Narrator at Ky Anh tunnel | QUANG NAM ONLINE NEWSPAPER

For many years, visitors to Ky Anh tunnels (Tam Thang commune, Tam Ky city), in addition to seeing artifacts and tunnels more than 30km long underground, have also heard many interesting stories about the glorious past in the sandy countryside through the explanation of Mr. Huynh Kim Ta - tour guide and tunnel manager.

Mr. Huynh Kim Ta explains to tourists. Photo: C.N — Mr. Huynh Kim Ta explains to tourists. Photo: CN

Proud of my homeland

Mr. Huynh Kim Ta was born and raised right on the land of Thach Tan - where the Ky Anh tunnels are the longest and also where the tunnels played the greatest role during the war.

Although he has never been trained as a tour guide or historical site interpreter, Mr. Huynh Kim Ta makes anyone who has ever set foot here quite surprised and interested by the stories about the tunnels.

During the fierce war years in Tam Ky, Quang Nam in general and the Eastern region in particular, Huynh Kim Ta was still a young boy. However, with his young perception of the events taking place in his homeland, combined with learning from books and previous generations, Huynh Kim Ta gradually formed his own unique way of guiding and explaining.

Looking at the list of hundreds of heroic martyrs who died in the war in Ky Anh, we understand that not only Mr. Ta, but anyone born on this land wants the story of Ky Anh tunnels to be spread as proof of courage and sacrifice for the homeland.

Perhaps this has contributed to Mr. Huynh Kim Ta not being afraid of hardship, willing to guide to help tourists easily access the Ky Anh tunnel system. His way of explaining is both telling old stories and demonstrating specifically, so the information to the listener is quite clear and full of emotions.

Mr. Huynh Kim Ta took us to Thach Tan communal house and explained in detail the history of the communal house. Through the guide, we learned that Thach Tan communal house was an extremely important location for the revolutionary movement in Ky Anh in particular and the eastern region of Tam Ky in general, so many times the enemy brought tanks and bulldozers to plow and dig up the roof of the communal house.

But strangely, the pillars of the communal house still stand there, like the bravery and indomitability of the Ky Anh people in the face of many dangers. Right below this communal house is a secret cellar used to store food, medicine, and provide first aid and care for wounded soldiers.

The tunnel was convenient for supplying food to the armed forces of the military region and the provincial military command, and also served as a place for first aid for wounded soldiers before they were transferred to the western region. From the cellar under Thanh Tam communal house, if there was an incident, the guerrillas would immediately move people through the tunnel to escape to the mouth of the Muong Lang tunnel - a secret passage reserved only for the commune guerrillas in a safe manner....

To help visitors grasp the entire map of Ky Anh tunnels not only on compasses and drawings, Mr. Huynh Kim Ta took them to visit all corners of the tunnels. From the entrance to the secret bunker - the meeting place of the guerrillas and the Ky Anh working team, there were still old tables and chairs, the faded flag of the National Liberation Front and a few neon lights hanging on the wall, to the exit to the ditch and the secret way up from the haystack in a garden of the people...

Being a large sandy area, Ky Anh tunnel was dug along bushes, bamboo banks, and ditches. This can be said to be one of the most important factors for the tunnel to withstand natural disasters and the plowing power of enemy tanks. The tunnel mouths were located in houses, kitchens, cowsheds, communal houses, bamboo bushes, wells, and tree roots and were carefully camouflaged.

For example, the secret basement under the house of Mr. Pham Si Thuyet in Vinh Binh village - a key revolutionary base - is also a testament to the spirit of sacrificing one's own life and that of one's family for the revolution. Or Mr. Ky's well, where the whole village gets water for daily use, has turned into a tunnel that connects to a canal and then drains into the Dam River.

Tour guide Huynh Kim Ta scooped up buckets of water from the well and said that each bucket was a signal between the people above and the people below. Through this well, the people promptly informed our forces in the bunker about whether the enemy was still there or had retreated, and whether there were many or few.

Inspiring history to the younger generation

As a national historical site and a red address for tourism in Tam Ky City, for many years, Ky Anh Tunnels has been a destination for students from schools in the city and neighboring localities. Mr. Ta said that every week or during extracurricular activities, many primary and secondary schools let students come here to visit and learn about the history of revolutionary struggles.

Students listen to a presentation about Ky Anh tunnels. Photo: NGUYEN DIEN NGOC

Shovels, hoes, machetes for digging soil or baskets and baskets used for transporting soil, and weapons such as spikes, homemade mines, combat guns... always have great appeal to children and tourists every time Mr. Huynh Kim Ta introduces the "origin" and function of each type.

That is why, every time the school takes them here, they are very excited and have many questions for the tour guide to explain, such as how to hide rocks and soil without being detected; what is the means of transportation; how long does it take to complete the tunnel system...

To have convincing answers to the questions raised by the students, Mr. Huynh Kim Ta always proactively took the students to meet living witnesses of Thach Tan, Vinh Binh, Kim Doi... so that they could explain in detail, making the history lesson more vivid.

A special place that Mr. Huynh Kim Ta always brings to introduce every time students visit the tunnels. That is the ancient 500-year-old tree of Thach Tan village. This is the place where Mr. Ta and many generations of Thach Tan villagers left their footprints in the summer afternoons and peaceful afternoons... and then left, joining the revolutionary flow of their homeland, creating miracles in the eastern region at one time.

On the top of the towering cypress tree is a position to observe and guard the enemy, grasping every movement of the enemy before each sweep on Ky Anh. With this advantage, we proactively deployed troops, set up camouflage, covered up tunnels, retreated to safe hiding places... After the bombs and bullets of war, the cypress tree still stood there, like the hearts of the people of Thach Tan - Ky Anh, loyal to the revolution.

Mr. Huynh Kim Ta confided: “I am always excited when introducing this place to the children, and so many childhood memories come back vividly. That is why it feels like going back to the old days with the children themselves.”

Enthusiastic, friendly, approachable and knowledgeable about Ky Anh tunnels… are the factors that have helped Mr. Huynh Kim Ta fulfill his duties as a relic tour guide for many years. Through his work, Mr. Huynh Kim Ta not only brings tourists and students knowledge about Ky Anh tunnels but also leaves beautiful feelings in the hearts of those who have visited this historical relic.

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