Medical Education Delegation K271: Celebrating 53 years of crossing Truong Son to fight against the US

According to the Official Dispatch of the Central Organizing Committee sent to the Department of Operations of the Ministry of National Defense, the group was established after November 20, 1970 in the forest next to Road No. 6 Xuan Mai (Hoa Binh). The group consisted of 151 members, organized into 7 branches, of which 15 comrades went to the battlefields of Binh Tri Thien and Zone 5, 136 comrades went to the battlefield of the South. The group consisted of two-thirds of teachers and managers from all over the Northern provinces who had just undergone 4 months of selective training at the T105 Training School of the Ministry of Education in Ban Yen Nhan, Hung Yen province and one-third of doctors who had just graduated from secondary schools and universities of the Ministry of Health. This was a "special elite" force, strengthening the new human resources for the two sectors of Education and Health of the Southern revolution. The group departed from Doi Can Street, Hanoi on January 27, 1970, so it was often called Group K271.

Troops marched into the southern battlefield via the Truong Son trail. Photo courtesy

The historic march

In the last days of December, before Tet Canh Tuat 1970, more than 150 young men and women said goodbye to their beloved North, eagerly carrying their backpacks and setting out to cross Truong Son. After 2 days traveling by train and car to gather in Cu Nam, Quang Binh, the group began wading through streams and crossing passes, marching on foot on the Truong Son mountain range. Although they had been trained for more than 3 months carrying backpacks of bricks, guns and ammunition at the Central Unification Committee's Training School in Hoa Binh, when traveling on the Truong Son road, they encountered fierce difficulties.

After a month of marching, the group said goodbye to 15 comrades and split into two battlefields: Binh Tri Thien and Lien khu 5. The remaining 136 comrades included 94 teachers and 42 doctors. Teachers and doctors who were used to seeing blackboards and white chalk every day, and hospitals and patients, now had to climb mountains and wade through streams, carrying heavy loads for months.

When the nearly 3-month march into the Southeast region was only 4 or 5 liaison stations away from the Central Bureau's Organizational Department's assembly point in Base Area R (Tay Ninh), they encountered the Indochina sweep. The US imperialists and the Saigon puppet government mobilized more than 100,000 troops to attack the Central Bureau's base in Tay Ninh and cut off the 559 line supporting the South.

For more than 3 months, surrounded by the enemy, in the dense B52 bombings; in the fierce sound of artillery and bombs, more than a hundred people, along with army units, fled from the enemy and hid in the forests along the Vietnam - Cambodia border. At this time, the Lon Nol coup broke out in the Cambodian political arena. There was no longer any safe land, the communication routes in and out were cut off by the enemy. The rice and salt logistics warehouses were occupied by the enemy. The whole group lived precariously, gasping for breath with betel leaves, taro leaves and wild bamboo shoots. For a whole month, there was not a single grain of rice or salt. Lacking rice was already miserable, lacking salt was even more miserable. The most pitiful were the female doctors and nurses, only 19-20 years old, who had to endure severe malaria. There were days when 20 people had fever and were paralyzed in hammocks.

Meeting of Delegation K271 in Cambodia.

In hardship and deprivation, the camaraderie of comrades was so strong that they shared every last grain of rice and medicine. Kieu Ngoc That had a high fever, Tran Thanh Xuan and Nguyen Thi Bay, although small and weak, carried their backpacks and carried their comrades on a stretcher. Pham Van Mach carried his backpack in front of his stomach and carried Tham Thi Ha on his back. Dau Hung carried Nguyen Minh Tram on his back. Nguyen Thi Nhien had a high fever on her menstrual period and could not take care of her hygiene. Vo Minh Hue and Ngo Duc Tien bathed her, carried Nhien, put her under a tree, and sat by the commandos so Nhien could rest. On May 24, 1970, Ha Van Tuan died, and the group was taken to another forest by the liaison, but Nguyen Van Hay and Cat The Truyen stayed behind and used daggers to dig the ground to bury their comrades.

On May 25, 1970, the group was surrounded by commandos on their way to find a rice warehouse. Dinh Dang Dinh was shot 3 times in the leg by the enemy, and his comrades carried Dinh out of the enemy siege. Also during this sweep, Nguyen Thi Thoa got lost in the forest, and at one point ended up in the middle of a B52 bomb site, lying starving in the middle of the forest. Luckily, they met a reconnaissance team of our army, and suspected that she was a female commando of the puppet army who had lost her way in the forest, so they questioned her. Later, they learned that she was a female doctor from the Malaria Institute supporting the South, so they brought her back to the unit and gave her a small package of salt. At that time, grains of salt were more precious than gold. In 1970, during that time of hunger and lack of salt, comrade Pham Xuan Dao died, and in 1972, comrade Nguyen Xuan Thang died after the enemy's carpet bombing.

During the most difficult and fierce days, the comradeship of living and dying together shone brightly, and the ideal of the South, determined to go all the way to the Southern battlefield to contribute to the Southern revolution, shone brightly.

It was not until mid-October 1970 when the Central Bureau base could not be destroyed because we were heavily attacked and the Americans and puppets retreated that the entire group finally reached the Central Bureau base in the province of Kampong Cham (Cambodia). After several months of recuperation, the teachers were assigned to disperse to the bases and sub-committees of the Central Bureau. Some went to the Sub-Committee for Education in Region B3, some to the General Association of Overseas Vietnamese to open pedagogical and popular education classes. Four comrades from Nghe An were sent to the Tien River and Hau River areas along the border between us and our friends in the sticky rice and bean areas, where we and the enemy were intermingled. When the enemy withdrew, they opened pedagogical classes, when the enemy swept, the teachers and students fled to the swamps. Two teachers, Tran Hanh and Thai Duy Trap, were captured and interrogated by the enemy but remained steadfast and found every way to return to the base. Number 42 medical staff and doctors were assigned to the Civil Medicine Department in the region and then dispersed to the hospitals of the Central Bureau.

