The unforgettable tearful memories of People's Artist Thu Hien

On the evening of July 8, the program Stories from Songs brought a touching conversation with sacred memories about the song Cau Ho Ben Bo Hien Luong with the participation of People's Artist Thu Hien and veteran Ngo Huu Minh.

Composed by musician Hoang Hiep, with lyrics by Dang Giao, released in 1956, Cau ho ben bo Hien Luong is not only a song, but also a symbol of the desire for unification, of love for the homeland and faith in the future. After nearly 7 decades, the song still retains its strong vitality.

Untitled 1.jpg — People's Artist Thu Hien.

63 years with 'Songs on the banks of Hien Luong'

People's Artist Thu Hien remembers clearly the first time she sang this song at the age of 16, right on the land where the Ben Hai River splits in two. In 1972, she was present in the campaign to liberate Quang Tri , continuing to sing with an indomitable voice. To date, she has been attached to this song for 63 years.

"Every time I perform this song, the image of a time, a moment when the country was divided, seems to come back," People's Artist Thu Hien confided.

She recounted the difficult days when she had to sing with an old Chinese loudspeaker. Because the device was broken, she had to sing and squeeze the loudspeaker to get sound, while the political officer stood next to her with a whip to remind her. "If you squeeze the loudspeaker too much, you can't sing, but if you want to sing, you can't squeeze it," she recalled the funny situation at that time.

People's Artist Thu Hien and singer Huyen Trang perform "Cau ho ben bo Hien Luong":

In particular, she talked about the "microphones" made from enemy food cans: "The old cans from the other side, people ate and threw them away, so I picked them up and made microphones to sing with."

The most painful images in People's Artist Thu Hien's memory are when she sang in the shelters and tunnels for wounded soldiers. She recalls the choking moments when she saw their eyes.

"How to sing for that comrade to hear because there was no anesthesia for the surgery. Honestly, at that time, I didn't know which song was which, just one line went off to another. Some of them kept their eyes open and looked at us listening to the song. Some of them lived and some of them passed away forever, but their eyes were still open and they still had a smile, a belief left for us. Those memories are truly unforgettable," she said.

Flags that never fall

Veteran Ngo Huu Minh, Colonel of Battalion 47 of Vinh Linh Special Zone, shared his fierce fighting experiences in the Hien Luong Bridge area. He recalled: "We fought in the South for about a month, then went back to the North bank to consolidate and build up our forces, then continued to secretly bring in more forces." Mostly, our comrades fought on the McNamara electronic fence.

He also expressed his deep gratitude to the artists who sang not only the song "On the banks of Hien Luong" but also other songs to "lift us gently into battle".

In particular, he told the story of the image of the national flag always fluttering on the Hien Luong flagpole. To keep the image of the Fatherland always bright and fluttering on the flagpole on the northern bank of Hien Luong, there were soldiers who sewed flags for decades to ensure that there was always a new and beautiful flag on the flagpole. The purpose was to make the people on the other side of the southern bank more confident and turn to the great rear in the North during that period.

People's Artist Thu Hien, who also lived in the tunnels with her mother, said that the flags had to be constantly renewed. Enemy planes bombed continuously and the flags were often burned and torn. However, every morning when they woke up and saw the flag on the other side still flying high, everyone tried to sew their own flags bigger and higher. Sewing the flags was very difficult, starting with small pieces of cloth and gradually getting bigger, month after month.

She was moved to share that every Vinh Linh resident at that time was a hero. When seeing the national flag, everyone felt sacred and full of faith.

Historical witnesses and painful stories:

Photo, video : VTV

'People's Artist Trung Duc and People's Artist Thu Hien, over 70 years old, still 'demand' to sing a lot' According to People's Artist Tran Binh, when organizing the art program "Memories of Truong Son", many People's Artists like Trung Duc and Thu Hien demanded to sing a lot, but he had to stop them because he was afraid their health would not allow it.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/ky-uc-dam-nuoc-mat-khong-the-phai-mo-cua-nsnd-thu-hien-2419698.html