According to the Geneva Agreement of 1954, the temporary military demarcation line was chosen to coincide with the Ben Hai River in Vinh Linh District, Quang Tri Province. The demilitarized zone was an area established on both banks of the Ben Hai River, the result of a compromise between the major powers at the Geneva Conference of 1954.
Trung Hai Commune, Gio Linh District, applies machinery to production in the fields for high efficiency - Photo: TRAN TUYEN
From glorious memories...
After the Geneva Agreement in 1954, the Ben Hai River located at the 17th parallel became the boundary dividing the country into two regions: the Vinh Linh area on the northern bank of the Ben Hai River was completely liberated along with the North transitioning to socialism, the Quang Tri area on the southern bank of the Ben Hai River along with the South became a new-style colony of the United States. Since then, the Ben Hai River has become a place that witnessed the pain of dividing the two regions of the country for more than 20 long years.
With a particularly important strategic position, the US declared that the US border extended to the 17th parallel, so they built the toughest defense line in the Indochina region and were determined to occupy it at any cost. Therefore, at that time, Quang Tri province was like a miniature Vietnam, two regions with two different social regimes, at the same time had to simultaneously carry out two revolutionary strategies: the people's national democratic revolution and the socialist revolution.
With patriotism, bravery and resilience, the army and people on both sides of the border cleverly and resolutely fought against the enemy's evil plots and tricks, willing to sacrifice their lives and property to stay on the land and protect their villages, contributing to the great victory of the spring of 1975. Hien Luong Bridge - Ben Hai River deserves the name "a majestic monument during the war years" - a noble symbol of Vietnamese revolutionary heroism.
Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Trung Hai Commune, Gio Linh District, Le Van Son shared that, in that situation, the task for Quang Tri is to resolutely fight to force the opponent to implement the Geneva Agreement but must maintain legality, ensuring the common interests of the whole region, especially Inter-zone V.
In compliance with the central government's policy, the provincial Party Committee proposed the working motto "three fors, four bits" (3 fors: for protecting the North, for taking care of the South, for protecting peace; 4 bits: a little later, a little slower, a little clever, a little lighter in armed struggle) which is completely reasonable, persistent in implementation, accepting sacrifices to achieve victory.
Trung Hai Commune is one of the communes of Gio Linh district located close to the southern bank of Ben Hai River, which together with the South became a new-style colony of the United States. During this period, Trung Hai became the place where the enemy concentrated its forces to build the most solid outermost "anti-communist" defense line and considered this a key point to attack our bases. Meanwhile, the majority of the revolutionary forces of the commune had gathered in the North.
The struggle of cadres, party members and people of Trung Hai and the whole province in the early period was mainly in political form to create conditions for the revolutionary movement in the whole South to develop, ensuring the North-South corridor. Therefore, this was a particularly arduous and fierce period, but through this challenge, patriotism, the desire for independence, freedom and strong belief in the leadership of the Party and the people at the southern border bridgehead shone brighter...
To the intense revival
It is hard to imagine that during the resistance war against the US to save the country, the people on both sides of the Ben Hai River not only had to face material hardships but also had to face many insidious tricks of the enemy. Separated by a small river only about 100 meters wide, people on both sides could not cross to visit each other.
That painful separation was written by poet To Huu in the poem "Nuon non ngan dam": "Ben Hai River, one side is silted up, the other eroded/ Hien Luong Bridge, one side is missed, the other is loved/ Eighteen long years apart/ When will the road in and out be connected?". Yet, today, along both sides of Ben Hai River, trees are lush, villages are bustling, tourists from all over the world come to witness the strong revival of the "dead land" of the past.
Ms. Dinh Thi Van, 60 years old, whose house is located to the north of Hien Luong bridge, said that when she was young, she and her family evacuated to Tan Ky district (Nghe An) to live. After liberation, she settled in Hien Luong village, Hien Thanh commune and opened a small shop near the foot of Hien Luong bridge to make a living. At that time, this area was very poor, there were not as many houses as there are now, and few tourists came to visit the Hien Luong - Ben Hai National Monument.
In the past 15 years, the economic conditions of the people have improved significantly, many houses have been built, all of them are beautiful, the Hien Luong - Ben Hai National Monument has also been visited by more and more tourists from near and far, so the people are very happy and proud of their homeland's land rich in revolutionary traditions.
Party Secretary, Chairman of the People's Council of Hien Thanh commune, Vinh Linh district Nguyen Duc Thang could not hide his joy in sharing that these achievements were thanks to the leadership of the Party Committee, the government, the entire political system from central to local levels, the efforts of the people, and the support of friends from all over the world, so Hien Thanh commune in particular and the localities along the Ben Hai river in general have developed day by day.
Currently, in addition to traditional crops such as rice, peanuts, corn, taro, cassava, and nem, Hien Thanh commune has also developed more than 184 hectares of pepper, with a yield of 30 tons/ha, 346.86 hectares of rubber, and a latex yield of 5.5 tons/ha. The commune also promotes aquaculture, up to 110 hectares annually, of which freshwater fish is 38.3 hectares, whiteleg shrimp is 21 hectares, and tiger shrimp is 49.6 hectares. With that approach, people's lives have improved rapidly. Currently, the commune has only 20 poor households, accounting for 1.17%, and 44 near-poor households, accounting for 2.58%. By the end of 2024, Hien Thanh commune strives to complete the criteria for a commune meeting advanced new rural standards.
Sharing the joy of the renewal of his hometown, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Trung Hai Commune, Gio Linh District, Le Van Son, said that currently the total cultivated area of the commune is 1,617.68 hectares, mainly rice cultivation of 785 hectares, rice yield of 60 ta/ha, output of 47,100 tons/year, the remaining area is for growing corn, cassava, peanuts, vegetables, rubber, pepper and aquaculture.
Currently, Trung Hai commune has completed the land inventory work, focusing on completing the Trung Hai commune construction planning for the period 2025-2035; promptly handling online records at level 3, level 4 and postal public services reaching 100%. The total number of poor households in the commune to date is 68, accounting for 5.2%.
Implementing the National Target Program on building new rural areas and civilized urban areas, up to now, the commune has achieved 16/19 criteria for advanced new rural areas. Striving by 2025, Trung Hai commune will achieve advanced new rural standards and model new rural areas by 2027 according to Resolution No. 22 dated August 26, 2021 of the Party Committee of the commune, term XIX.
Nguyen Vinh
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/doi-thay-doi-bo-ben-hai-187010.htm
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