The peaceful beauty of Hien Luong-Ben Hai banks

The Hien Luong-Ben Hai relic site is located in Vinh Thanh, Vinh Giang, Vinh Son communes, Cua Tung town, Vinh Linh district and Trung Hai commune, Gio Linh district, Quang Tri province. Whenever mentioning Hien Luong bridge, people on both banks of Vinh Linh-Gio Linh in Quang Tri province cannot help but feel nostalgic and moved, remembering the haunting verses of a time: "Hien Luong has one creek and two streams/Although people live on that side, their hearts are on this side".

Every moment is filled with emotion by the Hien Luong River.

The verses contain the feelings of Quang Tri, and also the feelings of an entire nation that had to endure the division of the country. Hien Luong Bridge is now both a historical relic and a symbol of the desire for peace, the will to unify the country and the national pride that always exists in the heart of every Vietnamese person.

Bustling atmosphere before the national reunification day

In the midst of the painful and divided years, in 1957, on a moody afternoon, musician Hoang Hiep wrote the song "Cau ho ben bo Hien Luong" expressing the endless longing of a southern mother for her son who had gathered in the north, the faithful message of a wife for her husband and the steadfast love of a couple hindered by war.

The red flag with yellow star flies proudly.

The simple lyrics: "Oh boat, oh boat, do you remember the dock/The dock is always waiting for the boat" or "I tell you to always keep your oath/Through the storm, keep your heart steadfast" have become the dock, the milestone of faith, a symbol of the close bond and the never-ending desire for unification.

People from all over the country come here to commemorate the historic years.

It took 21 years of long resistance war, with countless losses and sacrifices of comrades, compatriots and people, for our nation to regain independence and unify the country in the spring of 1975. Currently, the Hien Luong-Ben Hai relic has become an attractive tourist destination, imbued with profound cultural and historical values.

With indelible marks in the journey of fighting for independence and national unification, the relics contribute significantly to educating patriotic traditions, fostering national pride, and raising awareness of sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity for present and future generations.

Both banks have shared the joy of unity.

Recognizing that important value, on December 9, 2013, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 2383/QD-TTg ranking the Hien Luong-Ben Hai historical relic as a special national relic.

Throughout our nation's history, there are rivers that bear all the pain, longing, and sorrow. Ben Hai River and Hien Luong Bridge on the narrow central region carry within them the scars of division from that time. The border is where "the North built mounds, the South built ramparts", the two regions are only a hair's breadth apart but have to wait wearily for the day of reunion.

Hien Luong Bridge is 183.65m long, 5.50m wide, with a traffic width of 3.20m. Construction began in 2001 and was completed in 2008 (the bridge was destroyed by American bombs in 1967). To preserve a historical relic, the bridge was restored according to the design of the iron bridge built by the French in 1952.

The majestic national flagpole in the aspiration for peace.

The relic site also has a restored Complex House, a 4-roofed stilt house style, with the front facing Highway 1A. The Hien Luong Flagpole (Hien Luong Flag Tower) consists of a pedestal and a flagpole. The pedestal is an architectural block built higher than the site's ground level. The flagpole has a total height of 28m, made of 6 steel pipes, connected together.

In addition, the relic site also has a loudspeaker system, the exhibition house "The 17th Parallel and the Desire for Unification" built on the south bank, including the reception room (with a statue of President Ho Chi Minh and a bas-relief behind) and the exhibition room. This space is preserving 53 documents and artifacts directly related to the fight of our army and people on the Hien Luong-Ben Hai banks during the resistance war against the US to save the country.

Many tourists wish to once walk on Hien Luong Bridge - an important relic of national history.

The "Aspiration for Unification" monument cluster is located on the south bank of Ben Hai River, east of National Highway 1A, with an area of ​​2,700m2, consisting of two parts: the pedestal, with the side being a relief panel, assembled from many stone blocks of different sizes; the monument is the image of a southern mother and her son, crafted from green stone, expressing the steadfast belief of the southern people in tomorrow's victory and national unification.

Ben Hai River is gentle and poetic, next to war relics.

Along the Hien Luong-Ben Hai relic site, there are many ferry piers. Cua Tung ferry pier (ferry pier A) is located in an area of ​​187.6m2, surrounded by a fence system. The monument depicts the image of boats overcoming the stormy waves to transport cadres and soldiers across the river.

Tung Luat ferry (ferry B) used to stretch along a stretch of river about 150m on the north bank of Hien Luong river, in Tung Luat village, Vinh Giang commune. The monument has the image of boats rushing forward, defying all dangers, enemy bombs and bullets, every night bringing goods and soldiers to the battlefield to fight the Americans. In addition, there are only traces of Luy ferry, currently not in use; Thuong Dong and Duc Duc ferry...

In the late spring and early summer sunlight, the landscape comes alive.

According to the relic management board, in addition to conservation and restoration, the National Reunification Festival is periodically held here on April 30 every year. This is a unique revolutionary festival, unique to the Hien Luong-Ben Hai relic site, with meaningful and sacred content and creative forms, meeting the task of educating revolutionary traditions, attracting tourists, and contributing to the socio-economic development of the locality.

Many tourists have traveled a long distance by motorbike to see with their own eyes the beauty of Hien Luong-Ben Hai River.

Writer Xuan Duc (former soldier of Regiment 270, the unit protecting the border during the war against America to save the country) in the eulogy read at the first National Reunification Festival in 2000 once wrote emotionally: "Bringing the shirt to the river to wash, the shirt is worn out but the heart is still pure/Bringing the net to the wharf to dry, the net is dry but the eyes are soaked with blood/Love in the leaves, a song on Hien Luong wharf..."

Regarding the prototype of the woman who "brought her clothes to the river to wash", writer Xuan Duc once shared that it was the image of Mrs. Tran Thi Dinh. The writer heard many people in the village say that her house was quite far from the Ben Hai River bank, but every day she still used the excuse of going to the river to wash her clothes so that she could look to the north bank, where her husband, an armed police officer, stood guard on the north bank of Hien Luong Bridge.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/ve-dep-thanh-binh-cua-doi-bo-hien-luong-ben-hai-post871305.html