Memories of Uncle Ho's Birthday Celebration in 1946

(Baonghean) - Mrs. Nguyen Thi Khuyen (pre-uprising cadre, Duc Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, Nghe An) sat on a bamboo bed. Her five little grandchildren gathered around her, chirping like a flock of baby birds. She told me: "You see, every time we go to school, when we come home, all the children want grandma to tell them stories from the past. Let's see, today grandma will tell you and me the story of Uncle Ho's birthday in 1946, in our hometown." Then, in the voice of a 93-year-old, she led the children back to those historical years...

The August Revolution of 1945 successfully brought independence and freedom to the Vietnamese people, including the villages of Tho Truong, Tho Bang, Chau Linh and Yen Dinh (Duc Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district). During this time, people everywhere were busy studying culture, fighting famine, illiteracy and foreign invaders. Young people and militia were busy practicing defense, women were busy with farming and saving rice jars. Although busy with national affairs, the commune leaders still paid attention to preserving historical relics as a fulcrum to build a new life: Duc Ong temple worships General Bach Bo, a Le family member of the Tran dynasty; Canh temple worships Duc Thanh Canh; and Turtle temple worships the kind-hearted people who donated money to build Ngoc Giat bridge. Sang Communal House is a large and beautiful architectural work, built in 1744 (during the reign of King Le Hien Tong - Canh Hung year 4). The communal house has 6 compartments, 24 ironwood pillars, and a roof covered with scale tiles. In the past, every spring or Tet, in front of the communal house, people installed a swing.

Panoramic view of Sang communal house.

The people of Duc Thanh commune grow mulberry, raise silkworms, weave cloth and silk, so on cool, moonlit summer nights, the girls often organize fabric guild singing next to their spinning wheels.

On the morning of May 19, 1946, from early dawn, hundreds of people gathered at Sang communal house. Young men and women hung flags and slogans in front of the communal house gate. In the first room of the communal house was a red backdrop, people hung pictures of Uncle Ho, hammer and sickle flags. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Viet Minh, self-defense forces, women, elders of the National Salvation Army and many classes of people. In his speech, the secretary of the Viet Minh commune mentioned the great contributions of the Party and Uncle Ho to gain independence for the nation. In his emotion, a delegate read an impromptu poem praising Uncle Ho. The poem has a passage:

Happy long life Uncle
When will we wipe out the greedy invaders?
Vietnam is completely independent.
Three periods of unification triumphant song...

After finishing the poem, the whole hall applauded for a long time, making the people happy and excited. Also during this time, the emulation movement to build a new life, people repaired roads, built radio booths to announce victory news. Social evils were gradually eliminated. Cultural and artistic activities were simple but had the effect of encouraging children on the front line to enthusiastically destroy the enemy. Duc Thanh commune also had special activities to support the resistance war and national construction. In May 1946, the commune government organized an "auction" of Uncle Ho's photo. The lacquer photo of Uncle Ho, priced at 500 VND, belonged to Mr. Tran Huu Kheo. In January 1947, at this time the commune was named Duc Vinh, the revolutionary government organized an auction of the honorary seat, someone bid 50 VND, then increased to 100 VND, finally the honorary seat belonged to Mr. Bang Nong at the price of 100 VND. The commune paid all the auction money into the national defense fund, to buy weapons to fight the enemy...

Dinh Sang still exists today, used as a community cultural house, a place to hold annual folk festivals, welcoming visitors from all over to join in the fun.

Phan Xuan Thanh (Hung Binh Ward - Vinh City)