There is a post-war sadness…

Returning to Thanh Luong commune, Thanh Chuong district after storm No. 4, the villages were covered in floodwater. Hearing the story of Chu Van Luong, a soldier during the anti-American resistance war, 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 specific situation, should go to Thanh Luong for a trip..." - a source exchanged.

Going up to Thanh Luong commune on September 30, it was pouring rain, 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 before you come..." - one of them said. Returning on October 4, the sun had already risen, 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 been a new rural area standard. 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. Skinny in his pajamas to welcome guests, Mr. Luong’s hand never leaves the breathing tube, speaking each sentence brokenly: “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 so he could have the strength to explain.” In place of her husband receiving the guest, his wife, Mrs. Phan Thi Hong, choked up with tears, saying: “He is very weak. He is in the hospital more than at home, and he thought about dying several times. 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…”

After about 10 minutes, Mr. Chu Van Luong came back with a thin file in his hand. "The papers certifying my injuries were lost in the flood in 1978. I only have some certificates of Order and Medals left..." - 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 (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, 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 and La Mat areas; 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 area, Duc Hoa (Long An); he was wounded in the abdomen by M79 shrapnel, had to have intestinal surgery on the left side 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 area, Duc Hoa (Long An); the bomb collapsed the tunnel, the pressure led to pulmonary congestion; he was treated for 40 days at the Long An Military Command Infirmary.

Asked about the difficult years in the battlefield. With Mrs. 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 bomb-damaged bunker… “The 271st Regiment used to belong to Military Region 4. Later, we were mobilized to Cam Lo, Bo Trach, 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 felt disadvantaged, I made a request file but the documents were no longer there. My comrades from the past helped a lot, knocking on doors everywhere, even in the 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 is no certificate 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 dated 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 Fighter 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 "due to the Division's conditions of regularly maneuvering to fight in many battlefields and moving many times, and different military locations, the management and storage of records are difficult and can be torn or lost".

At the same time, some information about the 271st Regiment was also cited that matched Mr. Luong's statement and story. That is according to the History Book of the 271st Regiment from 1947 to 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, the 271st Regiment (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 a number of 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 is nothing to say about Tran Vo Viet, he is famous for his strength and bravery. Mr. Viet once burned a series of American ships on the Vam Co River, even climbed a tree and used a B41 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 person who continuously fired 14 B41 shells 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 had just visited with some comrades from the 271st Regiment. "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 joined the army in December 1970, becoming soldiers of the 271st Regiment. After that, they entered the victorious path 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 men, but more than 2,000 were killed in combat. Currently, those who belonged to the 271st Regiment from 1975 onwards are only about 300, all of whom are wounded and sick soldiers. 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 region. 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, that was due to the war, and so were many other comrades of Regiment 271. 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 said. Then he said that more than 10 days ago, two policy officers from the District Military Command visited Mr. Luong. After that, they discussed about being trained on the new Decree (Decree 131/ND-CP detailing and implementing the Ordinance on people with meritorious services to the revolution - PV) to implement; reminding 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 the policy officers of the 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 him do it..." - 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, unit directly managing the injured person...". Thinking of Mr. Tran Vo Viet's words "On October 11, the 271st Regiment in the North is expected 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 numbers and dates on the Medal certificates and find relevant documents in archives, and have more former comrades in the same unit confirm, Mr. Luong's request for a certificate of injury will be easier. During 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!