Meet the female hero who shot down an American fighter jet

The film crew of Tunnels: The Sun in the Dark recently returned to Cu Chi district to organize a film screening to pay tribute to the former guerrillas and people of the "Land of Steel and Bronze", who created the legendary feats of arms of the nation and were recreated on the big screen through the film project of director Bui Thac Chuyen.

Wearing a military uniform with the rank of lieutenant, Ms. Cao Thi Huong, 81 years old, residing in Tan An Hoi commune, Cu Chi district (HCMC), was filled with emotion and joy when recalling the glorious years of fighting with her comrades.

Mrs. Huong still remembers clearly the life-and-death moment on December 15, 1965 when facing the enemy. At that time, female guerrilla Ba Huong was only a 19-year-old girl.

Lieutenant Cao Thi Huong (left cover) with actress Ho Thu Anh. Photo: Ngo Tung.

At that time, Ms. Huong and 3 male teammates encountered 3 enemy planes landing to drop bombs. 3 teammates in the group lay down to avoid the bombs, but she still ran straight to the firing point. Just a moment later, 3 American planes dropped bombs at the same time. As soon as she reached the firing point, she quickly jumped down to prepare, with the determination to "shoot down the new plane". The first round, the whole group fired together but no one hit.

“The team leader assigned me to shoot the last one. I also determined to shoot this one down. When it dived down, I hit it, creating a circle of fire and then the plane fell down,” Ms. Huong recalled the moment exactly 60 years ago.

After that feat, her comrades were surprised, encouraged and honored her. That also motivated her to be more excited. “Back then, we fought the enemy but were not afraid of the enemy, fought the battle but were not afraid of the battle, just kept moving forward,” said the former guerrilla. Cu Chi expressed.

After the day of shooting down the enemy plane, she was sent by her superiors to the district to join the main force. Participating in the resistance until the day of liberation, Ms. Huong experienced many battles against forts and police stations and was also wounded many times. After liberation, Ms. Huong worked at the Food Department until her retirement.

Sharing her wartime memories, Ms. Cao Thi Huong said she was still impressed by the large-scale sweep of Cedar Falls, when the US army trapped people in the tunnels for a month without food. “We had to fight the Americans on our own, taking American food down to the tunnels to eat and feed the wounded. In such conditions, we had to go without food and clothing,” she added.

Director Bui Thac Chuyen (left cover) with former guerrillas.

In front of the former guerrillas and Cu Chi residents, director Bui Thac Chuyen expressed his emotions and excitement after a long time of preparing to make the film, and thanked the heroic former guerrillas for helping the film crew complete the meaningful project.

“I am very grateful for your stories, which have made me love and be proud of Cu Chi and my country more. I think your spirit will always live on with the people of the whole country. You are always an example of the Vietnamese spirit, and that spirit can defeat any powerful enemy,” the director of Tunnels confided.

People's Armed Forces Hero To Van Duc (the prototype of the character Tu Dap) sent his thanks to the film crew members for creating the exemplary image of the heroic fighting of the Cu Chi soldiers in the past, so that future generations will know what the fighting and sacrifices were like in the past.

People's Armed Forces Hero To Van Duc had an interesting conversation with director Bui Thac Chuyen.

Hero To Van Duc with young people coming to watch the movie.

Immerse yourself in the flow of history

Sharing with Tien Phong , actress Khanh Ly (playing the role of Cam, daughter of guerrilla captain Bay Theo in The Tunnels ) said she really liked Hero Vo Thi Sau, took the heroine as her role model, and also watched old movies to get inspiration for participating in this movie.

Actress Khanh Ly with heroic former Cu Chi guerrillas.

“When I got into the project First of all, I am very grateful for the opportunity to contribute. The film was well received by many people, so I feel like I contributed to evoking patriotism and joining the flow of history," Khanh Ly shared and expressed her great honor to participate in the film.

To transform into the role, the young girl went through a rigorous military training and education process, through which she felt that the previous generation had sacrificed too much for us to have the independence we have today. "Participating in the film myself, I also hope that what the film is conveying will contribute to building a young generation that is always grateful to those who came before," the actress from Ho Chi Minh City confided.

Actress Ho Thu Anh (playing the role of female guerrilla Ba Huong) said that in addition to having the opportunity to learn more about specific wartime stories, she also learned a lot from the former female guerrillas. “I saw and learned about the spirit, camaraderie, and closeness among the girls even though the war ended 50 years ago,” Thu Anh said.