Dien Bien Phu has gone down in history for 70 years. But the memories of a time of “digging mountains, sleeping in tunnels, enduring rain, eating rice balls”, fierce battles for every inch of land, every trench on the bases, or the joyful emotions of the day of victory are still deeply engraved in the hearts of those who participated in the battle and served in the battle.
Ms. Vu Thi Kim Lan, Phu Son ward ( Thanh Hoa city) recalls memories of participating in the Dien Bien Phu campaign.
History books talk a lot about the Dien Bien Phu victory, but I want to hear the stories of those who lived through those years so that I can feel the breath of a heroic generation. With that wish, I headed down to the Ma River, along Highway 1A, to Hoang Son Commune (Hoang Hoa) to meet Mr. Hoang Tien Luc. He is 93 years old this year, his health has somewhat declined, but when talking about the historic battles on the heroic land of Dien Bien Phu, his vitality is clearly seen on his excited face and in his eyes that suddenly shine with intelligence. I started talking about the war, then Mr. Luc told me about the days of being immersed in the rain of bombs and bullets with all the memories and emotions of a person who had been through life and death.
In the flashback, Mr. Luc recalled: “In the history of the Dien Bien Phu campaign, the battle to destroy the enemy at Hill A1 was one of the fiercest battles and the most resounding victories. When attacking, when defending, fighting for every inch of land, one person fell, another charged forward, steadfastly and determinedly destroying the enemy. At that time, I belonged to Company 506, Regiment 174, so I participated in all 3 phases of the campaign. I was in the medical evacuation unit, so I always had to follow the combat unit closely. During this time in Dien Bien, it rained a lot, so the communication trenches were muddy, we had to carry stretchers on our heads to transport the wounded and those who had sacrificed themselves to the rear of the front. The mud and blood of the wounded fell on the faces and heads of the medical evacuation workers, it was very painful.” At this point, Mr. Luc's face fell, his voice became thoughtful for a moment, then he continued: "Despite the heavy casualties, after the second attack by the combat units, the central area of Dien Bien Phu fell into a state of passivity and high morale loss. Entering the third attack, after discovering that the enemy had an underground tunnel on Hill A1, my unit and another engineering unit were assigned the task of digging an underground tunnel close to the enemy's underground tunnel. When digging close to the enemy's underground tunnel, our troops prepared nearly 1 ton of explosives. At exactly 20:30 on May 6, 1954, the explosives placed at the end of the tunnel on Hill A1 rang out. Our troops from all directions successively captured the remaining targets, broke the enemy's counterattacks, and created a springboard for soldiers to attack the De Castries bunker. On May 7, 1954, our troops advanced straight into the enemy command post, raising the victory flag high."
Mr. Phung Sy Cac, Dong Tho ward (Thanh Hoa city) - a person who delivered food and ammunition during the Dien Bien Phu campaign.
In the days when the whole country is looking forward to the important event of the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, the "porters" from Thanh Hoa are happily going back in time to that sacred moment to relive the atmosphere of the arduous but heroic days of delivering food and ammunition. At the age of 88, Mr. Phung Sy Cac, Dong Tho ward (Thanh Hoa city) sometimes forgets some of the old memories, but the feelings about the time of serving in the war are still intact in his mind. Mr. Cac excitedly recounted: “At first, our task was to carry rice to supply our troops to fight the enemy. The next person followed the previous person, one after another, crossing high mountains and deep passes to bring goods to the front. The road to transport food for the campaign became a fierce line of fire right after the French colonialists discovered it. Based on the urgent requirements of the battlefield, I switched to the task of ensuring traffic from Tuan Giao to Dien Bien Phu. We widened narrow places, filled in muddy places, carried rocks to block slippery places, and pulled vehicles through deep streams. When we were about 15km from the artillery position, I was assigned the important task of carrying ammunition for the troops to fight the enemy. Although enemy planes continuously swept, despite all the dangers, we completed the task excellently. The campaign was completely victorious, I stayed behind to do the task of clearing bombs and mines, and it was not until August 1954 that I left the heroic land of fire, Dien Bien.”
At that time, to prepare for the Dien Bien Phu campaign, the whole country rushed to the battlefield. In Thanh Hoa, people wrote applications to volunteer to join the army, others volunteered to be civilian laborers on the front lines with great enthusiasm. Not inferior to the men, the female civilian laborers on foot also enthusiastically traveled more than 500km through forests, wading streams, and climbing mountains to deliver goods to the front. Ms. Vu Thi Kim Lan, Phu Son Ward (Thanh Hoa City) proudly recounted: “In those days, my hometown Quang Xuong was as crowded as a festival day; the whole village and commune participated in transporting food to the battlefield. Our luggage was a shoulder pole and a pair of rice baskets. During the day, we hid in the forest to avoid enemy planes, and at night, we carried dozens of kilos of rice on our shoulders. When the battlefield entered a fierce phase, and a large amount of food was needed for the campaign, we had to carry it day and night. The hardships and difficulties were countless, but no one wanted to rest, no one wanted to fall behind. The shoulder poles and the “thousand-mile legs” of the people of Thanh village provided timely support for our troops to eat well and win the battle.”
Mr. Nguyen Duc Ngoc, Hoang Dong commune (Hoang Hoa) told his grandchildren about the Dien Bien Phu campaign.
Listening to the stories of witnesses who had never experienced the roads to the Dien Bien front, I could not fully imagine the extraordinary strength of the "iron horse" army. It was not until March 2024, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, that I was able to experience the roads that the old porter-cart team had overcome. Only those who have stood on the famous Pha Din pass can understand the hardships and fierceness that the old troops had experienced. It has been 70 years, but in the memories of Mr. Nguyen Duc Ngoc, head of the porter-cart team of Hoang Dong commune (Hoang Hoa), every trace is still imprinted. In 1954, Mr. Ngoc's porter-cart team was tasked with taking goods from Quang Xuong to transport to Dien Bien. The route was 500 - 600km long, the terrain was difficult, while the needs of the battlefield were very large and urgent, so his army had to be very urgent. “During the transportation, each person had a cart, but when going downhill, one person had to drive, one person had to pull the cart back, and one person had to hold the steering wheel down, otherwise the cart would fall into the abyss. When going uphill, in addition to the driver, the person pushing the cart had to have a rope in front to get through. Just like that, my teammates and I silently transported food to the front for many months,” Mr. Ngoc shared. The “wise” war-controlling minds of the French could not have imagined that Vietnam had crushed their planes and tanks, and occupied their “impregnable fortress” with only such small human strength and rudimentary means.
No one forgets the tragedy and no victory is left unmarked. In the battle between one side with the enemy's modern and sophisticated weapons and the other side with only primitive weapons and small human resources, with iron will, hatred and bravery, the army and people of Thanh Hoa joined forces with the army and people of the whole country to make a resounding victory. The stories and emotions were sometimes exciting, sometimes choking but still intact. I looked at the elders and suddenly understood why this small country could make such glorious achievements. There is nothing greater than love for one's homeland and country.
Article and photos: To Phuong
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