Hiep Hoa - Unsatisfied feelings

Corn mixed rice and great irrigation projects

After the country's reunification, the whole country was filled with excitement over the consequences of war. Nghe Tinh was excited and famous for the slogan "Change the sky, change the land, and rearrange the country".

Party congresses at all levels determined: "Agriculture is the top front", irrigation is placed at number 1. Tens of thousands of boys and girls of our generation gathered at the province's major irrigation construction sites.

After the great victory of Spring 1975, the entire people firmly believed in the Party. Despite many difficulties, the Party was wholeheartedly devoted to the People, and the People wholeheartedly believed in the Party. All thoughts were truly innocent and pure. Party congresses at all levels determined: "Agriculture is the top front", irrigation was placed at the top priority. Tens of thousands of boys and girls of our generation gathered at the province's major irrigation construction sites. Each district established a 202nd Team, with the Secretary or Deputy Secretary of the District Youth Union as the Team Leader. Each commune had hundreds of young volunteers participating. Local resources were very limited. In addition to spiritual encouragement, localities only provided the brothers and sisters with a little rice, corn, potatoes, vegetables, bananas, peanuts, sesame, etc. After a hard day of labor, the workers' meals were mainly rice mixed with corn, water spinach soup, and even boiled "bell-lid" bread, which was not enough to satisfy their hunger, etc. Projects such as Vuc Mau Lake,Ke Go Lake, Vach Bac canal, Nghen river,Le Dynasty Channel, Goong Lake, Dao River, Hiep Hoa sluice,... were built or restored in that situation.

At Hiep Hoa irrigation construction site. Photo (source: vtv.vn)

Looking back in the 4.0 era, I admire and respect the generations of leaders and people at that time for their boldness and resilience.

The manual labor of the peasants in plain clothes has built or revived irrigation works, bringing great benefits in the past 40 years, for today and for the future. Looking back "in the 4.0 era", we admire and appreciate the boldness and resilience of the generations of leaders and people at that time. They created "very irrigation" works, very beneficial and sustainable for the environment! That is a great achievement, which needs to be evaluated and viewed objectively, positively, comprehensively, historically, fairly, and as valuable lessons in many aspects.

Hiep Hoa day of mourning

Whenever we mention those years, we cannot forget the heartbreaking event at Hiep Hoa culvert, Hoa Son commune, Do Luong district. Because the culvert was built in the early 20th century, partly due to the destruction of the war, partly due to the long time, it was filled up, the water flow through the culvert was not guaranteed, people had to dig and move soil from the canal bed to both banks to refill the culvert. The work was hurried, thousands of people enthusiastically raced against time. The Construction Command Board selected elite units to construct right at the dangerous place. Drizzle, cold wind. When the final stages of dredging were almost finished, preparing to refill the culvert, at 5 minutes to 12 o'clock on January 3, 1978, a terrible landslide occurred. Thousands of cubic meters of soil and rock on both sides of the vertical wall collapsed into the canal. Hundreds of people were buried in an instant. 98 children of the homeland sacrificed forever, 156 people were injured. Among them, Cat Van commune (Thanh Chuong) alone has 37 brothers and sisters who share the same death anniversary right before the Kitchen God's return to heaven on the Tet Mau Ngo! Among them, there are people who are only 17 years old. Some have sent out invitations and prepared for weddings. Some have received university and college admission notices. Some still have a piece of boiled bread in their mouths that they haven't had time to swallow! The whole Nghe An province is immersed in grief and mourning!...

Graves with two lines of words "Recognition" of the deceased in Thanh Lien commune, Thanh Chuong district. Photo: Nguyen Duy

The history of the provincial Party Committee has recorded the following lines:tragic event, this is regrettable. The People's Committee of Nghe Tinh province at that time awarded a Certificate of Merit to each individual "who sacrificed in the cause of building the Soviet homeland of Nghe Tinh" (the exact words used on the Certificate of Merit) of the Provincial People's Committee.

Unsatisfied

In 1978, a trial was held in Do Luong. Thousands of people, from the presiding judge to the audience, burst into tears, in pain and sorrow for both the defendant and the victim! The country had just emerged from war, lacking in every way. In times of hardship, people suppressed their grief and gritted their teeth to endure. Since 1979, the Provincial People's Committee has resolved the policy regime for each family with a person who sacrificed 6 kg of rice/month. After several adjustments, it is now 540,000 VND/month/relative.

However, many meetings with voters have had both passionate and harsh opinions.

The People's Will: The State recognizes the brothers and sisters who sacrificed as martyrs. They deserve to be martyrs. Because they were volunteer workers, building the homeland at the call of the Party. They sacrificed while on duty, during working hours, under the management of Party and government leaders at all levels. They toiled for months on many construction sites to build the homeland without any remuneration.

The certificate of merit from Nghe Tinh province calls the young men who died while building Hiep Hoa culvert “sacrifices in the cause of building the Soviet homeland of Nghe Tinh”. Photo: TPO

The people longed to build a solemn memorial stele where the brothers and sisters sacrificed their lives so that future generations would know and show gratitude to those who had devoted themselves to their homeland and country. Despite the province's policy, up to now there is only a small, rudimentary shrine built by a few comrades.

The people who participated in those construction sites are now elderly. Currently, some of them are living alone or are sick due to accidents, and some of their relatives have made great sacrifices. They are now old and sick, and are from poor or near-poor households. The government should allocate a budget to help them stabilize their lives and not let them “fall behind”.

For over 40 years, after the Hiep Hoa incident, the Lam River still gently flows through the Dao River, through Do Luong, Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, ... to create bumper harvest seasons. Holding a bowl of fragrant rice, we still remember the deceased. Many people and many newspapers still mention Hiep Hoa with nostalgia, ...

Hiep Hoa culvert. Photo: TPO

Beloved Uncle Ho once affirmed: For our country, if farmers are rich, our country is rich, if agriculture is prosperous, our country is prosperous, if the countryside is peaceful, the country is peaceful. That is also the development strategy, the guarantee for the sustainability and stability of the homeland and the country. After more than 35 years of renovation, the position and strength of the country have grown stronger. In that achievement, agriculture is still the "pillar of the economy", the countryside is still a strategic area, farmers are still the people who "work hard" and "take care of food together on the barren land". Is it possible that such a legitimate aspiration will be forgotten over time? I used to be a district People's Council delegate, I directly met many witnesses and called for charity, helping some victims of Hiep Hoa. We also "seriously received voters' opinions and reflected them to competent authorities" many times, but the results were not as expected.

The 42nd anniversary of your death is coming soon. Writing these lines, if those in authority care, it would be a great satisfaction?