Part 4: The story of the guides

(Baonghean) -"Guides" are people who know information about the martyrs' graves, and guide the cadres and soldiers to carry out the excavation. They can be cadres and soldiers from other countries who are assigned to help the group, village elders, or any local people, and even those who used to participate in the anti-revolutionary forces and the Lao people who have now surrendered. "Guides" are always enthusiastic, ready to cross streams and forests for months, some even sacrificed their lives in the process of helping our soldiers complete their mission...

The first "guide" we met during the days following the soldiers of the regrouping group in Xieng Khouang was Captain Oneta Thammavong, 55 years old, currently working at the Political Department of Muang Kham District Military Command. Oneta has spent more than 16 years with the soldiers of the regrouping group, Nghe An Provincial Military Command, surveying and searching for the graves of fallen Vietnamese volunteers. Like many other Lao people, Oneta is very quiet but smiles a lot and is quite approachable. Although small in stature, he does whatever the soldiers need help with. The time to come and talk was when Oneta was with the soldiers of the regrouping group repairing the barracks of Team 4 in Muang Kham. His arms no longer had much muscle, but he carried wood neatly, held hoes and shovels strongly with everyone breaking rocks, digging deep soil, his legs were still nimble and flexible like a deer in the forest that had climbed passes and crossed streams for hundreds of kilometers.

Taking a break to drink water, in a mixture of Vietnamese and Lao, Captain Oneta proudly told the story of helping the Vietnamese army. He grew up in Tha village of Muang Kham district, at the age of 18 he joined the village militia and went to supply the Vietnamese volunteer army, the Pathet Lao army to fight against the American imperialists and the Vang Pao bandits. Peace was restored, in 1981, he returned to his hometown as the village chief and Secretary of the Long Khao cluster Party Committee (Cluster - according to the administrative unit of the neighboring country equivalent to a Vietnamese commune). And from 1995 to present, he joined the army and was assigned with team 4 to do this special collection work. Oneta said: "It was said to be an assignment, but Oneta volunteered. In the past, Vietnamese soldiers helped Lao people, so now Lao people have the responsibility to help back. In the past, when fighting the Americans and bandits in Bom Long - Muang Pek and Tham Ngan - Muang Kham, I clearly understood the brotherhood and friendship between the two nations."

Captain Xengphet joined the search for the grave with soldiers of Team 4.

Oneta's specific guiding work was to go down to each village with our soldiers, meet with the villagers and clearly explain the policies and guidelines of the two states, find out specific information about the martyrs' graves and mobilize people who knew the graves to provide information. During the survey and search, he arranged for militia forces from the villages close to the graves to guard, ensure security, and participate in digging with the collection team. Oneta confided: "Going to collect with the soldiers is very fun, because this is a good and meaningful job, knowing Vietnamese, learning the ways of the Vietnamese army, exercising a lot, eating well and getting healthier".

Another guide that oneta showed us was Captain Xengphet Xaichampi, who had been busy helping the soldiers of Team 4 clean up their house. He had only been assigned to the Special Task Force in Muang Kham district for about 2 months, but Xengphet had long been a relative of Team 4. When asked, we learned that at the age of 13, Xengphet joined the army and went to Vietnam to study culture from 1974-1977, so he knew the Vietnamese language and character very well. Xengphet said: The time in Ba Thuoc district - Thanh Hoa were unforgettable days in his life. There were memories that he shared with any Vietnamese person he met, such as: his first love with a girl named Quy and the loving care of a Vietnamese mother for every meal and sleep of a Laotian child. This man in his forties' eyes were filled with tears as he remembered the day he said goodbye and returned to Laos. Quy and his adoptive mother Nguyen Thi Thuong both cried and kept him from leaving... Xengphet boasted: "Last time, I went with the brothers of Team 4 for a whole month and found 9 martyrs. Going with the brothers, I translated, introduced customs and practices, ate, slept, worked together, and fostered solidarity. I could have gone for a whole year."

