The story of the Little Devil's son who was honored to meet Uncle Ho

Born in Khun Tinh, Western Nghe An, the Thai ethnic boy Lang Van Vien lost his father at the age of 3. The hard life of the boy Vien was spent all year round on fields, mountains, streams, catching shrimps and snails without a full meal. In 1945, at the age of 18, he volunteered to join the self-defense force of Khun Tinh commune - former Quy Chau district.

After many years of participating in revolutionary activities and attending many training courses, Lang Van Vien and the Thai people have built many successful movements and achieved many achievements in labor production.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day on September 2, 1955, Lang Van Vien was honored to be one of the outstanding ethnic minority youths attending the rally in Hanoi. It was at this celebration that Lang Van Vien was allowed to enter the Presidential Palace to meet Uncle Ho.

63 years ago, Mr. Vien had the honor of meeting Uncle Ho at the Presidential Palace. Photo: Huy Nham.

63 years have passed, but the images of that meeting are still vivid in his mind. He said:“That day, a soldier welcomed me to the Presidential Palace to meet Uncle Ho. Uncle Ho asked me: What ethnic group are you from? Where are you from? I replied: Sir, I am a Thai ethnic group from Khun Tinh commune. This time I met you, Uncle Ho told me only two things: First, build a traffic road; Second, continue to mobilize old farmers and landowners who have surplus fields and land that have not been fully developed to lend to the revolution so that the poor can make a living. If you can do those two things, you will be successful.”

After the meeting and talk with Uncle Ho's kind advice and being assigned the task, Mr. Vien returned home with many worries and concerns. He told himself that he must always try his best to not disappoint Uncle Ho's advice, urging and motivating him to be determined to carry it out and do it. It took him nearly half a year to pack rice and rice balls every day, climb mountains, cross rivers and streams, and travel to every village to each family to propagate and mobilize the villagers to build roads, donate fields and land to the poor...

Mr. Vien made a lot of efforts after meeting Uncle Ho, actively propagating and mobilizing the villagers to build roads, donate fields and land to the poor. Until now, he still updates information to let the villagers know... Photo: Huy Nham

He recalled:“In January 1956, the whole commune went to work on the road, the people were very excited.The road-opening atmosphere was very exciting, the elderly and young people of the remote villages were also eager and volunteered to participate in the road-opening campaign. All day long, the sounds of gongs, drums, laughter, cheers... resounded throughout the mountains and forests". With that spirit, only 6 months later, on June 25, 1956, the entire nearly 15km long road, connecting Dinh ferry to Mong village, Chau Quang commune, was completed, "giving birth" to today's Provincial Road 532.

After the road was built, Lang Van Vien and the Khun Tinh commune cadres joined hands with the people to increase production, especially reclaiming the rice fields, and mobilizing the rich to divide their fields to the poor to grow rice. Recalling this story, Mr. Vien said: “After the road was completed, the land was reclaimed and the old farmers continued to mobilize the farmers to lend their fields to the peasants to do business. The Khun Tinh people had a lot of rice and were very excited. Next, they held a meeting to open a shop in Khun Tinh.

Having held many positions such as Chairman of the Cooperative, Deputy Secretary of the Party, Chairman of the People's Committee of Khun Tinh Commune, Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, and then the first Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Hop District. In 1974, he was assigned by the province to be the Director of Irrigation Company 3, and in 1984 he retired in the locality. No matter where he was or what position he held, he always kept in mind that he must cultivate, study, and strive to always excellently complete all tasks assigned by the Party and the State.