Touching stories from the time at “R”

More than 400 officers and soldiers of the TWC Office Block met at the battlefield of Tan Bien district.

Remember the time of eating cassava and water chestnut

50 years have passed since the day the country was reunited and cleared of enemies. The young men and women who volunteered and enthusiastically served in the Southern TWC Office Block (Base R) have now become old men and women with white hair.

To date, more than 409 officers, soldiers, and workers have passed away. The remaining ones returned to attend the 50th Anniversary Reunion to celebrate the liberation of the South on the old battlefield with limping steps or having to use canes, making it difficult for them to walk.

During the meeting, hugs, tight hands, and stories about a time of heroic labor under the rain of bombs and bullets were told by the uncles and aunts, making both the tellers and listeners emotional.

Mr. Huynh Thanh Xuan - Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Resistance Traditional Liaison Committee of the Southern Central Committee Office Block, recalls the difficult days. At that time, the officers and soldiers of the Southern Central Committee Office Block faced many difficulties. They often ate yams, water chestnuts, half a bowl of porridge with salt that was "clack-clack" jokingly called "tiger meat", and wild vegetables "airplanes".

In the deep forest, walking without traces, cooking without smoke, speaking without sound, the chickens were not allowed to crow, had to wear “golden hoops”, got sick, had malaria, and lacked medicine. But the brothers and sisters were always optimistic, loved life, and were proud that they faced the B52, stepped on cobras, and fought with ticks and leeches. Everyone contributed to digging secret tunnels, trenches, and “earth mountain” tunnels to protect the TWC and the TWC Office for meetings and work.

Mr. Xuan confided that when talking about the TWC Office, it would be a mistake not to mention the love and care for each other between the office staff and the TWC leaders, from the steaming pot, the cold porridge, the worn-out coins, the bitter medicine from the forest trees to keep the leaders healthy; always serving the leaders white rice meals without cassava and occasionally nourishing them with a piece of wild meat, replacing the thin porridge with wild vegetables.

Many times, when B52 bombers hit the TWC Base, comrade Hai Van (Phan Van Dang) had a severe fever and could not go down to the bunker. A guard named Trung Ngan carried him on his back through the rain of bombs and fallen trees, and brought him to a safe shelter. Another case was when the ship carrying comrade Pham Hung crossed the river, three enemy helicopters continuously bombed. To protect the leader, comrades Ngoc Minh, Tam Be, and Truong held him under the armpits and helped him across the sandbank and safely to shore. Once, on the way to work, he was discovered by the enemy and enemy planes fired at him. The guards Sau Quang, Tu Nam, and Ba Be took comrade Nguyen Van Linh to hide behind a large tree, hugged him, and avoided the plane's bullets.

Another case, the delegation took comrade Vo Van Kiet on a mission to the Western region, and was suddenly ambushed by the enemy. To avoid the enemy, comrade Huynh Minh Muong assigned the comrade in charge of liaison work, leading the delegation in another direction while he stayed behind, alone with a gun, to shoot the enemy. The delegation went safely, but comrade Huynh Minh Muong sacrificed himself.

The affection of the chief towards the staff was equally warm. Every time a staff member was seriously ill, such as with malaria, snake bites or other accidents, the leaders of the Office and the Central Military Commission would visit and take care of them. The warm affection of the leaders warmed the hearts of not only the sick, but also all the officers and soldiers in the solemn mountain and forest environment of the base.

The story still hurts in the heart

Mr. Nguyen Cong Khanh, a member of the Resistance Traditional Liaison Committee of the Southern Central Committee Office, said that he was originally from the North and volunteered to go to B (to the South) in 1967. In 1968, he worked in the Cipher Department of the Central Committee Office. The task of the Cipher Department was to prepare a work place immediately when the unit marched. The eating and living conditions were very difficult. Almost everyone had malaria, some had severe malaria, even urinating blood. In some units, ¼ of the army went to the hospital for treatment.

At the end of 1968, B52 planes bombed the TWC Base fiercely. In his unit, two comrades, Nam Canh and Ba Xuya, were killed. What made him and his comrades most heartbroken was that these two comrades were husband and wife, and had just had their wedding ceremony held by the unit on the same day. “That day, the bomb hit their happy home. How cruel! How cruel! We had 5 brothers assigned to search for and bury the two comrades. It was not until nearly 12 o'clock that the brothers dug up and found two pieces of scalp, some bones and skin of the two comrades. We divided them into two small packages, one with long hair, one with short hair, and placed them on Canh's desk to hold the ceremony and bury the two comrades,” Mr. Khanh recalled with a choked voice.

The neatly written pages about the period more than half a century ago by Mrs. Phan Thu Nguyet

Mr. Khanh continued, in 1969, Mr. Ba Quang and two or three others returned to the area where the unit was bombed to search for the bodies and burn incense for the couple, but to this day they have not been found. Mr. Khanh sadly said: "To this day, every time I think of the two comrades, I still feel very sad."

Ms. Phan Thu Nguyet, member of the Resistance Traditional Liaison Committee of the Southern Central Committee Office, also recalled memories from more than half a century ago.

"In early 1960, I entered the TWC Office, when I was still a naive child. Looking at the Lagerstroemia tree, I thought the guava tree here was so big. Hearing the rustling footsteps of tigers, I didn't dare to sleep, straining my eyes to look through the night, thinking I could chase the tiger away. Then we grew up with the tasks assigned by the Party: gluing envelopes, learning to type, delivering mail... I wished I would soon turn 16 so I could join the ranks of the Southern People's Revolutionary Youth Union.

When we were 17-year-old boys and girls, my friends and I enthusiastically threw ourselves into bigger tasks, such as digging tunnels, digging wells, cutting grass, picking leaves, building houses, sharpening spikes, transporting rice, transporting ammunition, transporting the wounded, and fighting sweeps. No matter what the job was, wherever we were, we always strove to complete the tasks assigned by the Party. During those years, despite many difficulties and hardships, we were steadfast in our chosen ideals, lived faithfully, wholeheartedly following the Party, living nobly, and being filial to the people,” Ms. Nguyet clearly stated.

After listening to the touching stories of a time of war, the female Secretary of Tan Bien District Youth Union, Nguyen Thi Cuc, representing the youth of Tay Ninh, expressed: "Today's young generation is very lucky to be born and grow up when the country was peaceful and unified. Although we did not live in a time of war, we were able to study, beeducated and realize that in order to achieve the final victory in the cause of national liberation and national unification, many generations of fathers and grandfathers devoted all their youth and lives to participate in the revolutionary cause, making the victory on April 30, 1975, completely liberating the South and unifying the country.

We vow to engrave and always remember to remind ourselves to cherish the past, cherish peace, choose for ourselves an ideal, a beautiful lifestyle, constantly study, practice, strive from the smallest things, worthy of what the previous generation has dedicated and sacrificed.

Ocean

Source: https://baotayninh.vn/nhung-cau-chuyen-cam-dong-thoi-or--a189399.html