Comrade Tran Huu Thieu - a steadfast soldier
Tran Huu Thieu, also known as Nguyen Trung Thien, was born on June 11, 1906, in Duong Xuan village (now Linh Son commune, Anh Son district, Nghe An province). Growing up in a region rich in patriotic traditions, he quickly developed a strong sense of national identity. He died on February 11, 1931.
At the age of 21 (1927), Tran Huu Thieu was one of the seven members of the Revolutionary Youth Association in Duong Xuan. In 1929, he became one of the first members of the Indochinese Communist Party in his hometown. He was appointed a member of the Executive Committee of the General Farmers' Association of Nghe An province.
In early January 1930, the Central Committee of the Indochinese Communist Party dispatched Tran Huu Thieu to work in Ha Tinh. Despite difficult family circumstances—his elderly mother was frail, and his wife was about to give birth to their first child—he enthusiastically set off to fulfill his mission.
Upon arriving in Ha Tinh, Tran Huu Thieu relied on active and core members of the French-Vietnamese Primary School Student Association in Ha Tinh town to establish a Party branch, which served as the nucleus for expanding the organization to districts and counties throughout the province.
After the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Tran Huu Thieu, in coordination with comrades in the Indochinese Communist League in Ha Tinh, held a conference to establish the Ha Tinh Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam at the end of March 1930. The conference elected a provisional Executive Committee of the Party Committee with Nguyen Trung Thien (Tran Huu Thieu) as Secretary.
Tran Huu Thieu enjoyed high prestige among Party members, cadres, and all strata of the people in the province. He always blended in with the masses and employed a method of propagating and explaining revolutionary policies using simple, accessible language. To facilitate his movements and activities, he often disguised himself to evade the enemy, sometimes dressing as a farmer, sometimes wearing a traditional Vietnamese doctor's robe, and other times wearing Western-style clothing to appear as a teacher…
The feudal colonial authorities in Anh Son district searched for the "dangerous communist Tran Huu Thieu" for a long time without success, so they resorted to the despicable tactic of arresting his elderly mother and wife (who had just given birth). Despite his deep love for his mother, his longing for his wife and child, and his intense hatred for the brutal enemy, Tran Huu Thieu remained calm and clear-headed, leading the movement with extraordinary willpower.
The historic August 1st, 1930 protest by 500 farmers from Can Loc, along with a series of other uprisings in Ha Tinh during the anti-imperialist war, was led and organized by the Provisional Provincial Party Committee of Ha Tinh, headed by Tran Huu Thieu.
During the peasant struggle in Cam Xuyen district on September 9, 1930, the French colonialists shot and killed 7 people. Tran Huu Thieu composed a couplet to commemorate the martyrs and encourage the fighting spirit of the masses:
That's how a hero dies, a drop of Hong Bang blood falls to the ground.
Those slaves lived there, their sins averted by the breath of the white devil!
Tran Huu Thieu made significant contributions to the revolutionary movement in Ha Tinh from the early days of the struggle. At the first Ha Tinh Provincial Party Congress in late September 1930, Tran Huu Thieu nominated Nguyen Thiep (from Phu Viet, Thach Ha) as the Provincial Party Secretary, while he himself requested to directly lead the struggle in Can Loc district. His proposal was unanimously approved by the Congress.
As a Standing Committee member of the Ha Tinh Provincial Party Committee, while on duty in Can Loc, Tran Huu Thieu was captured by the enemy on the morning of November 22, 1930.
In prison, despite being subjected to brutal torture, Tran Huu Thieu demonstrated the heroic spirit of the people of Nghe An, refusing to surrender to the enemy. He remained optimistic and cheerful, even writing poems for his fellow soldiers.
I miss flying all the time while I'm in prison.
I remember Hoang, I remember Tho, and then I remember Mai.
Remember Dao, breathless, Long with white teeth.
Remember Che with his curly beard, and Huc with his long legs.
Remember, Lực from Can district was a tall, lanky man.
Remember Hue, the town with shoulder-length hair…
Although imprisoned, Tran Huu Thieu continued to cause constant anxiety among the enemy because his prestige was an inspiration for the masses to fight. Therefore, they secretly brought him back to Phu Minh village, Can Loc district, to be executed by firing squad on February 11, 1931. He died at the age of 25.
To express gratitude to Nguyen Trung Thien, the interim Provincial Party Secretary of Ha Tinh province, after the August Revolution of 1945, the local Party committee where he sacrificed his life named their commune Thien Loc.
