Society

Traces of a time in the Cat Van evacuation area

Tien Dong • March 19, 2025 14:44

Located on the gentle Lam River, Cat Van (Thanh Chuong) was once considered a base, an evacuation site for many agencies and units during the fierce years of the resistance war against America to save the country.

Memories of a heroic time

I returned to Cat Van (Thanh Chuong), one day in mid-March, when the red cotton flowers "lit up" the banks of the Lam River. Cat Van is located on the right bank of the Lam River, formerly the communes of Thanh Cat, Thanh Bai, Thanh Binh, a land rich in historical and cultural traditions and always full of affection.

There is also the famous Dao Ngan communal house, which is the headquarters of the Cat Van Party Cell.1930-1931, and was the headquarters of the local Soviet government during the revolutionary movement of 1930-1931. After the revolution, Dao Ngan communal house was the place where the 2nd Congress of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee was held (1949), with the participation of comrades Pham Van Dong and Nguyen Chi Thanh.

Welcoming me right at the committee headquarters, Mrs. Bui Thi Nga - Vice Chairwoman of the Commune People's Committee and Ms. Tran Thi Tuyet - policy officer enthusiastically took me on a tour to visit the places where agencies and units were evacuated. Today, the traces of the bunkers, foundations of fortifications, and trenches no longer exist, replaced by green acacia and cajuput hills. However, the heroic memories of the years of the great resistance war of the nation are still deeply imprinted in every person here.

Visiting the now-empty Cat Van Kindergarten's Hamlet 2 School Cluster, in the school grounds there is a historical stele that clearly states: "Here, Military Hospital 4 stood for 16 years during the resistance war against the US to save the country and the early period of the war to defend the Fatherland (1965-1981). With the affection between the army and the people like fish and water, with the care and support of the Party Committee, the government and the local people, the Hospital built nearly 50 thatched houses scattered among the people, with ramparts and fortifications surrounding 10 hills".

The brief quotes are enough to express the close bond between the people in the evacuation area and the units. It is even more precious that amidst the fierce bombardment, the people's care for the hospital was not only a gesture of support, but also a symbol of patriotism, of the military-civilian relationship during the difficult and meaningful years.

Turning back the page of history, since the US imperialists escalated their bombing of the North since 1964. At the end of August 1964, the Party Committee and the Administrative Committee of Thanh Cat and Thanh Bai communes welcomed the advance delegation of Military Hospital 4 to survey the location so that the Military Region 4 Command could decide as soon as possible to move the hospital for evacuation.

After a period of research, surveying the terrain, and facing the fierce attacks of the US imperialists, especially in areas such as Dung, Rang - the Political Center of Thanh Chuong district, by the beginning of April 1965, trucks and ambulances went back and forth, crossing Thanh Cat - Luu Son, many boats of the transport team on Lam river also docked at Cung ferry, carrying full equipment, machinery, medicine, wounded soldiers from Vinh to Thanh Cat, Thanh Bai, Thanh Binh. By July 1965, all facilities, vehicles, technical equipment and more than 300 wounded soldiers of Military Hospital 4 had been evacuated to a safe location.

Mr. Bui Gia Hao - Secretary of the Party Committee of Cat Van commune shared: According to the history of the Party Committee of the commune, the years when agencies and units evacuated here were recorded very clearly. Due to the importance of treating wounded and sick soldiers, Military Hospital 4 arranged a forward station in Trung Son commune (Do Luong) - opposite Cat Van on the other side of Lam river, a transfer station at Cung ferry, Soi ferry. The hospital, logistics, political agencies, and specialized departments were scattered among the people on 10 inverted hills of all 3 communes of Thanh Cat, Thanh Bai, Thanh Binh at that time.

According to the history of the Cat Van Commune Party Committee, in just 3 months of preparation, 38 thatched houses surrounded by ramparts; 1,200 individual bunkers; 1,500m of traffic trenches were completed by the local army and people, ready to welcome wounded and sick soldiers for evacuation.

