The flowers bloom along Route 71.
Route 71 winds through the forest, connecting to Sub-district 67 – a place once marked by the footsteps of troops during the resistance war. In peacetime, this road also bears the mark of 13 soldiers who sacrificed their lives during a nighttime rescue operation amidst torrential rain and floods – a rescue mission at the Rao Trang 3 hydroelectric plant (Hue City) in October 2020. In July, the flowers silently bloom brightly amidst the mountains and forests.
On the night of October 12, 2020, amidst torrential rain and flooding, a rescue team of 21 people – military officers, soldiers, and local government officials – stopped to rest at Forestry Station 67. They were on their way to rescue workers trapped after a landslide at the Rao Trang 3 Hydropower Plant. Major General Nguyen Van Man, Deputy Commander of Military Region 4, led the team. The rain poured down on the forest road, and the entire team stopped to rest overnight at Forestry Station 67, waiting for the next morning to continue their journey. Sitting by the campfire, General Nguyen Van Man encouraged the team: “The task is urgent. For the sake of duty, for the sake of the people, we must do it.” No one expected those to be his last words. In the early morning of October 13, 2020, the mountain suddenly collapsed, burying 13 people under rocks and soil, including the commanding general. Their bodies were only found after many days of sifting through the mud in the deep, rain-soaked forest.
Colonel Ngo Nam Cuong, one of the eight lucky survivors, still remembers the final moments with his comrades: “A general who had to leave urgently for the people, a district chairman who put aside his personal affairs to help the victims, a reporter eager to capture images of the rescue… For the people, they did not falter.”
In 2023, a Martyrs' Memorial was built in Sub-district 67, standing silently amidst the mountains and forests as a tribute to those who never returned. Route 71 – the road once marked by the footsteps of the Trường Sơn soldiers – now has a new chapter written in the sacrifice and dedication of soldiers in peacetime.
Among those who perished that night was journalist Pham Van Huong, Head of the Information and Propaganda Department of the Thua Thien Hue Provincial Electronic Information Portal. He accompanied the rescue team to report the news and never returned. When her father died, his daughter, Pham Thien Ha, was a final-year student at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. “My father raised me and my younger sister, Pham Hoang Anh, alone; we were only in high school at the time. Upon receiving the news of his death, my sister and I felt like we were going to collapse… But I thought of my father’s last wish and told myself I had to be stronger than ever,” Thien Ha recounted.
After completing her graduation thesis, Thien Ha returned to her hometown. With the support of the Ministry of National Defense , she was accepted as a professional soldier – a public relations officer – under the Hue City Military Command. From the lecture hall into the disciplined environment of the army, Ha simultaneously learned her job and became the breadwinner for her family. “In the beginning, I felt bewildered and pressured, but thanks to the encouragement and support of my father’s comrades and fellow soldiers, I overcame it. Now, I only hope to fulfill my duties well, raise my younger sister, take care of my grandparents in place of my father, and live a life worthy of the deceased,” Lieutenant Pham Thien Ha said emotionally.
The islands call out the name of the young soldier.
Even in peacetime, the Spratly Islands still have soldiers who have fallen. Lieutenant Le Van Tinh, a soldier of the Mobile Tank Detachment, Brigade 146, Region 4 of the Navy, is one of them. Born in 1996 in Xuan My village, Ba Gia commune, Quang Ngai province, he began serving in the Spratly Islands in 2020 and died in 2023 while on duty on Son Ca Island. He had only two months left on his assignment, but Tinh did not make it back to the mainland.
His father, Mr. Le Van Tu, recounted: “He came home on leave once and then left immediately, without having time to stay long. That was also his last time…” Mr. Tu’s family has a revolutionary tradition. A relative sacrificed their life during the resistance war against the French. “Every era needs people to protect the country. Whether in war or peace, there are always people silently guarding the homeland,” Mr. Tu said.
He is the second of three brothers. His older sister is married, and his youngest brother, Le Cong Tuan, is studying at the Armored Officer School. Tuan recounted: “Before going to Son Ca Island, he told me to train well and live up to the soldier's uniform. I will not let him down; I will continue on the path he has chosen.”
Those soldiers – in peacetime – lived and sacrificed like heroes. They departed so that peace might remain. Peace on the mountains once ravaged by landslides, peace in every watch amidst the raging East Sea. And in this July of gratitude, there are the silent tears of an elderly father, the unwavering gaze of a daughter, and the footsteps of a young soldier following in his brother's footsteps towards the homeland.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/thang-7-va-nhung-canh-hoa-lang-tham-post805627.html
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