Thanh Crossroads back then

For a very long time, the place name "Ngã ba Thành" (Thanh Crossroads) has been a familiar name referring to the residential area in the center of the old Bien Hoa city (now Tran Bien ward, Dong Nai province), where Phan Dinh Phung road starts from Bien Hoa market and extends to the gate of Bien Hoa military airport, near the Bien Hoa Citadel (also known as Ken Citadel or San Da Citadel "Soldat") connecting with Hung Dao Vuong - the road leading to Bien Hoa Railway Station.

A view of Thanh Crossroads (located in Thanh Crossroads neighborhood, Tran Bien ward) today. Photo: Huy Anh

According to Resolution No. 75/NQ-HĐND dated December 20, 2024, of the Provincial People's Council on the establishment, renaming, and dissolution of hamlets and neighborhoods in Tan Phu District, Vinh Cuu District, Long Thanh District, Long Khanh City, and Bien Hoa City, the colloquial name "Nga Ba Thanh" has been "administratively" transformed into Nga Ba Thanh neighborhood, belonging to Tran Bien Ward.

A place that is both familiar and strange.

Perhaps the earliest mention of the place name "Thanh Crossroads," and also the one whose veracity is most difficult to ascertain, comes from the late writer Ly Van Sam (1921-2000). In an article written in 1986 titled "Bien Hoa City Seventy Years Ago," he stated: "Until 1916, Bien Hoa city (then called Binh Truoc town) still had no electricity. The roads were paved entirely with blue stones taken from Buu Long and Chau Thoi mountains… The roads leading out of the market were all terrifying 'paths of life.' It was rumored that: A female demon appeared at Thanh Crossroads Hunting Stones, and a green-bearded demon was shot in the leg by Deputy Commissioner Bernard near Tan Lan temple…"

Mr. Luong Van Luu, author of the comprehensive local history of Bien Hoa, in his article "Bien Hoa Province and City in the early 20th century," stated that: The ancient citadel of Bien Hoa was built of earth, then rebuilt with laterite stone during the reign of Minh Mang. Afterward, the French army repaired and consolidated it for greater stability. When the Japanese occupied the citadel, they dug up and removed two cannons placed in front of the citadel gates. During the Republic of Vietnam era, the moat system located to the east of the ancient citadel of Bien Hoa was filled in and residential areas were built, gradually transforming this area into the city's busiest commercial district in the years 1965, 1966, and 1967.

The "busiest commercial area in the city" that author Luong Van Luu refers to here in Bien Hoa is actually part of the present-day Thanh Junction area. During the war, this area was considered the most secure in Bien Hoa because it was the city center, surrounded and tightly protected by various agencies: police, French military , then American, and the Saigon government. In particular, from the end of 1965, after the US 173rd Airborne Brigade was stationed at Bien Hoa Airport and Hoc Ba Thuc Base, until 1972, Thanh Junction emerged as a notorious entertainment area for the American forces, with rows of snack bars (fast food stalls or restaurants serving alcoholic beverages) springing up side by side, along with many other entertainment and recreational services.

Special residents

The reason the former regime's authorities tightly protected and controlled the Thanh Junction area was because it was the central location within the town and later the city of Bien Hoa. In this area, right next to the Bien Hoa Citadel, there were several special and extremely important buildings that once served as the headquarters of the French military intelligence agency (Deucieme Bureau Secteur Bien Hoa); during the Republic of Vietnam era, it was the 3rd Military Security Department (ANQĐ), later renamed the 32nd Military Security Zone and then the 3rd Military Security Department. This was a center for interrogating "Viet Cong prisoners of war" for the entire 3rd Tactical Zone of the puppet regime.

