The unexpected landing and the "flying soldier"'s grace

Nearly 3 years ago, we met Lieutenant General pilot Pham Phu Thai when he returned to Dua airport (Tuong Son commune - Anh Son) to revisit the old battlefield. He told about a sortie where, due to lack of experience in handling situations, he was hit by an enemy missile and promptly parachuted to Thanh Chuong district. At first, the local people mistook it for an American pilot, so they were extremely angry, brought all kinds of weapons and were ready to "fight to the death".

But when he learned that he was a pilot of the Vietnam People's Army, and that a classmate recognized him, everyone wholeheartedly helped, sheltered, and protected him. Thanks to that, he was able to return to his unit, continue to fly and fly in the sky to achieve resounding victories, contributing to writing the legend of the Vietnam People's Air Force.

Lieutenant General and pilot Pham Phu Thai (left) and Lieutenant General and pilot Pham Tuan during a visit back to Dua airport, Tuong Son commune (Anh Son) in 2015. Photo: Cong Kien

The location where pilot Pham Phu Thai parachuted and landed is in Xuan Tuong commune (Thanh Chuong). Recently, having the opportunity to visit Xuan Tuong, we were fortunate to meet Mr. Nguyen Dinh Dung (village 1), a retired teacher, whose family used to be the place where pilot Thai was taken care of.

Mr. Dung said: “I was only 11 years old at that time, but I still remember that day when the whole village brought sticks and rushed out to capture the pilot. My brother, Nguyen Minh Tuan, recognized the paratrooper as a classmate at Hung Vuong High School - Phu Tho, and at that moment, the militia and anti-aircraft troops arrived in time so pilot Pham Phu Thai was not beaten. Identifying him as our pilot, the militia put him on a stretcher and carried him to my parents' house for treatment and care.”

Lieutenant General, pilot Pham Phu Thai (front row, far right) with Mrs. Le Thi Nam during a visit to her benefactor's family in 2008 (family photo provided).

Not long ago, Lieutenant General Pham Phu Thai and his family and comrades (Lieutenant General Pham Tuan, Colonel Hoang Bieu) returned here to visit the old battlefield and the family of his benefactor. General Thai had a meeting and talked with the cadres and people of Xuan Tuong commune, and visited the family of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Dung.

This was the second time he visited his benefactor's family. The first time was 10 years ago, when Mrs. Le Thi Nam (Mr. Dung's mother) was still alive. General Thai hugged her and cried: "By the time you found me, I was already old and dead!" This time, he gave the family a copy of "Flying Soldiers" (volume 1), published by the Writers' Association (2016), a memoir recording the years of fighting and working in the army.

In “Flying Soldiers”, Lieutenant General Pham Phu Thai devoted the first chapter (“I – Private First Class, Fighter Pilot!”) with a capacity of 25 pages to recount the incident of parachuting into Xuan Tuong commune nearly 50 years ago. Accordingly, on October 7, 1968, a squadron of Mig-21 fighter jets including pilots: Pham Thanh Ngan (number 1, team leader), Pham Phu Thai (number 2) and Dang Ngoc Ngu (number 3) took off from Tho Xuan airport (Thanh Hoa) into the airspace of Zone 4 to prevent enemy aircraft from increasing bombing of key points on Route 15.

Lieutenant General, pilot Pham Phu Thai (left) presented his memoir "Flying Soldier" to the family of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Dung (photo provided by the family).

When passing Dai Hue range, Thung Nua range, No. 3 Dang Ngoc Ngu announced: "Detected 2 planes ahead"! Pham Phu Thai looked around but saw nothing. No. 3 said urgently: "It's firing missiles! Move quickly!". Seeing No. 1 flip the plane over (a maneuver to avoid enemy missiles), pilot Thai quickly accelerated to follow.

Because he was passive, only focused on following number 1, not able to see the surrounding space, number 2 was hit by an enemy missile. Hearing the "Boom!" sound, the Thai pilot fainted, every next move to parachute out of the plane was a practiced reflex that had become a habit when facing danger. A few minutes later, when he woke up, he found himself hanging under a life-saving parachute at an altitude of more than 2000m, hearing the sound of gunshots from the ground, with many people waiting below.

Then he fainted again, the unintentional landing caused him to crash into the hillside. Pilot Thai regained consciousness when he was carried, surrounded by air defense soldiers, local soldiers and a large crowd of people holding all kinds of weapons at the bottom of the hillside. He fainted again and suddenly regained consciousness when he faintly heard someone calling his name: "Thai! It's Tuan! I studied with you at Hung Vuong High School!".

Lieutenant General, pilot Pham Phu Thai (front row, sitting in the middle) during his visit to his benefactor's family in March 2018 (photo provided by the family).

Fainting again. Waking up, the 19-year-old pilot realized he had been saved, carried to a field camp, then a civilian house. And now it was dark, lying in a small thatched house, surrounded by people holding guns standing guard and some girls sitting next to him taking care of him. His whole body ached, unable to get up on his own, his mouth dry with thirst, Pham Phu Thai asked for a drink and was served attentively and enthusiastically.

To ensure safety, the commune initially directed the injured pilot to be transferred to the home of Mr. Nguyen Dinh The and his wife - a revolutionary base at the time and also the parents of Nguyen Minh Tuan (a classmate of Pham Phu Thai). At dawn, he was transferred to another house. Many people in the commune came to see the North Vietnamese pilot with their own eyes, bringing oranges, grapefruits, bananas, chicken eggs, and one child even brought a pair of young chickens to nourish our pilot.

The “flying soldier” was deeply moved by the sincere sentiments of the Xuan Tuong villagers. Because in the midst of bombs and bullets raining down on the devastated village, right in the scorching summer days, the villagers still searched for and saved those precious products for themselves.

The people wanted the pilot to tell a story, the “flying soldier” raised his voice: “Dear people! I am Pham Phu Thai, pilot of Squadron One, the heroic Red Star Air Force Regiment of the Vietnam People’s Air Force. Where there are heroes Tran Hanh, Nguyen Van Bay...”.

In the afternoon, the military vehicle came to pick up Pham Phu Thai to return to Hanoi and receive treatment at the 108 Military Hospital. Before leaving, a girl from Xuan Tuong gave the pilot a letter with the instructions: "Read it to understand me, remember to write to me!". After decades of keeping this letter, Lieutenant General Pham Phu Thai gave it to the Air Force Museum as a beautiful proof of the military-civilian relationship during the arduous and heroic years of fighting against the US.

The story of Lieutenant General Pham Phu Thai’s gratitude to Xuan Tuong land helps us understand more about the lives of the “flying soldiers” during the anti-American war. Although they roamed and achieved feats in the sky, the take-off and landing points were still on the ground. And it was the gratitude on the ground that motivated them to overcome danger and maintain their will to fight in the sky.