Unforgettable Years

For the generation of Vietnamese students studying abroad in the 70s and 80s, the Soviet Union was always great and sacred, like a second homeland, with its kind and compassionate people who extended their loving arms and helped Vietnamese students as if they were their own family.

On the occasion of the 108th anniversary of the Great October Revolution in Russia (November 7, 1917 - November 7, 2025), memories of the Vietnamese people's journey of studying and training in the Soviet Union come flooding back. Back then, the first Vietnamese students began their journey to the land of the White Birch to study.

One day at the end of October, we visited the mechanical workshop of Hong Ha Mechanical and Construction Company Limited in Nam Cuong ward, managed by Mr. Vu Huu Le. Inside the workshop, dozens of workers were diligently at work. Each person had a task, from milling and turning to sheet metal and welding… Among these hardworking workers, there was the figure of an elderly engineer, short in stature but with sharp eyes – Director Vu Huu Le, who is now 90 years old.

After introductions, he invited us into the living room for drinks and a chat about his time studying in the Soviet Union. Being intelligent and eager to learn, he worked during the day and attended evening classes to improve his education. On some days, he had to cycle over 80 km from Luc Yen to Yen Bai town to avoid missing his classes. Recognizing his determination and aptitude, the Yen Bai Irrigation Department at the time sent him to study at the Gorky Agricultural Institute in the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1971, specializing in agricultural engineering.

In May 1964, he bid farewell to his family and set off for his studies by train from Hanoi to China, then continued his journey for four days and five nights to the White Russian Agricultural Institute - Gorky in Gorky, 50 km from Minsk, the capital of Belarus. He was met at the train station by the Soviet professor and head of the department, along with seven Vietnamese students from the previous year. Upon arriving at the dormitory, he was assigned to share a room with three local students, the purpose being to help him quickly adapt to the Soviet language and culture.

A memory he will never forget is the extracurricular class where a film about Vietnam was shown during the intense period of the war against the US. Watching the film, seeing the hardships and sacrifices of the Vietnamese people, everyone in the auditorium had tears in their eyes, and the head of the department hugged him and cried. After graduating and returning to Vietnam, he was assigned to work at the Hoang Lien Son Mechanical Factory as Deputy Director.

Colonel Nguyen Trung Thai, Chairman of the Provincial Veterans Association, shared: "Throughout seven years of fierce fighting on the Ha Tuyen front, in early 1988, I was transferred to the Operations Department of Military Region 2. While in the Operations Department, I strived to learn more than ever. With my courageous fighting spirit and excellent work performance, I was sent to the Soviet Union to study a command and staff training course – operational and strategic staff – at the MV Frunze Military Academy (Moscow). The Frunze Academy was a school that trained combined arms commanding officers at the regimental level of the Soviet army. The school campus was next to Lev Tolstoy Square, opposite the Vietnamese Embassy. At that time, for me, culture, military, and Russia were all a dream… My memories of the years living and studying in the Soviet Union are many and very beautiful. The school's dormitory was right in the center of Moscow. Life and studies were wonderful. I had access to culture and studied in a developed environment." "What more beautiful dream could there be!"

The training course on operational command and strategy that Mr. Thai attended at the time had about a dozen people from countries like Cuba, Czechoslovakia, and North Korea… but there were four instructors specializing in the field, so Mr. Thai received attentive care and guidance.

"In our first year, we only studied Russian culture and language. Besides classroom lessons, our instructors took us to local farms, where we practiced what we learned. Artillery, tank, air force, and naval units all participated in field training; sometimes we even went on submarine missions in the Baltic Sea during this course. The school's teaching methods focused particularly on fostering independent thinking and problem-solving skills in the students. Therefore, everyone had to study continuously, often until 10 pm. Some days we studied for up to 20 hours just to understand the material."

Although years have passed, the beautiful memories of living and studying in the glorious Soviet Union remain vivid in the minds of Director Vu Huu Le, Colonel Nguyen Trung Thai, and countless generations of Vietnamese students in general, and those from Lao Cai province in particular. And so, on each anniversary of the great October Revolution in Russia, each person is filled with emotion, pride, gratitude, and appreciation.

Presented by: Thuy Thanh

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/nhung-nam-thang-khong-quen-post886209.html