Shining the Historical - Cultural values of Truong Bon
(Baonghean) -After a period of construction, the first project of the Martyrs' Church at Truong Bon Historical Relic Site was inaugurated on July 14, 2013. On this occasion, Nghe An Newspaper reporter interviewed comrade Ho Duc Phoc - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee about the significance and historical and cultural value of Truong Bon Historical Relic Site.
PV:Dear comrade! The Truong Bon victory has become an immortal legend of patriotism and the sacredness of revolutionary heroism! Could you tell us what the Party Committee and people of Nghe An have done to preserve these historical values?
Comrade Ho Duc Phuc:There was a particularly tragic event that shocked and touched the hearts of millions of people across the country and all peace-loving humanity. In the early morning of October 31, 1968, while 14 Youth Volunteers of Company 317, Nghe An Youth Volunteers were on duty to fill bomb craters and the last meters of road, wearing white clothes as living markers for vehicles going to the front line before dawn, suddenly a group of American planes dropped 238 bombs. Truong Bon was submerged in a sea of smoke, 13/14 soldiers heroically sacrificed, while only a few hours were left for the US to stop bombing the North. They did not have time to step towards peace. The heroic sacrifice at that historic moment became the motivation and strength for millions of people, cadres, and soldiers to fight steadfastly, completely liberating the South and reunifying the country.
Nearly 45 years have passed, Truong Bon has become a testament to the extremely heroic resistance war against the US to save the country of our people. This place has witnessed the brave and heroic fighting spirit of the Youth Volunteers. They sacrificed their youth and blood to make the place names immortal. Mentioning the place name Truong Bon revives unforgettable memories of a fierce time of bullets and bombs in the fiery years.
With a length of nearly 5km on Route 15A, also known as Route 30, Truong Bon (in My Son commune, Do Luong district) holds a very special important position, being the only point connecting traffic arteries such as: Milestone No. 0, National Highway 1A, Road 7, Road 34 to support human resources and materials from the great rear of the North to the front line of the South. With the iron determination "The heart can stop beating, but the road cannot be blocked. Live by clinging to the bridge, clinging to the road, die steadfastly and bravely", on the legendary Truong Bon route, the Youth Volunteer Force, together with the local people, steadfastly held out amid the enemy's rain of bombs and bullets, fighting bravely, filling bomb craters, building roads, wearing white clothes as markers to guide tens of thousands of vehicles; maintaining the traffic artery between the rear and the front line.
Expressing their infinite gratitude and appreciation to thousands of heroes, soldiers and martyrs of Truong Bon, the Party Committee and people of Nghe An organized the construction and in 1994 inaugurated the "Tombstone House", gathering the remains of martyrs for care and commemoration. In 1996, Truong Bon was recognized as a National Historical - Cultural Relic. In 2008, a group of 14 Truong Bon Youth Volunteers were awarded the title of People's Armed Forces Hero by the Party and State. Truong Bon has gone down in history as an epic of bravery, becoming the sacred soul of the mountains and rivers, an extremely important red address in the spiritual life of the people of Nghe An and the people of the whole country.
The church at Truong Bon Historical Site has just been built.
PV:How meaningful is the restoration and preservation of the traditional - historical - cultural - spiritual values of Truong Bon in arousing pride and love for the homeland and country among the people, especially the young generation, comrade?
Comrade Ho Duc Phuc:Nghe An is very proud to be the homeland of the great President Ho Chi Minh and many famous people and patriots. Truong Bon is a historical relic in the struggle to protect and build the country with immortal landmarks crystallized from history, humanistic values, and the blood sacrifices of generations of Nghe An people and the Vietnamese ethnic community such as: Hoang Mai, Cau Giat, Cau Cam, Cau Bung, Truong Bon... marking the silent feats of the Youth Volunteer Force throughout Nghe An.
In the series of tourist journeys "Finding the roots" from Vinh City with familiar names "Red Village", "Truong Thi", "Ben Thuy", "Dung Quyet Mountain", "Quang Trung Temple"; to Hung Nguyen where the Soviet Nghe - Tinh heroic monument is kept, the General Secretary Le Hong Phong Memorial Site; to Nam Dan - the hometown of President Ho Chi Minh with the Kim Lien Special Relic Complex, the Relic Site of the patriot Phan Boi Chau, the Temple of King Mai; to Truong Bon Historical Relic Site in Do Luong District; to the Vietnam - Laos Martyrs' Cemetery in Anh Son District...; wandering on the Ho Chi Minh trail to Milestone 0 in Tan Ky District and immersing yourself in the amazing nature with the Pu Mat primeval forests, Khe Kem waterfall, Sao Va, Bua cave of Western Nghe An...
Respecting the past, showing gratitude to the previous generations, cherishing, preserving and cultivating the present and looking towards the future are the noble values of the Vietnamese people for thousands of years. That is also our duty and responsibility - the generation of today, wanting to do more to repay part of the great merits and sacrifices of the previous generations; at the same time educating and fueling the tradition for the young generation of today and tomorrow. Today's generation must light the fire for the legend of Truong Bon to shine forever.
