Memories of C1 Hill - Lang Son Newspaper and Radio and Television Station

Mr. Nguyen Duc Am with the medal awarded for many outstanding achievements in the Dien Bien Phu campaign.

In the atmosphere of the historic May days, we visited and talked with Mr. Nguyen Duc Am to better understand the heroic history and the glorious feats of the Dien Bien soldiers who directly created the victory that “resounded throughout the five continents and shook the world”. Although he is nearly 90 years old, he is still lucid, especially when talking about the memories of the days of “digging mountains, sleeping in tunnels, eating rice balls in the pouring rain” during the campaign, his eyes filled with pride.

From the platoon's number 1 gunner

Mr. Nguyen Duc Am was from Quynh Coi District (now Quynh Phu District), Thai Binh Province. He enlisted in February 1953 at the Quynh Coi District Military Command. In August 1953, he and many of his comrades were mobilized to join the main force to serve the Dien Bien Phu campaign. At that time, he belonged to Squad 1, Platoon 1, Congress 56 (combat support company, specializing in 82mm mortars and DKZ), Regiment 98, Division 316. After a period of both marching and training, in January 1954 his unit was present at the Dien Bien Phu battlefield.

In Dien Bien, when the Campaign Command decided to change the operational motto of "fight fast, win fast" to "fight steadily, advance steadily", his unit was ordered to withdraw to the rear base southeast of Muong Thanh field.

Before the second phase of the campaign, he and his unit were tasked with building artillery roads and digging trenches from the rear base to the Dien Bien Phu strongholds. According to Mr. Am, during the second phase of the campaign, from March 30 to May 1, 1954, he and his squad of 19 comrades carried out the task of using 82mm mortar fire support to help our infantry advance to the C1 hill stronghold. At that time, he was the number 1 gunner of the squad.

During that time, our army switched from attacking to counterattacking, then organized defense to fight the enemy for every inch of land. Wherever they fought and captured, our infantry used parachute cloth to mark the area to avoid our firepower from mistakenly hitting it. Our infantry also used mortar-shaped poles to move along the trenches to lure the enemy into returning fire, thereby helping us detect and fire to wear down the enemy's strength.

While he was enthusiastically telling us about the battles, Mr. Am's voice dropped when he mentioned comrade Nguyen Van Phiet, a native of Nghe An province, the squad leader. "I still remember clearly, at around 2 p.m. on April 13, 1954, Phiet was commanding the squad when he was suddenly hit by a mortar shell fragment in the abdomen due to an enemy counterattack. We took him to the bunker for first aid, but due to the seriousness of his wounds, he died. Before he died, he gave me a task: Comrade Am, from this moment on, you will replace me as the squad leader; let the guys reinforce the fortifications, repair guns and cannons, the enemy is counterattacking"...

In the battle to seize every inch of our homeland, many comrades and teammates like battery leader Nguyen Van Phiet sacrificed their lives. In the last moments, the Dien Bien soldiers still disregarded their own lives and thought of their teammates, encouraging them to fight. That spirit further increased the strength and solidarity of our army and people and perhaps that was one of the factors that made the victory "famous in five continents, shaking the earth".

To the duty of the battery commander

Receiving orders from the battery commander, Mr. Nguyen Duc Am performed well in his role as commander of the squad providing fire support for the infantry to attack the C1 stronghold. There was a very impressive detail in his story about our army's way of firing mortars. That is, 82mm mortars usually need a gun mount to fire accurately, but because they are cumbersome to carry and difficult to move, the soldiers in his squad placed the guns on the ground and held the barrel to adjust the shooting. With experience, the squad's mortar rounds were highly accurate, destroying many enemy troops, opening the way for our infantry to advance and gradually encroach on the C1 stronghold.

In the third phase of the campaign, on May 1, 1954, Mr. Am's battalion helped our army capture stronghold C1. In the following days, our army took advantage of the victory to intensify the siege, destroy stronghold C2 and successively capture the remaining strongholds.

“On the afternoon of May 7, 1954, General De Castries and the entire General Staff of the Dien Bien Phu stronghold were captured alive, all the French soldiers surrendered, we were extremely happy”. “My comrades and I hugged each other and cheered, some held shovels, some held pots and banged them loudly to celebrate”, that happiness was hard to describe.

Talking about the hardships and sacrifices of our army and people during the campaign, Mr. Am sadly said: From the time we retreated to the rear base, until the fighting on the C1 hill base, we fought and built fortifications, dug trenches in harsh weather conditions and enemy attacks. In the midst of the "rain of bombs and bullets", we took advantage of every minute and every second to take turns digging each meter of trench. Regardless of day or night, hunger or thirst, we were always determined to win. During the war, we had to witness many comrades falling while carrying out their missions, my squad alone had 19 comrades, but later only 8 remained; or the rice balls we received were stained with the blood of wounded comrades during the transportation process... All of this further fueled the will of each Dien Bien soldier to fight bravely and courageously, fighting for every inch of land with the enemy until the day of victory.

With those achievements, Mr. Nguyen Duc Am was awarded the Third Class Military Exploit Medal, directly by comrade Vu Lang, Commander of Regiment 98, in the second phase of the campaign and was awarded the Second Class Military Exploit Medal when summarizing the Dien Bien Phu campaign.

After the campaign, Mr. Am continued to participate in many military missions. He then went to study at the Military Cultural School, then the Central School of Economics and Planning. After graduating, he worked at the Na Duong Coal Mine (now Na Duong Coal Company), Loc Binh District, and retired in 1994. In the following years, he continued to participate in many local activities.

Mr. Dam Khai Hoan, Chairman of the Veterans Association of Hoang Van Thu Ward, Lang Son City, said: Currently, in the ward, there are still 3 veterans who participated in the resistance war against the French, directly participating in the Dien Bien Phu campaign, including Mr. Nguyen Duc Am in block 7. The Dien Bien soldiers of the past always maintain and promote the qualities of Uncle Ho's soldiers, raise their children and grandchildren to adulthood and continue to make contributions to society, actively propagate and educate the younger generation to live with noble ideals, strive to study, contribute to building the homeland and country, worthy of the sacrifices of our ancestors for independence and freedom for today.

The war has long gone, but the memories of the Dien Bien Phu campaign with Mr. Nguyen Duc Am and the Dien Bien soldiers will never be forgotten. Talking to him and listening to his tragic and heroic stories, our young generation appreciates the historical values ​​even more and is deeply grateful for the contributions and sacrifices of our ancestors. The story of the Dien Bien soldiers is an epic that resonates today and tomorrow...

Source: https://baolangson.vn/tran-chien-tren-doi-c1-ky-uc-khong-quen-cua-chien-si-dien-bien-nguyen-duc-am-5046123.html