The prototype of the Catholic People's Armed Forces Hero in "The Poem about the Truck Squad Without Windshields"

During the resistance war against the US to save the country, thousands of Catholic soldiers fought for national independence. Among them was Colonel, Hero of the People's Armed Forces Do Van Chien - the prototype of the Truong Son truck driver in "Poem about the truck squad without windshields" by poet Pham Tien Duat. On the day he enlisted at the age of 20, he left his young wife, who was pregnant with their first child, in his hometown...

"I sit comfortably in the cockpit"

Mr. Do Van Chien (born in 1946, in Hai Dong commune, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province) was born into a Catholic family with a revolutionary tradition. In September 1966, responding to the call of President Ho Chi Minh, the young man Giuse Do Van Chien joined the army, becoming a driver of Squad 101, Group 559. The day he completed his driving training course was also the day his young wife gave birth to their first daughter.

 

Colonel, People's Armed Forces Hero Do Van Chien at the age of 79.

On the Zil-157 (three-axle Zil), he was tasked with transporting troops, food, weapons, etc. across the Seng Phan (Laos) fire zone, supplying the southern battlefield. At that time, the unit assigned each transport soldier to carry out one shipment every three nights. But for Mr. Do Van Chien, three nights meant three trips, and many times he even saved the entire convoy from the enemy's bombs and bullets.

On the Truong Son route, which was plowed by bombs and bullets every day, he had to face the line between life and death many times. One time, while leading a convoy leaving a key point, his car was suddenly hit by a coordinate bomb. The hit hit the front of the car, injuring him and his co-driver. Mr. Chien's ring finger was severed, leaving only a little skin. Blood soaked the steering wheel, making it slippery, making it impossible to control the car.

In a dangerous situation, he told his teammates to cut off his finger so he could continue driving. But his co-driver was too scared to do so. He braked, ripped off his own finger, then gripped the steering wheel tightly, and drove through the bombs and bullets. "At that time, there was nothing to bandage, I just thought I had to get past the important point, to clear the road for the convoy behind," Mr. Chien recalled. After bringing the convoy to a safe place, he collapsed from losing too much blood. His engineer teammates discovered him in time and took him and his co-driver to the infirmary for treatment.

Mr. Chien added that on the Truong Son route, driving and repairing cars at the same time was a daily occurrence. After each bombing, cars broke down in all sorts of ways: flat tires, broken axles, dead batteries... Wrenches, pliers, and screwdrivers were always available on the car to patch tires, replace axles, temporarily tie broken parts,... as long as the goods reached their destination. Many dark nights, with only flashlights, he and his teammates immersed themselves under the car to repair it. Sometimes while they were repairing, bombs and bullets fell, forcing the whole team to find a way to hide the car in the forest.

 

On one such occasion, he unexpectedly met his cousin who was also a driver. Hearing his voice, his cousin burst into tears, choking: "Why didn't you write a letter home? People at home keep saying you died." Actually, in his spare time, he still tried to send letters, but with the war being so fierce, letters getting lost was a common occurrence.

“Look at the ground, look at the sky, look straight”

For more than 1,000 days and nights on the Truong Son front, the resilient young soldier exceeded his target by 300%. During peak months, when many of his comrades were injured, he volunteered to take on additional tasks, transporting up to 32 shipments in one month. He said the motivation to do such extraordinary things was simply “all for the beloved South”.

Thanks to such outstanding achievements, on December 22, 1969, he was honored to be awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces. His battalion was named "Blue Eagle Battalion", and he was considered "the brave leader".

 

Mr. Chien recalled: “The day I was awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces, my feelings were truly indescribable. That morning, I had just completed a transport trip. On the way back, the northeast monsoon was blowing strongly, and my face was dirty because the car had no windows. When I arrived, my comrades and the battalion leaders shouted loudly: "Hail, hero comrade Do Van Chien!" I was surprised, not understanding what was happening. When I got off the car, my comrades hugged me, but I pushed them away because I was very dirty. The next day, holding the Hero certificate in my hand, I still couldn't believe it."

In Mr. Chien’s cockpit, poet Pham Tien Duat sat next to him for months and overcame fierce key points with him. That was also the inspiration for the “Poem about the truck squad without windows”. People’s Armed Forces hero Do Van Chien was the prototype of a soldier sitting in a “truck without windows” because “bombs shook and the windows broke” but still: “In the cockpit we sat leisurely/ Looking at the ground, looking at the sky, looking straight ahead…”.

He recounted: "Suddenly one day, Mr. Duat said to me: "Chien, let me read you this poem." He read it, and I was speechless with emotion. The poem was so beautiful that I felt like I saw myself in it."

 

After the country's reunification, during his time as Head of the Youth Department of the General Department of Logistics, Mr. Chien met a number of American journalists who visited Vietnam. They were surprised and asked why he returned intact, with only two finger joints missing, despite the dense American bombs. He smiled and replied: "Truong Son is so vast, your bombs could never cover it all."

He added that during the years of driving on the front line, he and his teammates also accumulated a lot of experience avoiding bombs: "Wherever the US attacked today, we would just go there the next day. They rarely bombed the same place twice. Therefore, we tried to drive every day, even if we had malaria. Only by running would we know where the bombs were being dropped so we could avoid them."

Pray many times for fallen comrades

When mentioning his fallen comrades, Mr. Chien's eyes turned red, tears silently rolled down. He said, once a soldier died, he used his own blanket to wrap his comrade's body. When handing it over to the military station, he carefully washed the blanket and continued to use it. He said, he did not feel scared when covered with that blanket, only felt warm as if his comrades were still there to protect and care for him.

 

In the midst of the bombs and bullets of the battlefield, he shed tears many times while performing the prayer ritual, sending off his fallen comrades. He choked up: "I am grateful to my fallen comrades. They sacrificed so that I, so that this nation could live, be free, and have peace ."

As a Catholic, Mr. Chien always maintained the tradition of his homeland, wholeheartedly contributing during the war as well as when he returned to civilian life. When the country was at peace, he still went to church every week, listening to the bells and prayers next to the statue of Jesus. He believed: Religion is in the heart, living a good life is beautiful religion.

In 1993, he retired with the rank of Colonel. After that, he worked as a motorbike taxi driver, taking children to school for a "voluntary" price and also maintaining security in the neighborhood...

Before returning to his hometown in Nam Dinh to recuperate in 2017, he served as Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Catholic Solidarity Committee (1997–2003), and a member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Veterans Association, terms II and III.

PHAM THU

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Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-su-dieu-tra/phong-su/nguyen-mau-anh-hung-llvt-nhan-dan-nguoi-cong-giao-trong-bai-tho-ve-tieu-doi-xe-khong-kinh-826058