'Collection' of battlefield memorabilia of Luong veterans

In his house in hamlet 6, Trang Son commune (Do Luong), veteran Tran Anh Yen (born in 1948) dedicated a small room to preserve hissouvenirwar, he considered it a priceless asset.

“Whenever we gather with friends, comrades, neighbors or family members, everyone wants to hear me introduce the origin, uses and memories of each artifact. I can stand and present for a session, even a day, about the collection of war relics, because each relic is associated with a memory, a story of a soldier’s life, with difficult years…”, Mr. Yen said.

Mr. Tran Anh Yen joined the army in 1968, when he was just 20 years old. At first, he was an engineer of Group 22, Military Region 4, then assigned to Regiment 271, Division 302. The young soldier followed the unit to march and fight on the Upper Laos front, and a year later, he returned to work on the Route 9 - Khe Sanh front (Quang Tri).

In 1971, Mr. Yen's unit marched into the Southeast and Southern Central Highlands battlefields, participating in many fierce battles, where life and death were a hair's breadth apart, and many times he had to witness his comrades being sacrificed and injured.

On April 30, 1975, Mr. Yen's unit attacked from the Southwest (Long An) and contributed to the liberation of Saigon. After the liberation, Mr. Yen continued to fight with his unit on the Cambodian battlefield. He retired in 1988.

Returning to normal life, Mr. Tran Anh Yen always cherishes the objects he brought back from the war.battlefieldsuch as an amp, a cassette player, a flashlight, a hammock, etc. Every time he visits the old battlefield, Mr. Yen often pays attention to collecting war memorabilia.

When he visited friends, comrades and acquaintances, he would ask for or buy any war-related items from them. Thanks to that, after many years of collecting, his collection now has dozens of artifacts that are carefully kept and preserved.

In the corner of the yard, Mr. Tran Anh Yen erected the shell of a cluster bomb that the US military dropped on Luu Son commune (Do Luong) in 1965, during the early days of the war to destroy the North. The bomb reminds us of a fierce time when the people of the North fought and worked to support the battlefield in the South.

The collection also includes a bicycle from 1946, which Mr. Yen's father used as a laborer to transport goods to support the Dien Bien Phu battlefield and later his uncle used to transport goods to the Upper Laos front.

CollectionMr. Yen's collection has many artifacts brought back from the Southern battlefield such as shovels and hoes used to dig trenches and fortifications; saws and axes used to cut down trees to build barracks; flashlights used for marching and at night in the forest; oil lamps used in deep tunnels...

Mr. Yen also passionately tells stories about the anvil and the canteen - associated with the daily need for food and drink, which are close, familiar and indispensable items in the soldier's luggage. In particular, the radio of the unit's political commissar is considered by Mr. Yen to be the most meaningful souvenir for the soldier, because during the march, especially in the Truong Son mountains, traveling during the day, resting at night, with guns and ammunition on their shoulders heavy, the soldiers still try to follow the political commissar to listen to news from all over the region broadcast from the radio.

“

Mr. Tran Anh Yen is an active member, a pioneer in the Association's movements. Currently, Mr. Yen owns a collection of valuable battlefield relics, contributing to educating the tradition for members and people of all walks of life, especially the younger generation.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Chairman of the Veterans Association of Trang Son commune