There is a post-war sadness…

Returning to Thanh Luong commune, Thanh Chuong district after storm No. 4, the villages were covered in floodwaters. Hearing the story of Chu Van Luong, a soldier during the resistance war against America, made me feel even more sad.

Information about Mr. Chu Van Luong came to us through social networks, posted by his former comrades. There, there are memories of war, there is comradely love, there is the hard work of finding evidence of wounded soldiers... and there are also complaints that there is indifference. Connected, verified in Thanh Luong commune is Mr. Chu Van Luong, who joined the army, fought, and was wounded in the resistance war against the US, but lost all his documents so he has not received the wounded soldier regime. "What is the specifics, should go to Thanh Luong for a trip..." - a source exchanged.

Going up to Thanh Luong commune on September 30, heavy rain poured down, the road to hamlet 5, where Mr. Luong lives, was submerged in water. Here, the commune militia set up a barrier to block it. “Mr. Luong’s house is inside, the road is deeply flooded, the commune had to set up a warning barrier, motorbikes cannot enter. The water will recede in a few days, then you guys can come…” – one of them said. Returning on October 4, the sun was shining, but the floodwaters receded slowly, the road was still flooded. Thanks to the Commander of the Commune Military Command Nguyen Van Son leading us through the houses, we were able to reach Mr. Chu Van Luong’s house.

Thanh Luong commune has long met the new rural standards. The gates and entrances of the families here are all built quite solidly, connected to the concrete roads in the hamlet. Only Mr. Luong’s house has the original entrance with a red soil floor and a beautiful bank. Thin in his pajamas to welcome guests, Mr. Luong’s hand never leaves the breathing tube, speaking each broken sentence: “I have pulmonary congestion. This disease came after the bomb destroyed the tunnel. When I was young and strong, it was fine. Now that I am old and weak, it has come back to torment me…”

When he learned of his guest’s intentions, he called his wife out and “asked permission to lie on the ventilator for ten minutes to have the strength to explain.” In place of her husband to receive the guest, his wife, Mrs. Phan Thi Hong, choked up with tears and said: “He is very weak. He is in the hospital more than at home, and many times he thought he would die. As for his job, he wanted to make his children and grandchildren proud at the end of his life, but he has not been able to do so. Now, like a lamp running out of oil, how can he pursue it…”

About 10 minutes later, Mr. Chu Van Luong returned with a thin file in his hand. “The papers certifying my injuries were lost during the 1978 flood. I only have some certificates of orders and medals…”- he said. Looking at his personal declaration, Mr. Luong was born in 1953, originally from Hamlet 5, Thanh Luong Commune, Thanh Chuong District, and enlisted on December 13, 1970. On January 25, 1971, he was a soldier (rank B2), belonging to C22, E271, operating in Cam Lo District (Quang Tri), Bo Trach District (Quang Binh). From October 20, 1971 to February 18, 1972, he marched with his unit to the B2 battlefield, participating in combat in Thien Ngon and La Mat (Tay Ninh). In May 1973, he was a squad leader of C3, D7, E271, participating in combat in An Thanh, Duc Hue (Duc Hoa, Long An); on June 21, 1976, he was demobilized and returned to his hometown.

During the fighting, Mr. Luong was wounded three times. The first time, on March 8, 1972, while fighting in the Thien Ngon, La Mat area; the wound was caused by a petrol bomb in the left heel area; he was treated at the E271 infirmary. The second time, on May 10, 1973, while fighting in the An Thanh, Duc Hoa (Long An) area; he was wounded in the abdomen by M79 shrapnel, had to have surgery on the intestines left of the navel; he was treated for 10 days at the E271 infirmary. The third time, on April 4, 1974, while fighting in the Duc Hue, Duc Hoa (Long An) area; the bomb collapsed the bunker, causing pulmonary congestion due to the pressure; he was treated for 40 days at the Long An Military Command Infirmary.

