'Red family' in the cradle of revolution

(Baonghean) - Cat Van (Thanh Chuong) is one of the revolutionary cradles with many clans and families with rich patriotic traditions, including the family of Mr. Tran Huu Hoang (often called Mr. Man) with 4 children who joined the Party's ranks in the first years of its establishment.

Mrs. Pham Thi Dao, daughter-in-law of Mr. Tran Huu Doanh and an official of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee, reviewed the revolutionary tradition of Cat Van land.

We went to hamlet 12, where the people, descendants of the Tran Huu family and friends from near and far were happily gathered under the old roof of Mr. Tran Huu Hoang (local people also call him Mr. Man) to celebrate the 110th birthday of Mr. Tran Huu Doanh (son of Mr. Man) - former Secretary of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee, a staunch and indomitable communist soldier.

Mr. Tran Huu Hoang and Mrs. Gian Thi Chuan had 5 children (3 boys, 2 girls), in order: Tran Thi Dich, Tran Huu Oanh, Tran Thi Tuyet, Tran Huu Doanh and Tran Huu Quan. Under the colonial-feudal regime, being heavily oppressed, life was extremely difficult, but the couple Man was still determined to raise their children to be good people, to become useful people, hoping that in the future they would contribute to helping the country and saving lives.

Among the children, Tran Huu Doanh proved to be intelligent, good at studying, and had a lot of character. He graduated early from the French-Vietnamese School in Thanh Chuong and passed the entrance exam to Vinh National School. He was taught by famous teachers such as Tran Phu, Ha Huy Tap, Tran Van Tang, Tran Mong Bach, and studied with friends who later became revolutionaries: Nguyen Tiem, Hoang Tran Tham, Chu Van Bien... Here, Tran Huu Doanh and his fellow students were soon enlightened about the revolution and participated in many forms of struggle, typically the movement to demand the authorities reduce the sentence for patriot Phan Boi Chau.

Next, he participated in the movement of students in schools to organize a memorial service for Phan Chu Trinh, fought against the French colonialists' dismissal of teacher Ha Huy Tap and was admitted to the Hung Nam Association. He and his friends Nguyen Tiem (later the first Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee) and Hoang Tran Tham founded the Nghe An Student Union to lead the student movement in schools. With the guidance and help of teacher Ha Huy Tap, Tran Huu Doanh established a newspaper reading group and a Hung Nam sub-group at Con market and Cat Ngan commune, successfully organized the struggle, helping the people of Cat Ngan commune regain the Tho Son alluvial land that had been taken over by local landlords.

In 1927, introduced by Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Tran Huu Doanh participated in a training course on proletarian revolutionary theory and methods organized by the Youth Association. In 1929, after the establishment of the Indochinese Communist Party, the Nghe An Student Union was established and became active. Led by comrade Nguyen Phong Sac, Tran Huu Doanh and his comrades founded the newspaper Xich Sinh to propagate and encourage the struggle movement of students from schools in Vinh city and districts in the province.

When the French colonialists discovered this, they expelled the revolutionary activists from the school. After being expelled, Tran Huu Doanh returned to his hometown and gathered 30 enthusiastic young people from Cat Ngan commune to establish a Plowing Camp in Khe Truong. This was both a production site and a place to practice martial arts, read newspapers and study politics. Tran Huu Doanh's plowing camp not only attracted the youth of Thanh Chuong district but also attracted young people and students from Vinh, Nam Dan, and Nghi Loc. In November 1929, the Indochina Communist Party cell in Cat Ngan was established, and Tran Huu Doanh was elected as the cell's Secretary.

When the Communist Party of Vietnam was born, Mr. Man's family became the base of revolutionary activities, the place where many officials of the Provisional Regional and Provincial Party Committees ate, slept and worked: Nguyen Phong Sac, Le Viet Thuat, Le Xuan Dao, Nguyen Lien, Nguyen Binh... And what is more noteworthy, all 5 children in the family enthusiastically mobilized the people to participate in the fight against the French, 4 of them became party members in the years 1930 - 1931. Tran Huu Doanh was one of the first party members of Thanh Chuong district, serving as Secretary of the General Cat Ngan Party Cell.

Tran Huu Oanh and Tran Huu Quan were in charge of the Red Self-Defense Force, tasked with protecting the base and suppressing the henchmen. Tran Thi Tuyet was one of the first women in Thanh Chuong district to join the Party, actively participating in the demonstrations in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement, mobilizing the masses to fight fiercely, forcing 30 soldiers at Dao Ngan station to retreat to another place. Tran Thi Tuyet was the woman who held the hammer and sickle flag to lead the demonstration of Cat Ngan commune in the demonstration on September 1, 1930.