Leaders of the Department of Education and Training presented gifts to the Liaison Committee of Teachers Going to B. Photo: My Ha

After the historic march that lasted 3 times longer than normal trips, when arriving at the Central Bureau base and spreading to the departments, mainly the Propaganda sector such as: Radio, News Agency, Propaganda School, Pedagogical School, schools training children of martyrs such as: Ly Tu Trong, Le Van Tam... and civilian hospitals. Despite different circumstances, everyone integrated into the resistance life and made worthy contributions to the training of human resources and health care at the headquarters of the Central Bureau. Some comrades were admitted right on the battlefield. In 1973, 3 comrades Kieu Ngoc That, Van Duc Yen, Dinh Van Tong sacrificed.

By April 30, 1975, the victory was complete. Most of the 136 comrades of the K271 group returned to join the Saigon-Gia Dinh Military Management Committee, and 5 comrades returned to neighboring provinces. The brothers and sisters still kept in touch like the years in the jungle of the war zone. Everyone thought: "Ten months of marching and nearly 6 years of fighting and serving in combat in the Southern battlefield were the most fiercely challenging times, but also the most beautiful years of our youth."

In 1976, a foreign journalist interviewed teacher Nguyen Xuan Thuy: Do you have any regrets about the time you spent crossing Truong Son in the past? Teacher Nguyen Xuan Thuy immediately replied: “I have nothing to regret. Now, if the Party needs to cross Truong Son again, I am still ready!”

Loyal love of resistance

When the K271 group arrived at the Central Bureau's war zone, out of 136 brothers and sisters, 65 were married in the North and 71 were single sons and daughters. Those who were married had mostly elderly parents, young wives and children. The women at home sometimes did not receive a letter from their husbands for two or three years, but they still took care of their parents, raised their children, and waited for the day of family reunification. There were 6 women whose husbands had died, a great loss. The wife of Mr. Pham Xuan Dao struggled to raise 4 children. In 1973, their house was completely destroyed by American bombs. The villagers rebuilt 3 temporary houses for the mother and children, still anxiously waiting for their husbands until 1976 when they received death notices. There were 3 people who had just been married for a few days before they had to separate. The 71 single sons and daughters were mostly young teachers and doctors.

The joy of B-level officers when receiving their personal files. Photo: Thanh Le

On the march across Truong Son during the years of working and fighting together in the Southern battlefield, many love relationships were connected, including 52 people and 26 couples who became husband and wife, the connection between cadres of the two sectors of Education and Health in the same group. Husband and wife were both teammates and comrades, and the characteristics of the resistance cadres of these two sectors were both exemplary and honest, so there were no rich people.

There were simple weddings that took place in the jungle of the war zone, there were weddings that took place during several months of military rule, there were weddings that took place in the first years after liberation... 26 couples of resistance love, although their circumstances were different, all 26 couples still maintained their loyal love until old age. Group K271 became the civilian group with the largest number of resistance couples. That was also the pride and blessing of the group (comrades often jokingly called them the Y Duc - Y Te Giao Duc resistance couples).

Preserve and foster solidarity

After the country's reunification, with the connection of some core groups in the two localities of Ho Chi Minh City and Nghe An province and some neighboring provinces, every year on January 27 or April 30 - the anniversary of the Liberation of the South and the reunification of the country, the Liaison Committee of Group K271 often organizes meetings in small groups to encourage and share with each other, sympathize and encourage each other in life.

Since the renovation, with more convenient means of transportation, the Liaison Committee has been able to connect meetings with comrades from Group K271 in all three regions of the North - Central - South. We were very happy for each other when we left with only more than 20 party members. After April 30, 1975, all comrades were admitted to the party; many people studied 2-3 more university degrees, striving to become managers, teachers, medical practitioners, and members of local government committees. Some became journalists, poets, and scientific researchers. Wherever they were, whatever they did, they maintained their moral qualities, preserved and cultivated the revolutionary achievements that they, Group K271, and many comrades had sacrificed for.

Deputy Director of the State Records and Archives Department Nguyen Thi Nga returns files to officials who 'went to B'. Photo: Thanh Le

Each meeting is a happy day for the elderly to recall the memories of their youth, remind each other to live happily and healthily, live exemplary lives, and raise their children and grandchildren to become good citizens. The criteria of the commemorative meetings of the group are to nurture and preserve the pure and loyal feelings of comrades in the resistance war, not to boast about achievements, not to talk about poverty and hardship, not to criticize or judge anyone, and to support each other in organizing happy days.

On the 53rd anniversary of crossing Truong Son to participate in the battle and directly fight, among the more than 90 comrades who have been contacted (15 people went to Zone 5 and Binh Tri Thien, 20 people lost information due to changing jobs and places of residence), there are 6 martyrs and 40 comrades who have passed away due to illness. The remaining 50 people who were still able to be contacted before Tet 2023 are the oldest, teacher Dinh Hoi, born in 1935, nearly 90 years old; the youngest person has also reached the age of ancient times. More than 30 people registered to attend the meeting to celebrate the 53rd anniversary of the group crossing Truong Son to participate in the fight against the US to save the country in the coastal tourist town of Cua Lo on April 11 this year, happily and modestly admitting that they are happy people.

When I was young, I crossed Truong Son to save the country.

Now that we are old, what happiness we have when we meet each other!

The Department of Education and Training, the Association of Former Teachers - Nghe An Education Trade Union organized a meeting for teachers who went to B in 2020. Photo: My Ha