On the last day of March, Mr. Nguyen Tien Nang, former Deputy Captain of Team 34 of the Youth Volunteers who participated in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, former assistant to Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, and a group of former Vietnamese Youth Volunteers arrived in Dien Bien on a journey to return to their roots and organize social welfare activities. Memories of a difficult time, overcoming bombs and bullets to contribute to the Dien Bien Phu victory, came flooding back to him.
Mr. Nguyen Tien Nang has been associated with the Northwest since 1953. At that time, he was the Secretary of the District Youth Union of Hoang Hoa District, Thanh Hoa Province. In August and September 1953, following the Central's policy of recruiting Youth Volunteers, thousands of young people from Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh volunteered to register to go. The entire force gathered in Thanh Hoa. Mr. Nang was assigned the important responsibility of Deputy Captain of Team 34. After studying the Youth Volunteers' regulations, Teams 34 and 40 received orders to go to the Northwest, each team had 20 companies with a total of nearly 8,000 people.
Mr. Nang recalled: “At that time, I didn’t know what the Northwest was like, nor what specific mission I would do, but when I received the order, I set off with enthusiasm and spirit. Every young man was ready to go anywhere, to do anything for the nation that the Party and Uncle Ho assigned. Just like that, we crossed the forest, carrying food and provisions, traveling at night and resting during the day. For the first time, I felt overwhelmed by the forest like that, the further we went, the more dense and cold the forest became. 40 companies went one after another, scattered, clearing the way as they went, taking several months to get there. That year, on the occasion of the New Year of the Horse in 1954, 40 companies celebrated the New Year scattered from Moc Chau to Tuan Giao, Highway 13 to Ta Khoa ferry, Yen Bai.”
After that, the 2 Youth Volunteer Teams were ordered to serve the Tran Dinh Campaign with many tasks: transporting wounded, transporting ammunition, protecting food, building warehouses, protecting warehouses... And the main and most important task was to ensure smooth traffic to Dien Bien Phu. Mr. Nang recalled: “At that time, we really did not know who the code name Tran Dinh was, what the campaign was, when we received the task, we tried to complete it well. When we opened fire to start the campaign, enemy planes bombed fiercely, determined to cut off our transportation route to the front line, especially the sections: Chen Pass, Ta Khoa ferry, Pha Din Pass... Especially the "throat" of Co Noi intersection - where all vehicles had to pass through to enter the front line. They dropped hundreds of tons of bombs of all kinds, including explosive bombs, napalm bombs, butterfly bombs... There was a day when the enemy used 69 flights of B26, B29 planes to drop up to 300 bombs, there was a period when the enemy continuously attacked for 2-3 weeks".
“At first, we did not have any knowledge about bombs, so many people were injured and sacrificed. To limit casualties, a bomb disposal team was established, and companies also established bomb disposal teams. The engineers trained the Youth Volunteers to dispose of bombs. In the Co Noi intersection area, 5-6 companies were arranged. Everyone was determined to destroy the bombs, ensuring the road surface could be restored as soon as possible. So the whole “large army” with only crowbars, hoes, shovels, wheelbarrows, shoulder poles, woven mats... worked bravely. After the enemy dropped bombs, we went in to clear and build the road, usually only 5-6 hours to basically restore it for vehicles to travel. In March, the French fought the most fiercely, and it rained, making the road muddy and filling bomb craters very difficult. We had to bring dry soil from far away. Despite the hardships and dangers, everyone still worked quickly, united, and supported each other to overcome difficulties with the spirit of “all for the front, all for the cause”. "Victory" - Mr. Nang proudly recounted the heroic and tragic days.
When the Tran Dinh Campaign (Dien Bien Phu Campaign) was victorious, Youth Volunteer Teams 34 and 40 remained to restore bridges and roads. They then continued to march to Lai Chau to build roads to the Ma Lu Thang border for 3 consecutive years. Therefore, after returning to Dien Bien, although exhausted, Mr. Nang and his nephew still took a bus to visit their comrades resting at the Youth Volunteer Martyrs Cemetery in Chan Nua Commune, Sin Ho District, Lai Chau Province - this is the "home" of nearly 100 Youth Volunteers who sacrificed their lives to open the border.
Mr. Nang shared: “For me, returning to Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau is like returning home. So many of my brothers have fallen for this land. As long as I am alive and can travel, I will return to visit them. This will probably be the last time, because my health will not allow it anymore.”
At this age, he still worries: Hundreds of my brothers have fallen, leaving their bodies in the lands of Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, contributing to the resounding victory, repelling the invaders, contributing to opening the way to change the lives of ethnic minorities, developing the local economy and society. Now, I just hope that the next generation understands history and always remembers their contributions. How many comrades sacrificed their lives without finding their remains, many graves with unidentified identities, I hope that at Co Noi Intersection, there will be a stele engraved with the names of the Youth Volunteers who have remained here. At Pha Din Pass or Tuan Giao Intersection (Dien Bien), there will also be a stele to remember the historical events and contributions of the Youth Volunteers...
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