Ask him about the difficult years on the battlefield. With Ms. Hong patting his back to help him breathe easier, he slowly told about his military life, about the fierce battles, and about his comrades who disregarded their own lives, saving him from the bombed-out bunker… “The 271st Regiment used to belong to Military Region 4. Later, we were mobilized to Cam Lo, Bo Trach, and then marched for 4 months across Truong Son, even to Cambodia to go to Thien Ngon, La Mat to join the fight… My comrades sacrificed a lot. So, when I returned, got married, had children, I felt very lucky, only worried about making a living and did not care about preserving records, did not request recognition of wounded soldiers. Later, when I saw the disadvantages, I made a request file but the documents were no longer there. My comrades from the past helped me a lot, knocked on doors everywhere, even in my old unit, but because of the war, nearly 50 years had passed, so the archived records were no longer there…” – Mr. Luong sadly said.

In Mr. Chu Van Luong's thin file, although there are no certificates of injuries, there are some certificates of achievements in combat. That is the original Certificate of Medal No. 693/CCGP dated June 30, 1976 of the Ministry of National Defense, certificate of awarding the Second Class Liberation Feat Medal; Certificate of XYZ service period No. 9571 dated June 30, 1978, certificate of enlistment on December 13, 1970; XYZ service period from February 1971 to June 1971. In addition, there is a photocopy of the Decision dated December 2, 1975 of the Advisory Council of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam awarding the Third Class Liberation Soldier Medal...

The records also show that he returned to his old unit to collect personal records. Specifically, on January 2, 2020, Division 5 (Military Region 7) issued Official Dispatch No. 02/SD-CT on "checking and confirming records and lists of wounded soldiers" to Mr. Chu Van Luong. Here, it was announced that "Division 5 has reviewed, checked, and compared the entire list of wounded soldiers still stored at the Division's policy agency. As a result, the unit could not find Mr. Chu Van Luong's list of wounded soldiers". However, Division 5 also stated the reason that "due to the Division's conditions of frequently moving to many battlefields and moving many times, and different military locations, the management and storage of records is difficult and can be torn or lost".

At the same time, some information about Regiment 271 was also cited that matched Mr. Luong's statement and story. According to the History Book of Regiment 271, period 1947 - 2017, "On November 12, 1971, the Regiment marched from Cu Nam commune (Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province) and gathered at the Regional Command (B2) to continue marching to the Southeast battlefield; in March 1972, Regiment 271 (Battalion 7, Battalion 8) captured Thien Ngon; on February 19, 1973, as a result of the battle to plant the flag, seize land, seize people, and fight against the enemy sabotaging the Paris Agreement, the Regiment fought 239 battles, destroying 5,133 enemies, at the end of April 1973, the Regiment defeated 3 puppet security battalions...".

To get more information, we asked Mr. Luong about his comrades who came to him. Expressing his gratitude, he mentioned some people, including Mr. Le Cuong, Vuong Kha Son, Tran Vo Viet... Joining us to visit Mr. Luong was Mr. Vo Ba Hieu - an officer of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Thanh Chuong district, who is Mr. Tran Vo Viet's son-in-law. Knowing that, Mr. Luong excitedly talked about Mr. Viet, the pride of Regiment 271. "There's nothing to say about Tran Vo Viet, he's famous for his strength and bravery. Mr. Viet once burned a series of American ships on the Vam Co River, even climbed trees and used B41s to shoot down helicopters... I was in the infantry, Viet was in the engineering corps, we were in different companies but we fought together in some battles when the companies of the Regiment coordinated their operations...".

With this information, we went to Thanh Dong commune to meet Mr. Tran Vo Viet. This is a famous person, the one who fired 14 B41 shells continuously to shoot down 6 American ships on the Vam Co River, and was mentioned a lot in the press. Referring to Mr. Chu Van Luong, Mr. Viet confirmed that he and some comrades from the 271st Regiment had just visited. "That day, there was also Colonel Le Cuong - former Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department, who was the Platoon Leader of the 271st Regiment..." - Mr. Viet said. Then the information was that both of them were the same age, from the same hometown of Thanh Chuong, and had joined the army in December 1970, becoming soldiers of the 271st Regiment. After that, they successfully opened the way in Quang Tri, recuperated in Quang Binh, and then marched with their comrades across Truong Son for 4 months to Tay Ninh to participate in the battle.

