Ms. Le Thi Thu (front row, 3rd from left) and delegates present gifts to outstanding female former resistance prisoners.
Ms. Le Thi Thu (alias Ut Huong) was born into a family with a rich revolutionary tradition. At the age of 12, she was already a liaison with her mother, who was also a revolutionary soldier. In 1963, she joined the student-Buddhist movement against the Ngo Dinh Diem regime's suppression of Buddhism. In early 1965, she escaped to the war zone and worked at the Saigon-Gia Dinh Women's Affairs Committee.
By 1966, she was active in the inner city of Saigon, working as a secretary for comrade Le Thi Rieng and participating in public struggles led by the Women's Movement Committee. In 1968, she became the head of the Armed Propaganda Team and was captured by the enemy.
After 3 years of imprisonment, she was released in 1971. In 1973, she returned to work in Saigon. During the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, she was assigned by her unit with 2 other party members to be in charge of the uprising from Saigon intersection to Ben Thanh and the surrounding area.
“In prison, the enemy tortured me physically and mentally. But I always remembered the responsibility the Party gave me. When I joined the Party, I swore to fight until my last breath… so no matter what difficulties or dangers I faced, I overcame them,” said Ms. Le Thi Thu.
Growing up in the women's movement, after the liberation of the South and the reunification of the country, Ms. Le Thi Thu held many positions: President of the Women's Union of District 3, Vice President and then President of the Women's Union of Ho Chi Minh City, Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Women's Union (1997-2002). Being assigned to be Minister, Head of the Committee for Population, Family and Children (2002-2007) was a major turning point in her career.
She said that for revolutionary soldiers who were released from prison, their health was often poor. At that time, she had difficulty walking, her finances were tight, and her children were still young. Difficulties piled on top of difficulties, but she persevered in improving her health and constantly learned from the experiences of her predecessors to do a good job in her profession and serve the country.
Ms. Le Thi Thu recounts her life of revolutionary activities
She shared: “In my life participating in the revolution, I had two great challenges that I overcame. The first was the time in prison, maintaining the integrity of a communist. The second was when the Party and the State assigned me to be the Minister and Chairman of the Committee for Population, Family and Children. I had worked for many years at the Women's Association, so when I transferred to work for the government, I encountered many difficulties, because at that time, the Committee for Population - Family Planning was merged with the Committee for Child Protection and Care to form the Committee for Population, Family and Children.”
With the perspective of a PN, the heart of a mother and the solidarity of the whole unit, Ms. Le Thi Thu has left many marks in the work of population management, child protection and care. She said: “Regarding population work, with drastic policies, our country set a goal of each family having 2 children to achieve the replacement fertility rate and by 2005 it was completed. Regarding population quality, during that period, we had built a prenatal and postnatal screening program. Up to now, this program is still being implemented. Regarding children, we proposed to the Government to submit to the National Assembly a policy of free medical examination and treatment for children under 6 years old. 100% of Government members voted to agree to submit this policy to the National Assembly in the Law on Child Protection, Care and Education . At that time, I was so happy that I cried.”
In 2008, she retired and joined the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Children's Rights as Vice President and Head of the Southern Standing Office. Currently, she is both the Head of the Traditional Resistance Club of the Women's Bloc of Ho Chi Minh City and the Head of the Saigon - Gia Dinh Women's Liaison Committee (the predecessor of the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union).
Nearly 80 years old, having lived most of her life, she was extremely moved and proud to have contributed - according to her somewhat modest confession - "a little bit of strength" so that the 5 soldiers of the Le Thi Rieng Female Commando Battalion who sacrificed their lives in the 1968 Mau Than General Offensive would be honored in February 2025.
She recalled that the process of preparing documents to receive the Certificate of Merit from the Fatherland and to be recognized as a martyr was extremely difficult when their names, hometowns, etc. were unknown. “The journey was arduous, but after 57 years, my comrades were called by name. I was both happy and emotional. It was as if I had fulfilled my responsibility to my comrades,” said Ms. Le Thi Thu./.
Thanh Nga
Source: https://baolongan.vn/tron-doi-giu-vung-khi-tiet-nguoi-cong-san-a199173.html
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