Memories of Nghe Tinh land: "The painful but heroic years"

Poet Tran Kim Anh is from Ha Tinh, currently living in Hanoi. She spent many years in Vinh city during the war. She worked as a teacher, but later pursued a career in literature with all her passion and concern, and also won many awards... We had a conversation with her about her memories of her hometown.

-Dear poet Tran Kim Anh, as a native of Duc Tho (Ha Tinh), growing up in the context of a country at war against American imperialism, it is known that during those years of bombs and bullets, you have many memories in Vinh town and they are an indelible part of your memories, a source of material for your compositions. Can you recall those years?

- On August 5, 1964, my father took me to Vinh town for the first time. That year, Vinh town was in a period of war and destruction. I witnessed the destruction, desolation and death. It was terrible. Everyone in my father's office was ordered to evacuate because that afternoon, American planes bombed the Ben Thuy oil depot. The whole depot was burning fiercely and the scene was horrifying. Many people were burned to death, all of them were workers at the depot. Witnessing that scene, I was very scared. As a child, I was panicked because everywhere I looked was desolation, people were running around, evacuating, looking for a safe place to take shelter. Children and the elderly were hardly in such dangerous places. I heard from my father's office that people were evacuating to neighboring districts. It was not until a week later that I returned to Ha Tinh. I followed my father back and forth between Vinh town and Duc Tho, had to go through Ben Thuy ferry, this was also a stronghold that the American invaders always bombed, extremely fiercely.

Speaking of Ben Thuy ferry, this is also the place where the fierce bombings by the US imperialists took place, in an attempt to cut off the vital traffic artery on both banks of the Lam River. Despite being devastated and bombed with terrible bombs and bullets, Ben Thuy ferry still worked hard day and night to transport people and goods, despite the rain of bombs and bullets. Ben Thuy ferry has never lost its connection, and is always kept open by soldiers, traffic officers, militiamen... who are on duty day and night, performing extremely important tasks amidst the lurking dangers. That is what I have witnessed with my own eyes. Until now, every time I remember, I am always filled with gratitude for them, those soldiers, those workers - they did not spare their lives, standing in the rain of bombs and bullets to protect the ferry, transporting each shipment of goods and weapons to the South day and night, contributing to the fight against the US to save the country.

-So during those days, besides the fear of devastation and death, what did the little girl Kim Anh think about the war? What are some memories of the war that she participated in or witnessed that later left an impression on her writings?

- I remember the first time I followed the young volunteers to Dong Loc T-junction, I was in 7th grade at the time, I also wanted to join the young volunteers but I was the only one in my family, my parents were government officials, so I couldn't go. I followed the girls to that fire zone, wanting to see their daily work. It was really dangerous, extremely fierce. At the age of seventeen, eighteen, all rural girls, with unfinished education, I don't understand why the girls were so brave, not knowing what fear was. Clearing bombs, filling bomb craters, leveling roads, making live markers in the dark for vehicles to pass... were their daily work. I was in a team with about 7, 8 girls of the same age, about 17, 18 years old. They were very cheerful, singing all day, working hard without ever complaining. Dong Loc T-junction was an extremely fierce route, countless soldiers, drivers, and youth volunteers sacrificed their lives. I also witnessed the scene of convoys passing by, the soldiers from the North, very young, waving and laughing with the youth volunteers, but the vehicles had only gone less than a kilometer when they were hit by a bomb, and they sacrificed themselves before they could reach the battlefield.

Many of my friends wrote applications to join the army, the boys in my class and other classes volunteered to go to the battlefield with great determination and enthusiasm. My friends said that they could not study at home when the battlefield was calling. They had to go for the national cause, and if they survived, they would return to study later. The youth at that time were ready to volunteer, generous, and fiercely patriotic. I still remember clearly a friend of mine, Phan Dinh Linh, before going to the battlefield, he said, "First is green grass, second is red chest. I will go to war and then I will come back to continue studying. You guys at home study well, be a solid rear for us. We will definitely return." But after he had been in the war for 2 years, we received the news that he had died on the Southeast battlefield. My classmates sacrificed a lot, it was so heartbreaking! They left when they were in their twenties, not yet in love, not yet finished school... everything was waiting for them. But, during the war, very few people returned intact. Many of my friends' generation remained on the battlefield.

- And how did you put those years and those emotions into the epic poem "Singing with the Border"?

-“And war/ war has been going on for generations from the North and the West/ our ancestors held weapons but never brought peace to the nation/ when did war start? Oh my age!/ war splits the Ben Hai River in two/ war spreads throughout the country, Ben Thuy makes the sky of Central Vietnam ache/ the sky is filled with smoke of sorrow/ pity for the factories, roads, schools, all become pitiful bomb craters/ the child leans over the body of his mother/ the child turns to ashes, staining the student's notebooks”,These are the verses that I wrote in extreme pain when I remembered the images of my relatives, my father, my husband's brother... who sacrificed on the battlefield. All of them were gathered into the emotional flow in the long poem of several thousand verses, I remember them all, without missing any detail. I want to recreate the years of hardship, loss, sacrifice but steadfastness and indomitability. Our people, our compatriots in general and Nghe An, Ha Tinh in particular, suffered so much damage but were extremely brave, steadfast, never surrendering to the enemy. I want to express in my work my gratitude, remembering the great contributions of the compatriots on both sides of the Lam River in the great war of national salvation of our nation.

- Honestly, I was very moved by the verses written about soldiers like this: "Must go, the battlefield takes him to battle, he becomes an artillery soldier guarding the sky/ guarding the Tam Soa bank, Dong Loc crossroads/ Lam river at night, his comrades go to battle, at the age of twenty/ guarding the girls bathing in the nude, the afternoon forest is fragrant after the day of moving the artillery/ they are swans flapping their wings in him endlessly without words...". I want to know the poet's feelings when writing about them?

- As well as writing about the people, compatriots, soldiers on the front are people I respect and am grateful to. I have relatives who are soldiers on the front, my father, my husband's brother, my classmates... they went to fight for the independence of the Fatherland, they sacrificed heroically. Therefore, when I wrote this long poem, the question always rang in my mind: Have I lived a life worthy of the sacrifice of my relatives? Honestly, every year on April 30, I am very moved, I buy offerings and burn incense for my deceased relatives, I remember their contributions and promise myself to live a life worthy of that sacrifice. In the long poem "Singing with the Border", I have encapsulated that spirit and I think that I write for my children and grandchildren to read and imagine the difficult but loyal years of my homeland Nghe Tinh. Writing what I am concerned about is happiness. And for me, those were painful yet heroic days, never to be forgotten...

- Sincere thanks to poet Tran Kim Anh for sharing!