."

Leaving the memorial site of the General's house, I went to the bank of Kien Giang River, watching the water slowly flowing, and I suddenly remembered the image of the General every time he visited his hometown as if it were just yesterday. Somewhere, the Le Thuy folk song rose up, making my heart flutter in the peaceful late summer afternoon: "I will take you to visit your hometown of Le, where the lullaby of my childhood lulled me, the river and water embraced the love of my hometown, because the green Kien Giang embraced my long hair, the day I left my hometown I promised not to return".

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Xa-hoi/ky-niem-71-nam-chien-thang-dien-bien-phu-tham-nha-dai-tuong-ben-dong-kien-giang-i767563/