“Luong was an infantryman, and I was in the engineering corps. The 271st Regiment fought in many directions, I mainly fought the enemy on the Vam Co Dong River; and Luong, mainly fought in the Duc Hue and Duc Hoa areas. When it was founded, the 271st Regiment had 2,600 people, but more than 2,000 people were sacrificed in combat. Currently, those who belonged to the 271st Regiment from 1975 and earlier are only about 300 people, all of whom are wounded and sick soldiers, and I am also a 3/4 wounded soldier. On October 11, the 271st Regiment in the North is scheduled to meet at the Ho Chi Minh Museum to review traditions. I am contacting my brothers to organize a trip together. Regarding comrade Luong, if I am asked for his opinion, I will testify that we joined the army together and fought together on the battlefield in the Southeast. Regarding his injuries, although all his documents were lost, evidence of his injuries is still on his body, in the area. abdomen, leg area. Although the old unit did not keep Comrade Luong's records, it was due to the war, and many other comrades of Regiment 271 were the same. In the spirit of comradeship, I hope the Party and State will pay attention and consider helping Comrade Luong in his final years..." - Mr. Tran Vo Viet said.

At Mr. Chu Van Luong's house, Commander of the Commune Military Command Nguyen Van Son said that since around 2019, he has been a policy researcher, helping Mr. Luong create a personal profile, and also the one who brought him to the District Military Command to correct the profile. "There are two more men in the commune who are also requesting recognition as a war invalid, but Mr. Luong is in poor health so we still often support him..." - Mr. Nguyen Van Son shared. Then he said that more than 10 days ago, two policy officers from the District Military Command visited Mr. Luong. After that, they discussed that they would soon be trained on the new Decree (Decree 131/ND-CP detailing and implementing the Ordinance on people with revolutionary contributions - PV) for implementation; reminded the Commune Military Command to pay attention to helping Mr. Luong supplement his profile after being trained and continue to request consideration of the war invalid regime.

Thanks to Mr. Vo Ba Hieu connecting with policy officers of Thanh Chuong District Military Command, the contents that Mr. Nguyen Van Son had discussed were confirmed. Specifically, when visiting Mr. Luong, he informed that in the near future, the District Military Command would be trained on Decree 131/ND-CP. After the training, the District Military Command would deploy it simultaneously in communes and towns in the district. The Commune Military Command checked Mr. Luong's profile, if it met the regulations, it would help set up the profile according to the new Decree. "They also said that in case Mr. Chu Van Luong is in poor health, he could authorize someone else to help..." - Mr. Vo Ba Hieu added.

With the hope that the wishes of the soldiers fighting against the US would come true, we studied Decree 131/ND-CP. Here, it is clearly stated that the responsibility for issuing the certificate of injury is “The agency or unit managing the individual at the time of injury…”; the responsibility for preparing the file to request recognition of the wounded soldier is “The agency, organization or unit directly managing the injured person…”. Thinking of Mr. Tran Vo Viet’s words “On October 11, the 271st Regiment in the North is scheduled to reunite…”, then thinking about Mr. Luong’s certificates of Order and Medal still having full serial numbers and issuance times; So we discussed with Mr. Tran Vo Viet: “If we follow the serial number and time on the certificates of Medals and Medals to find related documents in the archives, and have more old comrades in the same unit confirm, Mr. Luong's request for a certificate of injury will be more favorable. At the reunion of Regiment 271 on October 11, you can discuss so that everyone can help him care”. Without hesitation, the brave soldier who shot the American ship on the Vam Co River, Tran Vo Viet, replied: I will discuss these matters with my brothers!