Memories of a time of fire and flowers...

(Baonghean) - On a September morning, Vinh city seemed to be bustling with the sunlight spreading throughout the streets. September 2 had passed, but Phan Chu Trinh street was still filled with red flags welcoming the historic days of the nation. I turned into alley 134 and found house number 8. That was the residence of Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh, a pre-uprising cadre, who had a passionate youth attached to the revolutionary movement of his homeland...

Deeply engrave Uncle Ho's teachings

Born in 1918 into a Confucian family with a revolutionary tradition in Hung Chau commune, Hung Nguyen district, the young boy Nguyen Van Chinh soon absorbed the patriotism and revolutionary enthusiasm of the previous generation. As a child, Nguyen Van Chinh studied at Tong Van Vien School. In 1931, when Nguyen Van Chinh was 12 years old, it was also the time when the Nghe Tinh Soviet Movement was bloodily suppressed by the French colonialists. His father and older brother were captured by the enemy and imprisoned. Their house was occupied by the enemy. The family had to be separated, each person went their separate ways. Nguyen Van Chinh himself took refuge in the mountainous district of Quy Chau. To escape the suffocating atmosphere of terror in Nghe An at that time, in 1940, the young man Nguyen Van Chinh took a train to Khanh Hoa province. Here, under the identity of a farmer, Nguyen Van Chinh connected with grassroots revolutionary nuclei to participate in activities. Also during this period, in their homeland, the enemy continuously conducted raids and arrested revolutionaries in secret societies. Under the guise of “resettlement”, the French colonialists arrested and killed many Party cadres. Faced with this situation, Mr. Hoang Vien – a revolutionary leader in Hung Chau commune (Hung Nguyen) contacted Nguyen Van Chinh to bring people to the South Central region for refuge.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh introduces a photo taken with Uncle Ho on December 8, 1961.

Mr. Chinh said that during this period, he brought 4 or 5 young men to Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan provinces. “In the mountainous rural district of Ninh Hoa, Khanh Hoa province, we made a living by working as hired farmers, making wine, and raising pigs. We had food and kept the enemy in the dark. I only remember the names of 2 comrades at that time: Le Bon and Hoang Nho” - Mr. Chinh said. After more than 2 years in Khanh Hoa, in 1943, Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh returned to Nghe An and continued to operate secretly at the base. In May 1945, comrades in the provisional Viet Minh committee of Nam Dan district assigned Mr. Chinh the task of building a Viet Minh base in Nghi Le village and Nam Dan town area. He was then elected as Secretary of the Viet Minh Xuan Khoa commune and participated in seizing power in Nam Dan district on August 23, 1945. In January 1946, Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh was admitted to the Party and in September of that year, Mr. Chinh became a member of the Party Committee of Nam Dan District.

During his revolutionary career, Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh had many tasks, but the job he was most attached to for many years was finance, commerce, and trade. Since 1947, Mr. Chinh was assigned the important responsibility of a financial officer of the 4th Zone Party Committee, managing the Trade Departments in Thai Binh and Nghe An. He said: “Our Party was very wise in closely directing the trade task, because after 1945, the economic situation was especially difficult. Food and foodstuffs were scarce, while the whole country focused on the resistance war against French colonialism.”

In the report on the results of the operation process compiled by Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh in 2006, there is a passage that says: “In 1949, I was the manager of the Viet Thang Branch of Thai Binh province. At the end of that year, the enemy occupied Thai Binh province. After 5 days of arranging documents and money, I found a way to break through the enemy's siege, bringing 9 brothers and sisters and the company's assets back to Vinh safely. In November 1953, I was the Deputy Head of the Trade Branch of Ha Tinh province. I was assigned to the Trade Branch of Inter-Zone 4 to represent and participate in the Central Laos campaign. Carrying out the task, I organized 12 forward trade stations from Huong Khe district (Ha Tinh) to Nam Phao village of Laos. Within 4 months, I and 50 cadres organized the transportation and receipt of 1,050 beef cattle, 80 tons of food including: sugar, beans, peanuts and many other general goods to supply the troops and laborers on the front line...”. Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh has held important positions such as: Deputy Head of Trade Department of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh provinces; Head of Nghe An Trade Department; Member of Provincial Party Committee, Head of Provincial Finance and Trade Department; Chairman of Provincial Inspection Committee, Head of Provincial Finance and Trade Department...

