Warmth of Quang Tri

(Baonghean) -45 years have passed since 1968, Tan Ky district was honored to welcome and shelter 20,000 people from Vinh Linh, Gio Linh, Cam Lo districts (Quang Tri province) to evacuate. 45 years, time can erase the traces of all things, but the sacred, loyal feelings between Quang Tri people and Tan Ky people will last forever...

One sunny afternoon in early April, we returned to Nghia Hoan commune, Tan Ky district - the place that welcomed Vinh Linh High School (K8) and Vinh Thuy people (K10) in 1968. In the small house of the former Secretary of the Party Committee of Nghia Hoan commune (1969-1975), Mr. Pham Xuan Hong, now 76 years old, still remembers clearly the days of preparing to welcome and eating and living with Vinh Linh people to receive the Central's policy on relocating people to clean up the strategic area.

At that time, all communes of Tan Ky welcomed Vinh Linh people to live in their houses. Nghia Hoan commune welcomed Vinh Thuy people, Vinh Linh High School, Vinh Linh Pedagogical School and K10 Hospital, with approximately 10,000 people settling in Nghia Hoan commune. At that time, the commune had the motto "1 household + 1 household", any household with a large house welcomed 2 Vinh Linh people. In the difficult conditions of war, poverty, and hunger, the people of Nghia Hoan commune still welcomed Vinh Linh people with sincere and warm feelings like family members. Mr. Hong's family at that time also welcomed 3 households, including: Mrs. Xiec's, Mrs. Van's, Mrs. Than's (each household had 2 people). In addition, any new households that did not have a place to live stayed at Mr. Hong's house. In the small 3-room thatched house, there was a lot of love and support for each other.

Mr. Pham Xuan Hong remembers most that on the 28th of Tet in 1968, Nghia Hoan commune was preparing to welcome a group of people from Quang Tri. The people were preparing to celebrate Tet but put everything aside to welcome Vinh Linh people. Understanding the traditional psychology of ancestor worship of Vietnamese people during Tet, the commune required families with Vinh Linh people to prepare an additional altar (in addition to the family altar) for Vinh Linh people to burn incense. "There was a mother who had just gotten off the bus, sat crying, because her children had sacrificed, now that they were far away from home, they didn't know where to worship." And she was very moved by the thoughtful preparations of the people of Nghia Hoan - Tan Ky. It was the deep sharing, the care and support of the local people that moved the Vinh Linh people, made them feel moved, trusted, and lived with the people, sharing cassava in half, sharing a bowl of rice in half, in the fierce bombs, the steadfast affection became even closer. After nearly 3 months of staying in local houses, Nghia Hoan commune divided the land for the people to establish new villages based on the old place names. At the same time, they divided the production areas for the people to reclaim and settle down. The lives of Vinh Linh people gradually stabilized on Nghia Hoan land.

Mrs. Truong Thi Phien (Giai Xuan commune) told her grandchildren about the years her family took care of Vinh Linh people.

In just a short period of time, the people from Quang Tri had houses, land for cultivation, and a stable life in Tan Ky. The people of Nghia Hoan commune did their best to help the heroic people of Vinh Thuy in building houses, digging shelters, agricultural tools, plant varieties, livestock, etc. The spirit of solidarity, national consciousness, and community consciousness were promoted to the highest level, creating unprecedented strength for the people of Nghia Hoan and Vinh Thuy to overcome all the harsh challenges of war, cling to the land and fields to boost production. Difficulties and challenges piled up, but the will and spirit of solidarity helped the Party Committee, the people of Nghia Hoan commune, and the people of Vinh Thuy overcome all challenges, exceeding economic, political, social, cultural, and educational targets. Party members and cadres of Vinh Thuy also worked together with the Party Committee, discussed and agreed on all solutions to remove obstacles and difficulties. That deep affection cannot be erased by time.

From (1968 - 1973), Giai Xuan - Tan Ky commune also welcomed more than 800 Vinh Linh compatriots. The compatriots were given priority to buy goods in the food and foodstuff sectors, trading cooperatives... At first, the compatriots lived together with families throughout the commune, ate rice and cassava together, and shared blankets and mats. After that, Giai Xuan commune built 200 new houses and a primary school, supported 20 buffaloes and cows, and provided 5 hectares of cultivated land for people to produce.

Mrs. Truong Thi Phien, 69 years old, in Doi Che hamlet (formerly called Lang Tram), Giai Xuan commune, recalls the past: “In 1967, my family lived in a very big stilt house! The family was small so my parents took in 3 households, including Mr. Su's family, Mr. Canh's family and Mr. Cung's family. The people of Vinh Linh traveled nearly 400 km, through bombs and bullets, to reach Tan Ky in poor conditions. We welcomed them like relatives, my family ate together, lived together, there was no distance at all.”

Mr. Bui Xuan Mong from Tien Thanh hamlet, Nghia Hoan commune, used to study at Vinh Linh High School in Tan Ky (class of 1968 - 1971). He is 62 years old this year, but the image of class G of Vinh Linh High School in the past is always in his mind. At that time, class G had 42 students, Vinh Linh students were hard-working and good at studying, in the harsh evacuation conditions of the war, not having enough food to eat, not having enough clothes to wear, but still had a strong spirit of studying. "Thanks to the mustard greens and wild vegetables growing all over the banks of the Con River, we were less hungry every day, the students went to school and just picked them up to make pickles, boiled them to eat with cassava... There were countless hardships, but they were still full of love".

Mr. Bui Xuan Mong (Nghia Hoan commune) next to the painting of Quang Tri Citadel.

In November 2012, Mr. Mong returned to Quang Tri to visit his old friends. They warmly met, shook hands and smiled, reminisced about the time they were close, shared a mat, shared a cassava root, bathed in the cool Con River, and then pulled wild mustard greens to mix with rice to eat until full... His old classmate Nguyen Thien To is now the leader of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quang Tri province. His friend Nguyen Hoa is now the leader of the Quang Tri Radio and Television Station. Then his friends Ngo Banh, Nguyen Trao, Phien, Ai Linh... are all successful in today's peaceful times.

The war has gone, the country is independent and peaceful, in the joy of the renewed homeland today, the feelings of the children of Vinh Linh, Gio Linh, Cam Lo (Quang Tri province) and the people of Tan Ky (Nghe An) are still deeply engraved. The people of the localities often visit each other, connecting the rare emotional bond between the two heroic lands. Taking care of the people of Quang Tri, helping them stabilize their lives during the fierce war years. That is truly a miracle that the Party Committee and people of Tan Ky achieved in the context of fierce war, very proud.

Article and photos: Quynh Lan