Every time we come to Truong Bon, hearing about Truong Bon, our hearts ache when we think of the image of young men and women in their eighteens and twenties, full of vitality, calmly lying on the roads for passing vehicles, their hands still tightly holding the notice of tomorrow's school entrance, their pink lips still unfinished with a hundred-year promise,...
Their youth, ambitions, ideals, reasons for living and love have crystallized and built up the places of their homeland and country to become immortal, the country is eternal and developed today, the inauguration of Truong Bon Martyrs' Church took place on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of the Traditional Day of the Youth Volunteer Force; the occasion when millions of students nationwide have just completed the university and college entrance exams in 2013; in which, Nghe An is one of the exam clusters with a large number of students taking the exam with nearly 50,000 candidates; it is meaningful both as a tribute and a continuation of the journey of the "Forever 20" generation...
Today, tomorrow and forever, it is the responsibility of each of us to make historical and cultural values shine, to cultivate artistic values so that Truong Bon can flourish, to guide people towards noble, good and righteous ideals and ways of life. To show gratitude to Truong Bon heroes, soldiers and martyrs, we must first of all implement the Party and State's policies towards them and their families; must pay the most sincere attention, take care of their lives and best implement policies towards families of war invalids, families of martyrs and people with meritorious services. Honor the great contributions and sacrifices of them, promote their spirit and their good and noble qualities to the lives of our compatriots and comrades in the province today.
PV:Could you please tell us how Nghe An province has recently called for joint efforts and mobilized resources to build Truong Bon into a Historical, Cultural and Spiritual Relic Site?
Comrade Ho Duc Phuc:With the aim of building Truong Bon into a symbol for Vietnamese Youth Volunteers, demonstrating the morality of “When drinking water, remember its source”, and educating the spirit of patriotism for the younger generations, on April 19, 2010, Nghe An Provincial People’s Committee issued Decision No. 1591, approving the Project “Preservation and restoration of Truong Bon Historical Relic Site” with a total investment of 175.4 billion VND. The capital for construction of the project mainly comes from contributions from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals. The project has a total construction area of 22 hectares, divided into 2 phases.
Phase 1, implemented from 2010 to 2013, includes: Construction of tombs, temples, relic items, related and auxiliary infrastructure. Phase 2, from 2014 to 2015, includes construction of squares, exhibition halls, technical infrastructure items... Along with that, the Ministry of Transport also approved the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 15A with a total investment of over 750 billion VND, in addition to its important historical significance, it also contributes to completing the road network, promoting socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security; it is also a pilot project of the Ministry of Transport on the construction of cement concrete road surface structures in Vietnam.
On October 30, 2012, the project was started by the Department of Transport as the investor. Truong Bon has become a legend of the transport sector during the resistance war against the US to save the country. Therefore, with affection, responsibility, determination and outstanding efforts, the staff of the Nghe An transport sector in particular and the entire Vietnam transport sector in general will definitely complete this project successfully, as a heart, honor and pride of the soldiers who paved the way.
With that spirit, over the past years, the Party Committee and People of Nghe An province, with the support of the Central Government and agencies, compatriots and comrades nationwide, especially the Ministry of Transport, Central Youth Union, Vietnam Television, Tien Phong Newspaper, agencies and individuals, etc., have restored Truong Bon to become a Historical - Cultural Relic on the basis of respecting history, recreating the space of the old battlefield and building memorial works about the heroic and glorious war, about compatriots and comrades who sacrificed for the Independence - Freedom of the nation.
Up to this point, the total value of support from individuals and organizations has reached over 110 billion VND. When completed, the entire relic site will have 3 main areas: the Victory Monument area, the Central area and the area for preserving and renovating the houses of Hamlet 9 with the aim of recreating the activities and lives of the people during the years of fierce bombs and bullets. The memorial area includes: the memorial house, the left and right houses and the garden landscape supported by the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade with a value of 22.9 billion VND and will be inaugurated on July 14, 2013. Some other works: the monument, the reception house, the regulating lake are also being urgently constructed from socialized capital.
Nghe An is a province with a large area, complex terrain, and a large population. In addition, the locality is located in the center of natural disasters and floods, so despite great efforts, Nghe An is still a poor province. Mobilizing capital to build "Truong Bon Historical - Cultural Relic Site" into a cultural space, a special sacred land is facing many difficulties. The Party Committee and people of the province really need the attention and support from philanthropists and children far from home to join hands to build an everlasting Truong Bon, shining with Historical - Cultural - Artistic values that are both sacred and close, crystallized by patriotism, ideals, noble and humane life of the people of Nghe An and the community of Vietnamese ethnic groups.
PV:Thank you very much, comrade!
Reporter
