The glorious female general

Meeting of Nguyen Thi Dinh with soldiers of the Cuban Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment. Photo: Archive

The Birth of a Legend

On March 15, 1920, in the minds of the people of Hoa Thanh hamlet, Luong Hoa commune, Giong Trom district, it was a “fateful” day for the family of farmer Nguyen Van Tien and his wife Truong Thi Tinh. If that day, the husband had been naive and gullible and had followed the midwife’s words to “pull out the baby’s head” to save the mother who was dying and exhausted… then there would never have been Miss Ut Dinh and our beloved General Nguyen Thi Dinh later on. It was the Fairy who silently burned incense and prayed to the ancestors and persuaded the midwife to patiently wait for the baby’s cry. Fortunately, “Heaven does not betray good-hearted people”, in the end “whatever is asked for, it will be answered” - mother and child were safe and sound. The tenth member of the farmer Luong Hoa’s family was born in such a “one-in-a-million” situation!

Raised by her family and enlightened by her older brother Nguyen Van Chan (Ba Chan), in 1936, at the age of 16, Ut Dinh took on the task of a liaison and truly entered the revolutionary path. At the age of eighteen, Nguyen Thi Dinh became a communist.

At the age of twenty, she faced challenges, fell into the hands of the enemy, was interrogated, and exiled to Ba Ra - an area of ​​poisonous water and malaria, where the French colonialists and their lackeys wanted to erode the health of revolutionary soldiers. But in this environment, Nguyen Thi Dinh was very optimistic and confident, believing that it was a chance "like attending a formal Marxist training class because there were "red" professors there".

Released from prison at the age of twenty-three, Nguyen Thi Dinh continued to work in the Viet Minh Front. In 1945, Nguyen Thi Dinh was the youngest female communist party member to join the leadership and lead thousands of people to seize power in the provincial capital of Ben Tre.

Then the resistance war against the French in the South broke out. This 26-year-old girl from the Coconut land, in March 1946, created a new miracle, and together with a few comrades, made a journey by sampan to the North to meet Uncle Ho to report on the battlefield situation and ask for weapons from the Central. Nguyen Thi Dinh was the first captain to command the "no number" ship carrying 12 tons of weapons to dock at A101 (Thanh Phong commune, Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province) to support the Southern battlefield, creating the premise for the formation of the "Ho Chi Minh trail at sea" in the resistance war against the US to save the country later.

Dong Khoi Movement and the “Long-haired Army”

The same young, brave woman, after the 1954 Geneva Agreement, was assigned by the Party to stay in the South, sneaking into the dark night of fierce terror of the enemy America - Diem, many times facing life and death, thanks to the love and protection of the people, persistently building the base, building revolutionary forces - and the legend was formed - on January 17, 1960, Nguyen Thi Dinh, together with the leaders of the province, made the historic Dong Khoi, opening a new stage of revolutionary struggle in Ben Tre and the whole South. Nguyen Thi Dinh was the soul of the Dong Khoi, the one who suggested the concept of a unanimous uprising of the people to implement Resolution 15 of the Central Committee, from which the concept of "Dong Khoi" was formed.

The Dong Khoi movement gave birth to the “Long-haired Army” - a unique revolutionary force and a method of fighting the enemy with “Two legs - Three prongs”. The wonderfully creative way of fighting the enemy of the people’s war in Ben Tre quickly spread throughout the South, defeating one war strategy after another of the US and its lackeys.

General Nguyen Chi Thanh - former Secretary of the Central Office for Southern Vietnam once said: "A woman who successfully commanded the Dong Khoi uprising in Ben Tre is worthy of being a general and being in the Command to fight the Americans."

It was also General Nguyen Chi Thanh who invited Nguyen Thi Dinh to the Southern Liberation Army Command to inform him of an important decision by President Ho Chi Minh and the Politburo, which was to “promote comrade Nguyen Thi Dinh to the position of Deputy Commander of the Southern Liberation Army. In addition to general work, the Command also assigned her to monitor and direct the guerrilla warfare movement and political struggle.”