In every position and task, Mr. Chinh has completed all tasks excellently. With his contributions to the Party and the revolution, Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh has been awarded many medals and certificates of merit by the Party and the State. These include the Third Class Independence Medal, the Third Class Resistance Medal, the First Class Anti-American National Salvation Medal. And most recently, he was awarded the 70-year Party badge by the Party. Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh said that in his life of dedication to the revolution, he has many things to tell, many unforgettable memories. Especially the times he met Uncle Ho when he visited his hometown. The most memorable was in 1961 when President Ho Chi Minh visited Nghe An for the second time, visiting the Department of Commerce, Uncle told the cadres and workers many things, in which Mr. Chinh still remembers Uncle Ho's saying: "Lac is iron and steel/Lac to a friendly country, Lac brings steel back".

Uncle Ho also said: "Nghe An people/eat snacks/use up several tons of steel in a year". According to Mr. Chinh, in the 1960s, Nghe An province grew a lot of peanuts and this was an agricultural product with high export value. Peanuts were exported to the Soviet Union and Eastern European markets to import steel for national construction. However, there were times when uneconomical spending affected the budget. That is why Uncle Ho said: "Eating snacks/use up several tons of steel in a year". Mr. Chinh said that he would never forget Uncle Ho's gentle but profound teachings for the rest of his life.

Continuing the tradition

Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh said that the reason he participated in the revolutionary activities was because he accepted the spirit of saving the country from his homeland and family. Mr. Chinh is the 6th child in a family of 9 siblings. His father is Mr. Nguyen Ngo Dat, a revolutionary cadre before 1930. According to documents of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee and family records, Mr. Nguyen Ngo Dat was intelligent and studious as a child. Although he did not succeed in the imperial examinations, Mr. Nguyen Ngo Dat soon became aware of the revolution, he met like-minded people and joined the Tan Viet Revolutionary Party.

On February 3, 1930, after the Communist Party of Vietnam was born in Nghe An, the revolutionary movement became bustling and exciting. In the first half of 1930, the Party cell in Phuc My village (Hung Chau, Hung Nguyen) was established with 3 party members, including: Nguyen Ngo Dat, Le Vien and Nguyen Thuyen, Mr. Nguyen Ngo Dat was elected as Secretary. Next, Mr. Nguyen Ngo Dat was elected to the District Party Committee and assigned to be in charge of the General Office (including 10 communes in Hung Nguyen). During this period, all document printing activities of the Hung Nguyen District Party Committee as well as the Central Region Party Committee took place at Mr. Nguyen Ngo Dat's house in Phuc My village. Sniffing out the organization's activities, the enemy repeatedly surrounded and searched, robbed many of the family's properties, and then they set up a military post right at Mr. Dat's family.

After the Soviet High Movement was suppressed and terrorized, Mr. Nguyen Ngo Dat and many comrades retreated into secret activities, while directing the mass struggle movement. On the night of April 30, 1931, Mr. Nguyen Ngo Dat even commanded the self-defense unit to attack the enemy garrison located in his garden. Among those who participated in the revolution, Mr. Dat had a special comrade, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Mr. Dat's son. Both father and son were core members of the grassroots revolutionary movement and were admitted to the Party in 1930.

On the night of July 14, 1931, while secretly operating in Yen Dung Thuong village (Hung Dung), Mr. Dat and his son Nguyen Xuan Thanh were discovered and captured by the enemy. Mr. Dat escaped but his son was captured. In August of that year, the enemy captured Mr. Nguyen Ngo Dat in Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh, then they imprisoned him in Buon Me Thuot prison and he sacrificed his life there on September 18, 1932. As for Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, he was released from prison in 1933. Mr. Thanh held the following positions: Member of the Viet Minh Executive Committee of Nghe An province, Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and Political Commissar of the Provincial Military Command; Financial Officer of Zone 4 Party Committee; Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Reconnaissance Department, Head of Nghe An Public Security Department; Officer of the State Planning Committee; Director of General Department 5 - Ministry of Public Security.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh said that participating in revolutionary activities is also continuing the tradition of his family and his father. He knows that it is dangerous and full of sacrifices and losses, but as Mr. Chinh said, "it has seeped into his blood and there is no other way". He smiled: "I haven't been out for a long time, but I know that the streets and my hometown have changed a lot". Yes! My hometown is constantly changing and developing, and today's achievements have great contributions from revolutionary predecessors, including Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh's family.

Dao Tuan