Martyr Le Quang Loc – Immortal torch in the heart of the nation

Those examples of noble sacrifice have blended into the heroic epic of shining patriotism, contributing to the historic Ho Chi Minh victory, completely liberating the South and unifying the country. Martyr Le Quang Loc is a typical example.

Martyr Le Quang Loc, (alias Sau Ngoc, Sau Quy) was born on October 25, 1940 in Tra On, Can Tho (now Binh Minh district, Vinh Long province), the youngest child in a well-off family. During his childhood, he had to witness the poor lives of his classmates, the scenes of revolutionary cadres and innocent people being beaten and killed by the enemy right in his homeland. His childish heart was no longer innocent and carefree. He began to hate those who massacred his compatriots and learned about the Viet Minh and the heroes of the nation.

Their noble sacrifices have merged into the epic of shining patriotism.

In 1954, refusing to enter the Military Academy in My Tho, he entered Huynh Khuong Ninh School, a school with a rich tradition of patriotism. Like a young tree in good soil, from here, he began to participate in the revolution and became a student liaison in Saigon city.

In July 1959, he officially joined the revolutionary organization and was assigned to be a liaison, printing and distributing leaflets. After that, he was assigned to organize a printing department right at his house. The revolutionary propaganda leaflets that he organized to be printed were distributed throughout the city of Saigon-Gia Dinh.

In 1960, he was arrested along with several other comrades. The enemy took him to prisons in Chi Hoa, Thu Duc, Tan Hiep... and tortured him severely but could not extract any information. After that, they brought him to a closed military court. In court, with a mature and calm demeanor, he presented clearly and firmly that patriotism was not a crime. When the lawyer (who was specially allowed to come to court to defend Le Quang Loc) asked the court to "consider his client because he was young and acted without thinking", he objected: "You do not need and should not defend yourself like that. I know clearly what I did". He was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

When the lawyer (who was specially appointed to defend Le Quang Loc) asked the court to “consider his client because he was young and acted without thinking”, he objected: “You don’t need to and shouldn’t defend yourself like that. I know clearly what I did.”

When the Ngo Dinh Diem regime was overthrown, he was released. After his release from prison, his family took care of him and sent him to study at Petrus Ky School. His mother was old and wanted him to get married so that she could rest assured. Sympathizing with his mother's feelings, the tragic images of the nation, the scenes of comrades and teammates being killed and brutally tortured in prison, and the instructions of the movement leaders were always present in the heart of the young Le Quang Loc, so he put aside his personal matters, hid them from his parents and found a way to reconnect with the organization.

From 1963 to 1966, he was assigned to work as an undercover agent. In 1966, he was transferred to the Faculty of Letters University, one of the cradles of the student movement in Saigon, to build and develop a revolutionary base. Here, he was elected Chairman of the Faculty of Letters Student Representative Council for the 1966-1967 school year and then Chairman of the Faculty of Letters Student Executive Committee for the 1967-1968 school year.

The election for the Faculty of Arts Student Executive Committee for the 1967-1968 school year was tense and complicated. The final result was that the Le Quang Loc joint ticket won thanks to careful preparation, the support of students, and his calmness, intelligent and excellent behavior. This victory had great significance, opening a new phase for the Faculty of Arts student movement in terms of both position and strength, especially in completely establishing the core leadership publicly. Operating publicly in Saigon with many challenges and lurking dangers when the police and secret service closely monitored and suppressed, but Le Quang Loc did not care or lose heart.

Together with the Executive Committee of the Faculty of Arts and other schools, Le Quang Loc actively and proactively organized political struggles for students in many forms: rallies, seminars, strikes, demonstrations demanding peace, an end to the war, freedom of the press, against worker repression, against high taxes, against student conscription... With his tireless efforts and contributions, in July 1967, Le Quang Loc was honored to join the Party.

During the Tet Offensive in 1968, fierce fighting broke out in the heart of Saigon. The General Student Association and the Saigon Student Union quickly organized relief centers for victims. Le Quang Loc was assigned as the Head of the Gia Dinh Reception Center (now the Oncology Hospital) to welcome refugees and provide necessities... While doing a good job in relief work, on February 19, 1968, he was ordered to go to the secret area to receive a new mission: to join the Alliance of National, Democratic and Peace Forces of Vietnam. He accepted the mission without having time to say goodbye to his elderly parents and girlfriend Huynh Quan Thu - who had fought alongside him in the public movement at the University of Literature, whom he had a lot of affection for, but because of the war, there were still many hardships and sacrifices ahead, so he had not yet spoken.

