More than ten years ago, when he was 80 years old, Mr. Tran Kien invited a few of us to go back to the old war zone, where he had fought in the Ba To guerrilla army. We had to see him standing in the middle of the forest where he had trained his troops, and see him holding a machete, cutting down trees and clearing the path, to fully appreciate the guerrilla in him.
There are many anecdotes about Mr. Tran Kien, but as someone who went through Truong Son during the resistance war, I always remember the story of soldiers telling each other about a special order of Mr. Kien. That was to require those who passed through the military stations, every time they dug up cassava (cassava) to eat, to then cut down the cassava stalks and replant them, so that those who passed after would have food when they were hungry.
I think, if a person did not have the soul and calculation of a guerrilla who was too familiar with hardships, he would never have thought of such an order.
Throughout his life, Mr. Tran Kien had only one thought: How can ordinary soldiers live and fight in the best possible conditions, how can every ordinary citizen have normal material and spiritual needs so that they can live like ordinary people.
Throughout his life of revolutionary activities, the thing that made Mr. Tran Kien most proud was 'Ba To Guerrilla'.
Once, while chatting, Mr. Kien told me that when he was the secretary of Dak Lak province, he mobilized many trucks to Ho Chi Minh City to transport... waste, bringing it back to Dak Lak to fertilize coffee in coffee farms. And from there, he started to build the famous Dak Lak coffee growing area as we know it later.
From the "three-layer ecology" experiments to the dreams of how to scientifically and effectively transfer farming and animal husbandry techniques to ethnic minorities, who have made countless sacrifices to feed the revolution since the difficult days, Mr. Kien has always put into every small task of his a great love, love for the people, love for the poor.
Not long before his death, Mr. Kien had traveled many times to Ba To (a mountainous district in the southwest of Quang Ngai province), many times to the Central Highlands, many times to the villages in western Quang Ngai to meet with ethnic people.
Only by seeing Mr. Tran Kien sitting among the poor can one understand why ordinary people consider him one of their own. Not every leader is like that, trusted and loved by the people like that.
Born as a tenant farmer, a revolutionary farmer, Mr. Tran Kien has strived all his life to self-study. Studying in revolutionary practice, studying in books, but always comparing books with practice, using practice as a measure of books, Mr. Tran Kien has become an example for self-study people.
Not hiding his ignorance, but not being self-conscious either, Mr. Kien, as a leader, made bold decisions that not every educated person could think of and dared to persevere with his decisions.
Perhaps nowadays it is rare to find a leader who has "been an official" to the level of "first rank" like Mr. Kien, a "big official" like that but when retired, he peacefully lives in such a small house. A shabby level four house. Looking at the photo of Mr. Tran Kien going to the highlands, I realized that it is a true portrait of a Ba To guerrilla.
Mr. Tran Kien is like that. He is not a person who lives honestly just to "gain a name" for himself. He lives honestly for his people. He is pure for his own people, because he wants to be worthy of his people. That purity and integrity are placed on a constant by him: the people.
But I respect and love him for one more reason: he is an example for me, and certainly not only for me, to see how a person who loves his people, who is willing to live for his people, should live.
Historical imprint and immortal spirit
80 years ago, on March 11, 1945, the Quang Ngai Provisional Provincial Party Committee led the people to successfully carry out the Ba To uprising, seize revolutionary power and establish the Ba To Guerrilla Team. This was the first partial uprising in the whole country, creating the premise for the successful General Uprising to seize power in August 1945.
Ba To is a strategic location with a patriotic tradition. It was where the colonialists set up a detention camp to detain revolutionary soldiers, but it accidentally became the center of leadership of the Quang Ngai revolutionary movement.
The Ba To uprising took place at the exact time when Japan staged a coup against the French (March 9, 1945). Seizing the right opportunity, in just one day, in fact in just a few hours, on the night of March 11, 1945, the Ba To uprising broke out, winning a complete victory without bloodshed.
The uprising affirmed the spirit of sacrifice for the Fatherland, continued to spread historical values and was the driving force to build Quang Ngai to develop sustainably in the new era.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/co-mot-nguoi-du-kich-ba-to-18525031022254499.htm
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