The 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory is an opportunity for every Vietnamese citizen to rekindle national pride, continue and promote the spirit of patriotism and heroic revolutionary tradition. This is also the occasion for us to meet journalist Nguyen Khac Tiep again at a small house, in an alley in the middle of Ly Nam De street, Hanoi.
Journalist Nguyen Khac Tiep was born in Hung Yen, studied high school in Nam Dinh, and was in the same class as leaders Nguyen Co Thach, Mai Chi Tho, and journalist Thep Moi. He worked as a civil servant in Bac Giang, Ha Giang, and then returned to Hanoi to teach French to students. When the August Revolution of 1945 succeeded, like many patriotic young intellectuals at that time, he eagerly followed the attraction of the new wind, not afraid of work, hardship, or sacrifice to follow the revolution. With his education and writing ability, he became one of the first reporters for the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Voice of Vietnam.
Journalist Nguyen Khac Tiep (7th from left) took a photo with Uncle Ho at the Viet Bac Base in 1951. Photo provided by the character.
At the end of 1949, in preparation for the merger of the two newspapers Ve Quoc Quan and Quan Guerrilla into QĐND Newspaper, the army asked for reporters from VNA to supplement its forces. Mr. Nguyen Khac Tiep was selected and immediately set off. On October 20, 1950, after nearly 3 months of preparation, the People's Army Newspaper published its first issue in Khau Dieu village, Dinh Bien commune, Dinh Hoa district, Thai Nguyen province. He became one of the first reporters of QĐND Newspaper.
Recalling the time when the campaign began, the troops marched to the Northwest to participate in the Dien Bien Phu campaign. Journalist Nguyen Khac Tiep said that from the safe zone, the troops marched 500km of mountainous roads, but everyone had an extremely enthusiastic spirit, all with the spirit of unity, with the slogan "all for the front line, all for victory".
Journalist Nguyen Khac Tiep shared: At that time, reporters were poor and lacked everything. They didn't have cameras, only had pens and paper from the printing house, and brought along an oil lamp... reporters at that time had to carry bags of rice, guns, and hoes when going to the battlefield.
“The guns were the heaviest and were brought from the rear, so that they could be ready to fight in case of an emergency. Rice was only enough for 3 days of traveling through the mountains and forests, and hoes were brought along to dig trenches and tunnels wherever they went, which served as both a shelter and a resting place. The People's Army Newspaper at that time received attention from superiors, and propaganda was considered an important front. Despite the hardships, everyone wanted to contribute a small part to the campaign,” journalist Nguyen Khac Tiep confided.
Special issues of newspapers published at the Dien Bien Phu front are on display.
Previously, the People's Army newspaper was printed in the safe zone, but when the Dien Bien Phu campaign took place, there was an additional editorial office at the front line. He recalled: "The army newspaper at the front line had a total of 5 people, including 2 reporters, me and Mr. Pham Phu Bang. The place where we worked was only 3km from the Dien Bien Phu campaign headquarters, we often walked to the headquarters, taking about 1 hour on a mountain pass. In addition, we went down to the battlefields to grasp the situation."
The resistance war against the French was arduous and deprived, but propaganda work was also considered an important front. The People's Army Newspaper at that time was responsible for production, printing and distribution. Printing was done by combining letters to form a print, then applying ink and printing duplicates, waiting for the ink to dry, everything was very primitive like that.
He said: "Besides the reporter, there was also a "printing house" that followed, called a printing house but only had a few people doing the printing work. After the newspaper was printed, a platoon had the task of distributing the newspaper to soldiers everywhere, the farthest places would be distributed first."
Although printed in deep underground tunnels, each print was meticulously and carefully crafted to ensure that there were no errors. Each issue was promptly delivered to the soldiers at the front, demonstrating the dedication of the war journalists.
Although he is old, veteran journalist Nguyen Khac Tiep, People's Army Newspaper, still maintains the habit of reading books and articles every day.
From December 28, 1953 to May 16, 1954, the Frontline Editorial Office of the People's Army Newspaper at the Dien Bien Phu front printed and published 33 issues right on the battlefield, becoming the most effective press information channel, a spearhead in the campaign, encouraging the fighting spirit of the army and people in Dien Bien Phu and the whole country.
Talking about the historic turning point decision in the Dien Bien Phu campaign, journalist Nguyen Khac Tiep recalled: The decision to change the combat strategy from “Fight fast, win fast” to “Fight steady, advance steady”, to retreat and pull out the artillery. At that time, it was very difficult to make the decision to retreat and pull out the artillery while our troops had just gone through difficult days of pulling the artillery into the battlefield and were ready to wait for orders to attack. But it was also a very correct and wise decision of the Campaign Command, headed by General and Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap.
With the mindset of a victor, he recounted the moment he approached General De Castries to exchange information in French. He said: “General De Castries realized his mistake and admitted defeat both strategically and tactically, and they did not expect to win in such an impregnable place.”
Today, after 70 years, in the eyes of soldier journalist Nguyen Khac Tiep, there are still memories of those arduous but heroic days, those were the most beautiful years of his youth. That was a period of training and testing the soldier journalist, going through "tasting honey and lying on thorns" to create a "Dien Bien Phu famous in five continents, shaking the world".
Memorial stele of the Frontline Editorial Office and the People's Army Newspaper Printing House at the Dien Bien Phu Battlefield. Photo: T.Chuong
The Dien Bien Phu victory has always been a source of pride, continuing to evoke the strength of national unity, crystallizing patriotism from the enduring vitality, intelligence and creativity of the Vietnamese people. And the articles and photos of the Dien Bien Phu victory recorded by journalists serve as reminders and encouragement for descendants to continue promoting the spirit and spirit of Dien Bien Phu years ago.
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