Hiep Hoa - Unsatisfied feelings

Corn mixed rice and great irrigation projects

After the country's reunification, the whole country was filled with excitement and enthusiasm in overcoming the consequences of war. Nghe Tinh was excited and famous for the slogan "Changing the sky, changing the land, rearranging the country".

Party Congresses at all levels determined: "Agriculture is the top front", irrigation is placed at the number 1 priority. 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. Although there were still many difficulties, the Party was wholeheartedly for 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 202 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 helped 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, spinach soup, and even boiled "bell-lid" bread, which was not enough to fill them up, etc. Projects such as Vuc Mau Lake,Ke Go Lake, Vach Bac canal, Nghen river,Le Dynasty Canal, 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, we admire and respect the bold and resilient generations of leaders and people at that time even more.

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 recognized objectively, positively, comprehensively, historically, fairly, and as valuable lessons in many aspects.

Hiep Hoa on the 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 years of the 20th century, partly due to war destruction, partly due to long-term silting, 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 earth and rock on both sides of the vertical wall collapsed into the canal bed. Hundreds of people were buried in an instant. 98 sons 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, some 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 have not yet swallowed! 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 lines abouttragic 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 their 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 their homeland without any compensation.

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 their brothers and sisters had sacrificed so that future generations would know and show gratitude to those who had devoted themselves to their homeland and country. Although there was a policy from the province, until now there is only a small, rudimentary shrine built by a few comrades on their own initiative.

The people who participated in those construction sites are now elderly. Currently, some of them are living alone or sick due to accidents, and some of their relatives have made great sacrifices. They are now old, sick, and poor or near-poor. 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 golden 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 arid land". Is it possible that such a legitimate aspiration will be forgotten over time? I used to be a representative of the district People's Council, I directly met many witnesses and called for volunteers to help some victims of Hiep Hoa. We also "seriously received voters' opinions and reported 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 take notice, it would be a great satisfaction.