Although the war has ended and Military Hospital 4 has moved to Vinh City for nearly 40 years, the memories of the time when the hospital was evacuated here are still vivid in the minds of many Cat Van residents. Many elderly people in Cat Van still remember that when the hospital was evacuated, due to the large number of wounded and sick soldiers, many families and clans gave up their churches to use as surgical sites. Many families took wounded and sick soldiers home to care for and nurture them. If they did not have a house across from them, they would set up beds and benches right in the main house for the wounded soldiers to lie on; they dug tunnels for the wounded soldiers to take shelter when there were enemy planes. Many families also set up beds for the wounded soldiers to lie on in front of the main house, where the ancestral altar was located; all activities of eating, drinking, hygiene, and changing bandages were done on the spot. When wounded soldiers died, the people also replaced the hospital to carry out burial procedures like blood relatives in the family.

Thanks to careful preparation, during the fierce war years, Military Hospital 4 admitted over 2,000 patients each year, with peak days receiving over 300 wounded and sick soldiers; contributing to the treatment of thousands of wounded and sick soldiers, ensuring the number of soldiers for the battlefields...

Although after peace was restored, Military Hospital 4 moved to Vinh City, the vestiges of 16 years of evacuation here will forever be a part of heroic historical memories.

Quiet cemetery of martyrs

In addition to the hospital headquarters, medical clinic, logistics area... the cemetery was also built where Military Hospital 4 was evacuated. It is the burial place for wounded soldiers, sick soldiers, and doctors and specialists during the time they were treated here.

We moved to the Ru Ho area, where there is now a small cemetery, nestled under the green acacia hills. Mrs. Bui Thi Nga told me that the cemetery used to have hundreds of graves, but now there are only more than 130 graves left, mainly martyrs, because some of the martyrs were buried in the district's Martyrs' Cemetery, and some had their families come to bury them in their family cemeteries. Their relatives live far away and can rarely or never visit.

We walked silently among the rows of tombstones. In addition to the rows of tombstones of the dead, there were also some of those of martyrs; some of them had no names, and there was even a tomb of a Chinese martyr.

Ms. Nga also said: In addition to the number of martyrs who have been buried in the district's Martyrs' Cemetery, the local government and people still regularly take care of and repair this place so that it is not forgotten. Every year, on major holidays such as War Invalids and Martyrs' Day (July 27), organizations, veterans and people in the area come to burn incense and express their gratitude to those who have passed away.

“

Recently, we heard that there is a plan to build a concrete road leading to the cemetery. We also hope that this project will be implemented soon so that each time we visit the cemetery, we will no longer have to walk on the winding and muddy dirt road like now.

Ms. Bui Thi Nga - Vice Chairman of Cat Van Commune People's Committee

It can be seen that, over time, although the local government has allocated budget for renovation and repair, it is inevitable that they will deteriorate. The graves of martyrs here seem to have been distorted by time and the erosion of memory, long rows of graves nestled in a quiet space.

After all, although it is a cemetery for martyrs, this is also a witness to history, a place to record the tragic stories of a bloody time. Each grave here is a memory of patriotism, of dedication and silent sacrifice. Therefore, it is necessary to have more attention from the authorities to preserve this place as a part of historical heritage, helping today's and future generations to better understand the heroic past of the nation.

Leaving Cat Van, I carried with me many worries. The vestiges of the evacuation period, of the thatched houses, the bunkers, the trenches that once sheltered countless wounded soldiers, now seem to have faded with the years. Cat Van today has changed, the Cung bridge has gradually been completed to replace the old Cung ferry, but the memories of the time of war, of the steadfast love between the army and the people still resonate, echoing from the Lam River up to the hills.

Although the war has long gone, the stories of military-civilian relations, the stories of a time of evacuation in this land are still there. The Martyrs' Cemetery - the resting place of soldiers who were treated at Military Hospital 4, is still here, quietly among the acacia hills, as if reminding us of our responsibility to preserve and show gratitude for the vestiges of history...