Flipping through the list of comrades, those who are still alive, those who have passed away, each photo, and poem written each time he returned to visit the old battlefield, former Youth Volunteer Nguyen Van Tu, from Nam Son village, Vu Quy commune, seemed to relive the years of living and serving in combat under the rain of bombs and bullets of the American imperialists at Long Dai Ferry Terminal II. Mr. Nguyen Van Tu recalled: According to the general mobilization order of the Party and State, in April 1971, 150 young men and women, all in their eighteens and twentys, from Kien Xuong district (former Thai Binh province), now the communes of Vu Quy, Binh Nguyen, Tra Giang, Le Loi, Hong Vu, Binh Dinh of Hung Yen province, volunteered to go to combat. All Youth Volunteers in this batch were assigned to Youth Volunteer Company 130, Battalion 2, Division 571, Group 559, Corps 12 Truong Son with the task of opening Route 18 of the Truong Son - Ho Chi Minh road system. Long Dai ferry is the most fierce and important river crossing point on the Truong Son route. The US bombed this area extremely fiercely. They used B52 planes to frantically drop tens of thousands of tons of bombs and bullets, especially using many modern weapons such as laser bombs, magnetic bombs, and mines to attack ferry terminals and boats on the river. To ensure smooth routes, our troops set up two ferry terminals on the Long Dai river, about 500m apart, of which ferry terminal I is close to the present-day Long Dai bridge and ferry terminal II is downstream. In July 1972, the US bombed fiercely, causing another Youth Volunteer Unit to suffer heavy losses. The 130th Youth Volunteer Company was mobilized to rescue here, together with the engineering troops to maintain the traffic flow on the Long Dai river. Living and serving in combat in the place known as the "bomb bag" on the Truong Son route at that time, we always upheld the national spirit, preferring to sacrifice rather than lose this important route. Former Youth Volunteer Dang Thi Xuyen, village 3, Vu Quy commune, recalled: In the morning, we went to cut trees to bring back for the camouflaged troops. In the afternoon, we went to the ferry to load goods and weapons and transfer them to the boat. Every day, the Americans bombed the ferry. Every morning, when we went to the ferry, we heard the call "fellow countrymen", only then did we dare to breathe a sigh of relief, we were still alive to meet each other.
Living in the midst of “fire pans and bomb bags”, the Youth Volunteers of that time wrote history with sweat, blood and even their youthful lives. On September 19, 1972, while the soldiers of the 130th Youth Volunteer Company were on duty at Long Dai Ferry Terminal II, American aircraft discovered them and continuously bombed them fiercely. At the end of the bombing, 3 soldiers died while transporting goods by boat from the north bank to the south bank of the Long Dai River; the remaining 12 soldiers died at the ferry terminal and in the shelter, not to mention the wounded soldiers. Former Youth Volunteer Nguyen Van Tu choked up: The area where you sacrificed your lives was a deep field of land filled with bomb craters. We urgently rescued you as quickly as possible with the hope that you were lucky enough to survive. Sadly, after each layer of earth and rock dug down, you were left there, some of your bodies were no longer intact, your blood and bones mixed with the soil and water of the Long Dai River. The pain had not yet subsided when, just four days later, US military planes continued to bomb Long Dai Ferry Terminal II, causing soldier Tran Manh Ha to die.
16 people from the same hometown, went to war together and sacrificed together. 16 passionate young hearts forever anchored at Long Dai Ferry Terminal II. What greater sacrifice is there than that, when one body part is lost and has not yet been found? The rare artifact that is still preserved is the diary of martyr Bui Nang Dac, from Thanh Tan commune, Kien Xuong district, Thai Binh province (now Binh Nguyen commune, Hung Yen province). The diary pages stopped 3 months before the day of sacrifice, are full of dreams and hopes that have not yet come true. The martyr once wrote: "I opened the road for vehicles to go to the battlefield to provide reinforcements. With each vehicle passing, I feel more proud. Because the South has more conditions. Destroying the enemy to gain freedom." The hope for a day of independence and freedom has been continued by generations today and tomorrow, making that noble sacrifice famous.
Former Youth Volunteers Nguyen Van Tu and Dang Thi Xuyen still remember clearly the trips with the martyrs' relatives to Long Dai to visit their comrades. 53 years have passed, the Long Dai River is still clear, the land of Quang Ninh (Quang Binh) has changed a lot. A time of fire and smoke has receded, Long Dai still embraces the children of Thai Binh (now Hung Yen) in their eternal sleep. Each stick of incense in gratitude seems to encapsulate the memories and thoughts of the former Youth Volunteers of Company 130, and then they feel lighter when their wishes are answered with gratitude, responsibility and the will to rise of the generations today and tomorrow.
Source: https://baohungyen.vn/mau-dao-viet-ban-hung-ca-3185302.html
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