President Ho Chi Minh - on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam Women's Union - also affectionately emphasized: "The Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Liberation Army is Ms. Nguyen Thi Dinh. In the whole world, only our country has such a female general. It is truly glorious for the whole South, for our whole nation...".

During the 10 years from 1965 to 1975, Female General Nguyen Thi Dinh made many worthy contributions to the overall victory of our army and people in the resistance war against the US to save the country. With the rank of Major General and her presence in the Command of the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of South Vietnam, she contributed to making the leadership, direction and command more comprehensive, strict and thorough in the deployment and organization of the people's war against the US to save the country. In April 1975, among the troops marching to liberate Saigon, there was the legendary female general Nguyen Thi Dinh in the role of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam.

Following the life of a person who made many legendary miracles from birth to the end of her life, from being a village girl to the role of Provincial Party Secretary, General and Vice President of the State Council, Ms. Nguyen Thi Dinh in everyone's eyes is still an ordinary, tolerant, gentle and kind person.

Female General Nguyen Thi Dinh once confided: “During the war, I went to fight with my comrades and brothers. After the victory, I was assigned by the Party to do War Invalids and Social Affairs work. I was very happy to have the opportunity to take care of my brothers and sisters, contributing to this cause of gratitude…”.

Female general in the eyes of comrades, teammates and friends around the world

Comrade Tran Bach Dang - former Secretary of the Saigon - Gia Dinh Party Committee once summarized Nguyen Thi Dinh's personality in six beautiful words: "innocent, optimistic, devoted". He also affirmed: "Each era requires and produces its own advanced team. We believe that, as our predecessors believed in our generation"; "the previous generation cannot say that they are perfect, but in comparison with their civic responsibilities, they have devoted themselves wholeheartedly. Nguyen Thi Dinh is one of them".

Senior Lieutenant General Tran Van Tra once assessed the role of Ms. Nguyen Thi Dinh: “Ms. Ba Dinh was the one who directly received the task from her superiors, directly commanded the implementation of the Dong Khoi movement in Ben Tre. When studying specifically and systematically about this famous Dong Khoi movement, I could not help but be surprised by the talent for organizing and mobilizing forces, the level of planning and implementation, the art of leadership and response to the situation…”. “Clearly, through this movement, the strategic talent, high will, and art of management of the commander of the long-haired army stood out. Both forming the organization and fighting right on the extremely complex battlefield…”.

Writer Nguyen Ngoc commented: “Perhaps she is the Vietnamese person with the most friends in the world, from ordinary people to famous heads of state and from many different political regimes”. “She is a small, humble but learned woman, close but elegant…”, “representing a Vietnam that is fighting fiercely”, “her unshakable determination is expressed through a leisurely and confident appearance”. “She brought friends back to the nation. And that is one of the most important factors that decided Vietnam’s strange victory in the past century”.

Professor of History Christine Whate (University of Hawaii, USA) wrote in a letter to Ms. Nguyen Thi Dinh: “I feel very honored to write this letter to visit you - a famous woman who played an important role in world history, an example of a true woman. I am very happy to use your memoir to teach my students about the Vietnamese revolutionary tradition.”

As the captain of the unnumbered ship, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Dinh crossed the ocean from Phu Yen, bringing the first 12 tons of weapons to Ben Tre (around mid-December 1946) to deliver to the South Central region. This was an unprecedented feat in history! It can be said that the success of the first sea voyage was the premise for the Central Committee to decide to establish the "Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea" in 1961.

History is a continuous flow. I think the traditional day of “Opening the Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea” needs to be carefully considered and determined by the Central Committee. It would be unfair and would “thinning out” the thickness of the tradition of “Opening the Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea” if we only chose October 23, 1961 without extending it to 1946 - the year Nguyen Thi Dinh was the legendary captain of the first ship without a number that brought the first weapons to Ben Tre, to the Central South region. She was truly the pioneer of the “Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea”, deserving to be honored.

Nguyen Quang Tri

Source: https://baodongkhoi.vn/van-hoa/doi-song/vi-tuong-quan-gai-ve-vang-a143790.html