From 1970 to 1973, Le Quang Loc was assigned by the organization to work at the City Youth Union as a member of the Executive Committee, Chief of Office, and then Deputy Head of the Propaganda Department. After months of separation to devote themselves to the resistance war, in 1970, the organization created conditions for him and Huynh Quan Thu to meet at the City Youth Union base on the So Thuong River (bordering Cambodia).

In April 1971, along with other couples, they held a simple, cozy group wedding right at the base. In 1972, Huynh Quan Thu gave birth to her first son, but Le Quang Loc had not yet met his son because he was still stationed at the Thanh Doan base in Cambodia. When her son was only 4 months old, Huynh Quan Thu had to leave him with his family and travel through many hardships and dangers to return to the Thanh Doan base to operate.

After the Paris Agreement in 1973, Mr. Le Quang Loc became the Head of the City Youth Union's Cadre Delegation, opened the way back to the South and established a base in Thanh An, Ben Cat, Binh Duong. As Deputy Head of the City Youth Union's Propaganda Department, he opened a long-term training course for students. Here, he worked diligently and enthusiastically, completing all assigned tasks well, while caring for his comrades and teammates attentively and wholeheartedly. In early 1975, the war situation in the South was tense, the City Youth Union was divided into 2 wings, wing A was in charge of the inner city, wing B was in charge of the suburban districts. Mr. Le Quang Loc held the position of Standing member of wing B, the base was located in Thanh An. After many months of waiting, missing, writing letters home twice to ask his son to come to the base for him to meet, on March 23, 1975, for the first time he met his 4-year-old first son at the base with endless happiness but could not have imagined that this would also be the last time.

On April 2, 1975, he reluctantly said goodbye to his wife and children so that they could prepare for the new battle. The revolutionary opportunity had come, and the Party Central Committee decided to launch the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign. The City Youth Union quickly arranged its forces to meet the demands of the new opportunity. The student party committee deployed to the inner city to build uprising points. Le Quang Loc was assigned to be a permanent member of the City Youth Union. He was assigned by the organization to be a vanguard to liberate Saigon. On the way, the vanguard he commanded fell into the enemy's artillery position. Le Quang Loc and his comrades fought bravely and steadfastly until their last breath. He sacrificed himself in Dong Thanh commune, Hoc Mon district on the night of April 14, 1975.

Coming from a well-off family, Le Quang Loc could have chosen a comfortable life for himself, but he voluntarily embarked on the arduous and dangerous path of revolutionary struggle. He lived his life to the fullest with his ideals, dedicating his entire youth and life to the Fatherland, but he never had the chance to visit his elderly parents after many years apart, never had the chance to meet his little daughter, never had the chance to do what he had comforted his wife with, "When peace comes, I will make it up to you for everything."

On April 30, 1975, in the joy and boundless happiness of the entire nation, in the joy of family reunion, Ms. Huynh Quan Thu still rushed back and forth everywhere to find her husband without knowing that Mr. Le Quang Loc had sacrificed 2 weeks before. The pain was too great, afraid that his mother could not bear it, the family members all agreed to hide the news of his sacrifice until 1982, when she died, still believing that her son was still alive.

Ms. Huynh Quan Thu (wife of martyr Le Quang Loc) presented a souvenir to the Vietnam Fatherland Front Museum.

Martyr Le Quang Loc, a dedicated, enthusiastic, intelligent, and courageous City Youth Union and Front cadre, fell heroically before the dawn of the Great Spring Victory in 1975 at the age of 35. But like many other martyrs, he became an immortal torch in the heroic history of the nation written with blood and bones. In 1985, Tuoi Tre newspaper established a printing workshop named after Le Quang Loc, which later developed into a factory and then the Le Quang Loc printing company to commemorate and pay tribute to him.

He lives forever in the hearts of his family, friends, comrades, teammates, and countrymen with infinite regret and gratitude: “ His beauty radiates from his passion for revolutionary ideals, from his noble and pure soul, from his standard personal life “a bit old for his age” but full of love for comrades, teammates, and gentle honesty. Working with Le Quang Loc, everyone feels his confidence and his desire for victory. He sacrificed so much throughout his life of revolutionary struggle. He is truly worthy of the tasks assigned to him, he is even more worthy when he stands in the ranks of heroic martyrs who have had all happiness in their hands but have also given all happiness to life” .

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Publication date: 3/28/2025
Presented by: Ngoc Diep

Nhandan.vn

Source: https://special.nhandan.vn/lietsiLeQuangLoc-ngonduocbattu/index.html