After the demonstration on May 1, 1930, the family of Mr. Man was classified as dangerous by the French colonialists because they had four communist children. During the two years of 1930-1931, they sent soldiers to search and burn down their houses and properties three times, but Mr. Tran Huu Hoang and his wife still refused to reveal anything. The cowardly enemy captured Mr. Tran Huu Doanh's wife and 4-year-old daughter, but they did not shake or weaken the will of Mr. Man's family.

Before the revolutionary storm, the French colonialists brutally suppressed and drowned the movement in blood and fire. Many comrades in the leadership of the Regional Party Committee, Provincial Party Committee, and District Party Committee were arrested by the enemy. In January 1931, Mr. Tran Huu Doanh was appointed by the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee as Secretary of the Thanh Chuong District Party Committee, directly leading the people's struggle movement against the enemy's white terror policy; in April 1931, he was transferred to the Provincial Party Committee.

In February 1932, he returned to Luu Son to establish the Anh Thanh Party Cell, one of the last cells of the Thanh Chuong and Anh Son Party Cells during the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement. Comrades Le Viet Thuat, Le Xuan Dao and Sieu Hai were arrested one after another, but Tran Huu Doanh still steadfastly encouraged the remaining comrades to retreat into the forest to operate secretly and wait for the opportunity.

In June 1932, Tran Huu Doanh was ambushed, captured, tortured, and imprisoned from Thanh Chuong prison to Vinh prison, but was powerless against the spirit of the steadfast soldier. Finally, the Court sentenced him to life in prison and exiled him to Lao Bao prison. Along with Tran Huu Doanh, the two other sons of the late Man, Tran Huu Oanh and Tran Huu Quan, were both sentenced to life in prison and exiled to Buon Ma Thuot prison. And Tran Huu Doanh's sister, Tran Thi Tuyet, was also arrested in Do Luong in 1931 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

During those years, Mrs. Gian Thi Chuan (the late Man's wife) played the role of a merchant who traveled thousands of miles to visit her children in prison, giving strength and fighting power to the imprisoned revolutionary soldiers. Tran Huu Doanh and his brothers and comrades always upheld their integrity, steadfastly maintained their stance and raised the slogan "Turn the imperialist prison into a revolutionary school". In prison, he took the opportunity to impart cultural and political knowledge and fighting methods to his brothers, encouraged everyone to fight against the prison guards' tricks and organized hunger strikes, forcing them to give in.

In March 1941, Tran Huu Doanh and 119 other prisoners were transferred from Buon Me Thuot prison to Dak Min prison. The French colonialists' purpose was to use hunger, cold, disease and torture to eliminate the loyal communists. Not willing to accept imprisonment, these outstanding people always thought of ways to escape to continue their activities.

Officials and people of Cat Van commune together look at the documents displayed on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Mr. Tran Huu Doanh's birth. Photo: Dao Tuan

On the night of December 5, 1942, Tran Huu Doanh and his co-leaders Truong Van Linh, Nguyen Tao and Chu Hue cleverly deceived the guards and escaped from Dak Min prison. Although discovered by the enemy, with their cleverness and will to overcome in the struggle, the four communist soldiers crossed the forest and waded through streams for months to find their way back to their homeland. Returning to Cat Van, he disguised himself as a trader of forest and local products to deceive the enemy and rebuild the revolutionary base in Cat Ngan commune and other communes in Thanh Chuong district and Anh Son prefecture.

On April 5, 1945, Tran Huu Doanh was on his way from the base in Vinh Giang to Giang Son when he encountered a group of French soldiers. He was shot and died when the country was about to gain independence, leaving behind a virtuous wife and a young son who had not yet known his father. After the August Revolution of 1945, comrades Tran Huu Oanh and Tran Huu Quan escaped from prison and continued to work, contributing their efforts and intelligence to protect and build their homeland and country. They were veteran revolutionary cadres respected by their comrades and compatriots.

The descendants of the late Man family are always proud and determined to follow the example of their predecessors, becoming people who are useful to society and their homeland. Mr. Tran Minh Chanh (the only son of comrade Tran Huu Doanh) is a doctor, Dean of the Law Faculty of the National Economics University (deceased). The daughter-in-law is Mrs. Pham Thi Dao, who used to be the Deputy Director of the Vietnam Steel Corporation; the brothers and sisters Tran Huu Phuong, Tran Huu Phung, Tran Thi Nhu Tuong, Tran Huu Thuat, Tran Quyet Thang... are police officers, civil servants, and businesses, always conscious of preserving family traditions and turning to their homeland with gratitude, contributing billions of dong to build bridges and roads, leaving good marks, worthy of being descendants of a revolutionary family.

Cong Kien - Dao Tuan