Martyr Le Dang Thuong - a typical example of Ngoc Son commune (Do Luong) in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement

Comrade Le Dang Thuong, from Phuc Yen village, Bach Ngoc commune, Do Luong canton, Anh Son prefecture (now Ngoc Son commune, Do Luong district), Nghe An province. The old Bach Ngoc, now Ngoc Son, located at the western gateway of Do Luong district, is a commune with a historical, cultural and revolutionary tradition.

Since the French colonialists invaded and imposed their domination on our country, the people of Ngoc Son, together with the people of the whole country, have followed the tradition of their ancestors and enthusiastically participated in uprisings against the French colonialists. Especially, after the birth of the Communist Party of Vietnam, generations of Ngoc Son people continued to unite and join hands to "rise up from the mud", contributing to creating a red Nghe Tinh - the peak of the revolutionary movement of 1930-1931. Martyr Le Dang Thuong is one of the shining examples in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement of