Under the green of Coconut Village

Editor's note: During an exchange session to mobilize domestic and foreign resources to join hands in overcoming the consequences of post-war bombs and mines, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said: "To clean up all post-war bombs and mines, Vietnam needs over 10 billion USD over a period of more than 100 years, not to mention billions of USD for resettlement and ensuring social security in areas contaminated with bombs and mines." Nghe An is identified as one of the provinces with the highest density of remaining bombs and mines. Currently, the clearance and cleaning of the environment contaminated with bombs and mines is being actively implemented...Nghe An Weekend Newspaper respectfully introduces a series of articles reflecting the brutality and pain left by war and mines in some locations considered key in the province.

During the war against the US to save the country, Tuong Son commune (Anh Son) was one of the places that was fiercely attacked. Because this place was chosen by the Ministry of National Defense to build a field airport to help prevent the escalation of attacks on the North by the US Air Force and Navy. Thousands of tons of bombs and bullets were dropped on this land, causing many scenes of devastation and destruction. Currently, underground there are still many hidden dangers...

When I was a child, I often followed my grandfather (now deceased) to the Coconut Field and Lang Trang Beach (Tuong Son Commune, Anh Son). Once, passing two fish ponds of the cooperative, he said: "This place used to be my garden. During a bombing raid by American planes, my garden was hit by 3 bombs, the 3-room house was flattened, not even a single tile remained. Luckily, the whole family had evacuated to the swamp a few days before, otherwise...".

Under the green of Dua village (Tuong Son commune, Anh Son) still lurks the danger of leftover bombs and ammunition.

When she was alive, my grandmother often talked about the hardships and dangers of the time when bombs fell and bullets exploded. She once said: "One day, a group of planes suddenly swooped in and dropped bombs, everyone in the family immediately went down to the shelter. The explosions were deafening, the ground shook. When the bombing ended, when we came out of the shelter, we saw our houses in ruins, our gardens were destroyed by bombs. My grandparents and aunts were frantically looking for each other, everyone was thinking about their loved ones being buried by bombs. Because at that time, it was not uncommon for a bomb to hit a shelter and kill an entire family." Fortunately, the bombs spared my grandparents' family, but it seemed like everyone always had a haunting memory and kept those terrifying moments. Last year, a few months before he passed away, hearing the sound of a civilian plane flying over at dawn, my grandfather suddenly sighed and said: "In the past, no one could lie still when hearing the sound of a plane like this." Then he told stories of the past, when villages were plowed and devastated by American bombs, stories of families buried by American bombs that hit shelters. That was Mr. Ho Van Do's family, 4 people were buried by bombs, leaving only 2 children who were still in school at that time. Mr. Le Van Thuc's family was also buried by bombs, killing 4 people, leaving only the eldest son who had escaped. Or like the story of a Thai ethnic mother in Mon Son commune (Con Cuong) who brought her young child to visit her eldest son who was fighting at an anti-aircraft artillery position protecting the airport. The three of them were talking intimately when an American plane suddenly swooped in and dropped bombs, all three were buried and killed by the bombs...

Growing up, I became a journalist, and many times I tried to collect documents to write about my homeland during the war, especially about the victories at the Coconut Airport, but it seemed really difficult. It was difficult because the locality did not preserve many documents, and when I went to the relevant units, I had to return empty-handed. Some people said I had to go all the way to Hanoi to see if there were any places that still preserved them. Not having the opportunity to go to the capital to find documents about the Coconut Airport, I returned to my hometown to meet with witnesses of the past with the hope of finding some things I needed to exploit. I went to veteran Bui Cong Uoc (72 years old), who was a Commune Team Leader from 1966 to 1972 (when the Coconut Airport was in operation). I was really lucky that Mr. Uoc still kept in his memory some details, events and numbers related to the Coconut Airport. Combined with some other collected sources, I have had a preliminary picture of the fierce war years in my homeland.

On August 5, 1964, the US imperialists expanded the war to attack the North. To deal with the US air force, protect production facilities and vital traffic routes, as well as other provinces in the North, Nghe An quickly established combat teams, set up artillery positions, anti-aircraft missiles and built field airports. Dua Airport (Tuong Son commune, Anh Son) was secretly built, contributing with the army and people of the North to destroy the "prestige of the US air force". At that time, the US was madly bombing with increasingly fierce levels, so a number of military airports in the North were suspended, even Vinh airport almost stopped operating at times. Faced with that situation, in 1967, the Ministry of National Defense decided to build Dua field airport. One year later, Dua Airport was completed and put into operation with a length of 2.5 km, a runway width of 80m. The airport's location is near National Highway 7A and Lam River, making it very convenient for transporting weapons and equipment for combat. Surrounding the airport and the runway system are rugged mountains, creating a solid "shield", convenient for defense. The beginning of the runway is adjacent to Len Thung (now in Hamlet 7, Tuong Son Commune) with a dense cave system that ensures safe weapon storage. Among them is a cave with a fairly large area, which can accommodate 4-5 fighter planes at the same time. The cave entrance is wide enough for planes to enter and exit quite easily. This is the ideal location for our fighter planes to take shelter, ensuring they are not bombed by American planes. At the same time, they can suddenly take off when enemy planes invade the airspace of Zone IV. It is this element of surprise that causes enemy planes to panic many times!