Just three houses away from the ANQĐ headquarters on Phan Chu Trinh Street, and next to a row of noisy snack bars run day and night by the wives of several ANQĐ majors, was house number 55 (later changed to 135) on Phan Dinh Phung Street. Few knew that this was the particularly safe "residence" of "Viet Cong cadre" Tu Len - that is, Pham Van Len - Commander of the Bien Hoa City Commando Unit (after liberation, Deputy Commander of Bien Hoa City Commando Unit). Even more remarkably, this house, located in the Thanh Crossroads area where American military police, military police, and national police patrolled day and night, was also where a Viet Cong cadre was sheltered for six months. That person was Ba Long (Trieu Thanh Long) - Political Commissar and Deputy Commander of Vinh Cuu District Commando Unit. On July 13, 1971, while commanding the attack on the Lo Than outpost in Trang Bom, Comrade Ba Long was hit by dozens of bullets, severing his femoral artery. Comrade Ba Long was given emergency treatment and had a section of his thigh amputated, but his abdominal wound later reopened. Meanwhile, the enemy was launching a fierce attack on the base area, making even transferring the wounded to a higher-level position impossible. Seeing Comrade Ba Long in a life-threatening condition, the Standing Committee of the U1 Provincial Party Committee met and passed a resolution allowing him to be taken to Bien Hoa for treatment. Thus, dressed as a wounded soldier of the puppet regime, revolutionary wounded soldier Trieu Thanh Long was brought right to the "tiger's mouth" for treatment.

The owner of this "dangerous" house was Mr. Chín Dẩu, a contractor specializing in supplying timber and forest trees harvested from the Bàu Sao and Bàu Hàm areas; particularly supplying many owners of farms and plantations with refurbished military vehicles due for decommissioning. To be able to do business in such sensitive fields, Mr. Chín Dẩu possessed a crucial protective charm: a military ID card with a photograph and the full name of the holder: Corporal Nguyễn Văn Dẩu, military number 58/123950, serving in Zone 32 of the National Security Agency, KBC 4966, signed and stamped by Colonel Đỗ Mậu, Director of the National Security Agency. Notably, Corporal Dẩu was also a driver for Colonel Chu Văn Sáng, Head of Department 3 of the National Security Agency. Therefore, despite his rank being only a non-commissioned officer, he lived near his office and had connections with many influential figures. Having been contacted and assigned to the Biên Hòa city commando force by Mr. Hồ Quốc Nghị, a liaison officer, Mr. Chín Dẩu directly organized the creation of genuine identity cards for 14 revolutionary cadres operating within the city.

Today, Thanh Junction is well-known for Thu Ha's fertilized duck egg stall, Siu Siu's cake shop, Ba Phi's bakery, and especially for the renowned Audiophile Hiep Pham, famous among electronic music enthusiasts nationwide.

Also in Thanh Junction, at house number 2, Hung Dao Vuong Street, is where journalist Luu Dinh Trieu – former General Secretary of the Editorial Board of Tuoi Tre Newspaper (Ho Chi Minh City) – lived with his grandmother from the age of less than one. Growing up, he was called "the orphan" or "the mixed-race foreigner" by the neighborhood children until 21 years later, when he became a Lieutenant in the Republic of Vietnam Army, he reunited with his father, Mr. Luu Quy Ky – Director of the Press Department – ​​Central Propaganda Department, and his mother, journalist Bui Thi Luu – Vietnam Television. Luu Dinh Trieu's mother was of French descent, originally from Thanh Junction, and at the young age of 17, she left her family to join the revolution.

Luu Dinh Trieu and his father reunited after 21 years.

There was a rather illustrious figure who spent his childhood in Thanh Junction, leaving at the age of 15 to join the resistance. That was General Bui Thien Ngo – former Politburo member and former Minister of the Interior (now the Ministry of Public Security). Bui Thien Ngo's father was Bui Van Xuan, originally from Thai Binh province, who worked as a journalist. Around 1928, Mr. Xuan brought his wife, Ha Thi Sanh, from Hanoi, to Saigon to start a new life. Due to financial difficulties, after the birth of their first son, Bui Thien Ngo, at Tan Dinh maternity hospital, the family moved to Bien Hoa. They rented a small house in front of Thanh Tay cemetery (between Thanh Junction and Doc Soi, at the top of the slope where Hung Dao Vuong Street meets Phan Dinh Phung Street). Mrs. Sanh made and sold pork sausage at Bien Hoa market, and Bui Thien Ngo attended Nguyen Du Primary School. In 1940, Mr. Xuan passed away after the failure of the Southern Uprising. Four years later, from Thanh Crossroads, Bui Thien Ngo secretly "set off on his journey".

Bui Thuan

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202510/nga-ba-thanh-ngay-ay-3262337/