During the days in Team 4, we witnessed the enthusiasm of Captain XengPhet. He always came to the team early in the morning and returned late at night. When participating in the collection at Pung Xay peak, he enthusiastically cleared trees, chopped and used hoe handles, cooked and directly dug and searched with everyone... At Na Muong village, we happened to meet another guide, Mr. Xi Phan, and were told: "The cemetery on Pung Xay peak used to have another row of graves, but now it has been leveled. Tomorrow, I will go up the mountain to show you". The next morning, Mr. Xi Phan, now 70 years old, went up the Pung Xay peak to show us in detail. Indeed, Team 4 found 2 more martyrs at that location. Seeing him struggling down the mountain, everyone in the collection group was moved. Lieutenant Nguyen Dinh Vy confided: "The Lao people's affection for their soldiers is so great that sometimes they want to cry. At this time last year, Nangphon's mother, 81 years old, in Lau village, Cum Nhot Cua, was very old and weak, but she still insisted on using a cane to climb the mountain just to get to the martyr's grave for us."

Leaving Muang Kham to Muang Pek - Xieng Khouang district and Muang Phuong district, the capital of Vientiane, we met many other guides. They were officers and soldiers of the neighboring country of Laos who helped the group, village elders, village chiefs and even those who had participated in the anti-revolutionary forces, the Lao people who had now surrendered... Lieutenant Gia Datho, 55 years old in Muang Pek district, was voted as one of the longest-serving guides with 20 years. Being a Lao Sung and previously illiterate (because of his many achievements in the regrouping work, he was recently arranged to study and promoted to the rank of officer), his level of knowledge may be limited, and his expression may not be clear enough for people to understand the policies of the two states and the sentiments of the two peoples, but Gia Datho always persevered in campaigning and searching for information about martyrs. Gia Datho told us a story that he thought was very touching: There was an old man who, despite Gia Datho and the soldiers coming to find out information and staying there for a whole month, still said nothing. Only on the day he left the village, when the medical team examined him, prescribed medicine and gave him an IV (because he was sick), did he feel moved and said that he knew clearly that the cemetery had 13 martyrs' graves and was only about 200 meters from his house.

In Muang Phuong district (formerly part of Xieng Khuang, now part of the capital Vientiane), we also got to know the most special guide, Mr. Xia Deng, a former bandit soldier of Vang Pao. Because it was determined that only bandits who had been in the forest for many years would know the graves in the deep mountains, when they heard that Xia Deng had surrendered and returned home, the gathering group sent 3 officers and soldiers to stay at his house for months, using reason and emotion to persuade Xia to go into the forest to search. After several trips searching for martyrs with the group, Xia Deng said, "No matter how hard or happy, we will not abandon each other, now we trust each other." And he himself contacted all the subjects who surrendered to find information about the martyrs for the group. In 2008, Xia Deng persuaded 20 subjects to surrender and go to the graves of the soldiers.

Another effective guide is Sergeant Thao Kham Chan, 48 years old, a soldier in Muong Pek district. It can be said that Thao is the person who knows the roads and forests the best in Xieng Khouang province because Thao spent a long time wandering everywhere looking for aluminum, copper, bomb shells, bullet shells as well as "spoils of war" left behind by the Americans and Vang Pao bandits (people in the area call him "King of Kim Let" - meaning the king of iron searching). Any place or area in Xieng Khouang mountains and forests, any area with graves, Thao knows, Thao leads the way, cuts through the forest very quickly and is not afraid of getting lost in the middle of the night. Another valuable thing is that he is always enthusiastic in helping the repatriation group. At any time, whether he is sick, in the harvest season or on a day off, and needs help, Xieu (a very close friend - the repatriation group and he call each other that) sets off immediately...

Talking about the guide, Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Ngoc Lan, Deputy Head of the gathering group, could not help but feel moved when talking about Lycha Tho, the youngest son of the Na village chief, Muang Pek district. While helping our troops survey and search for the cemetery, he was ambushed and shot dead by bandits in the deep forest. Lycha was enthusiastic, eager and very young, just 21 years old. The group still considers his sacrifice as an inconsolable pain... Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Ngoc Lan affirmed: "In recent years, Lao cadres, people and even bandits who surrendered have helped a lot in the work of collecting martyrs. If we just search according to the grave map handed over by the units, the group will only find no more than 100 martyrs. I myself searched according to the map but only found 2 cemeteries. Currently, there are still many grave maps but the exact burial area and location cannot be determined. Finding martyrs' graves has, is and will have to rely on the people, on guides like you guys".

Thanh Chung