Since then, Dua village became the focus of fierce attacks by the US Air Force. Determining the ideology from the beginning, the army and people of Tuong Son commune quickly prepared for combat. In the first days of building the airport, people evacuated more than 1,000 houses, volunteered to give up more than 50 hectares of cultivated land to build a runway, renovated 3 caves to hide weapons and equipment for combat, and contributed thousands of working days to build the airport and runway. At the same time, 2 militia platoons were established on combat duty with 12.7mm machine guns (including 37 comrades, of which 18 were female) to coordinate combat with anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft missile units.

During the days of fighting to protect the airport, the militia force of Tuong Son commune participated in 175 battles, contributing to the shooting down of an American C47 aircraft on February 12, 1972. "Sharing the fire" with the brothers on duty, the Youth Union and Women's Association volunteered to arrange food, accommodation and supplies for the combat units, quickly repairing the runway after each American bombing raid. During this time, Tuong Son land suffered thousands of tons of bombs and bullets from the US Air Force. In the two years 1971-1972 alone, American aircraft attacked 167 times. Typically, at noon on July 25, 1972, 25 F105 jets bombed the airport, shaking the earth and sky. After that devastating bombing raid, the people of Tuong Son had to suffer many losses and pain. In particular, on October 15, 1972, many groups of B52 aircraft "carpeted" bombing from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next morning, resulting in 307 roofs being destroyed, 17 people being killed, and dozens of others being injured. Coconut Airport was also hit by 45 rounds of bombs, an anti-aircraft artillery position was buried, dozens of soldiers were sacrificed and seriously injured.

Immediately, the Engineering Company and people of Tuong Son commune quickly went to the battlefield to clear unexploded bombs and cluster bombs and hurriedly filled bomb craters and repaired the runway so that planes could take off and land safely. Regarding this bombing, I heard Mr. Vo Tu (74 years old), who had 4 relatives killed by bomb fragments, sadly recount: "At that time, my eldest brother and I were participating in the battle in the Southern battlefield, my younger sister was participating in the Youth Volunteers. There were 7 people at home at that time. Later, when I returned, I heard my mother recount that that day, B52s "carpeted" almost all night from Do Rong wharf through Len Thung area (about 7km). Because B52s often appeared unexpectedly, the family was caught off guard, only my mother and 2 younger siblings managed to get down to the bunker. My father and 2 other younger siblings and a young nephew who had not yet gotten down were hit by bomb fragments. The house was blown away, the truck carrying goods passing in front of the house was also caught on fire, 3 people in the truck were also hit by the bomb and died".

Mr. Bui Cong Uoc took me to visit the remains of Dua airport. More than 40 years have passed, the entrance to Len Thung cave has been sealed and has become a heroic feat, reminding the present and future generations to remember a glorious time. The old runway has now become a green field of corn and rice all year round. The hills that were once plowed and devastated by bombs are now also blooming with green. The old bomb craters have now become vegetable fields and fish ponds. On the way back, passing by Mr. Nguyen Van Khoa's house (Hamlet 6, Tuong Son), Mr. Uoc pointed and whispered: "Under the yard of this house, there are more than 100 kg of unexploded cluster bombs. In the past, I directed the commune militia to collect and bury them here. Until now, I cannot know how many tons of bombs, bullets, rockets, missile warheads and other explosive materials are still lying underground in Tuong Son commune. Because during the war, the US dropped a lot of bombs and bullets, including a large number that did not explode."

Occasionally, when I return to my hometown, I hear stories about children digging in their gardens, picking up bullets to play with, only for the bullets to explode and cause injuries. Then there are stories about people searching for scrap metal accidentally finding bombs, which when brought to the surface are still green in color and the word USA is still clearly printed. Or about rain and floods eroding the slopes and river banks, revealing unexploded bombs. In fact, many of us young people do not know that under the green color of our homeland's fields, there are still hidden dangers from bombs and bullets lying dormant in the ground.

Cong Kien