Forest Hamlet, hero after hero

Appearance of Rung hamlet today. Photo: HO QUAN

When mentioning the Forest hamlet, everyone immediately remembers the family of Mother Thu; the father and son of People's Armed Forces Heroes Le Tu Kinh - Le Tu Nhat Thong... And this land still has many people who sacrificed silently. Although their names are rarely mentioned, those examples are still engraved in the hearts of the young generation of Dien Thang today.

Village of soldiers' uniforms

The example of Mother Thu’s family fanned the flames of revolution in the Forest hamlet. Every house here was a revolutionary base. Young men and women, just at the age of 20, enthusiastically set out to answer the call of the Fatherland.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hong, 69 years old this year, is one of the very few guerrillas from the Rung hamlet who are still healthy and clear-minded enough to recall the village's history.

At the age of 14, Mr. Hong and his friends joined the local guerrilla team. Their leader was People's Armed Forces Hero Le Tu Nhat Thong.

Mr. Hong said that at night, the guerrilla groups, starving after a day of holding guns, would sneak back to the revolutionary bases in the village. The meals were prepared by Mother Thu, Mother Ngo, Mother Xe, Mother Ba… with the lamp lit by the altar waiting for the guerrillas to come back to eat.

As for Nguyen Thi Thu's mother's house, it was near the road, and the enemy often patrolled and searched, so she was very careful. When the guerrillas ate, she stood guard and gave the signal. When she was about to leave, she had a packet of white rice ready and put it in her bag so that her "children" would have enough strength to fight the enemy.

“When the children went to war, Mother Thu and her husband stayed in the village, both producing and feeding the guerrillas and soldiers. In years of crop failure, when the jars ran out of rice, Mother would carry baskets around the village to borrow. She would not let the guerrillas go hungry to fight. Meals by the dim light, Mother’s words of encouragement for the “children” of the Forest hamlet… became the driving force for everyone to unite, be enthusiastic and wholeheartedly turn to the revolution” – Mr. Hong shared.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hong always remembers the kindness of Mother Thu for protecting him during the years he joined the local guerrillas. Photo: HQ

Bombs and bullets rained down continuously, but the trees in the Forest hamlet remained green, surrounded by dense bamboo hedges. Many revolutionary bases still had barbed wire fences to block the paths, blocking the enemy's view. Under the trees and bamboo hedges were secret bunkers, hiding places for guerrillas and local troops.

The bamboo that the mothers of the village painstakingly planted was a solid wall, shielding the troops from enemy guns. In many battles, thanks to the bamboo cover, casualties were significantly limited. Mr. Hong recalled that one time the guerrillas received news from the revolutionary base that an American squad had entered the village to search. Le Tu Nhat Thong, the guerrilla commander, placed mines on the path and set up an ambush behind the bamboo hedge.

Nervously, waiting for each step of the enemy to enter the "battlefield". The sound of mines exploding, accompanied by a series of bullets fired from the bamboo hedge, the enemy squad was completely destroyed. Then the brothers followed the bamboo hedge, found a place to hide, and continued to monitor the situation. When they saw no enemy support, the guerrillas rushed out to grab weapons and escape.

“American soldiers were very scared when they heard about the guerrillas in the Forest hamlet. They had to go into the village in at least a squad, two or three men would not dare to search the small paths and dense bushes. Many times we ambushed the American soldiers, making them terrified, confused, and panicked. Our advantage was that we had bamboo as cover, so even if we followed behind the enemy, they would not detect us. When we found a favorable position, we suddenly opened fire, killing one soldier, and the rest turned around and ran away,” Mr. Hong said.

The silent heroes

Following the instructions of the people of Thanh Quyt 2 village, we went to Mrs. Le Thi Ba's house. The small house is nestled in the middle of the garden, in the middle is an altar with 5 portraits. Among them, 2 are martyrs, 2 people with revolutionary contributions.

Mrs. Le Thi Ba alone, takes care of the incense for her relatives who sacrificed their lives in the war against America to save the country. Photo: HQ

At the age of 80, the war wound has made it difficult for Mrs. Ba to move around and do daily activities. Now, this woman is alone, taking care of the incense for her relatives.

Underneath this house, during the years of fighting against the US, Mrs. Ba's parents-in-law dug 5 secret tunnels to protect soldiers and guerrillas during many enemy raids.

In 1964, the enemy discovered and opened one tunnel, but the guerrillas were informed by their families and escaped early. In 1967, Mrs. Ba followed her husband to the Forest hamlet, and together with her husband's family, guarded the remaining four tunnels.
In 1968, her house's basement was "informed". At exactly 5am, the enemy raided, 3 basements were opened and 5 soldiers were killed. There was one basement under the candleberry tree. The enemy searched the entire garden, threatened and brutally tortured Mrs. Ba but could not get any information, so they had to retreat. At around 3pm, 7 cadres and soldiers in the basement crawled out and helped each other to hide in another revolutionary base.

In 1969, after her husband died, Mrs. Ba actively participated in the local political struggle. Many times, the enemy arrested her, beat her, and threatened her with her small child… in an attempt to find information about secret tunnels and guerrilla activities. But nothing could extinguish her will to fight.

*
* *

During the resistance war, the people of Rung hamlet were pioneers in contributing to the revolution. Today, the people here also actively donate land to open roads, contributing to the successful construction of the first model new rural residential area of ​​the former Dien Thang Trung commune - now the modern and civilized Thanh Quyt 2 block. Children far from home contributed billions of dong to build village roads, cultural houses, schools, etc. A new look is spreading throughout the heroic Rung hamlet.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/xom-rung-anh-hung-tiep-noi-anh-hung-3138597.html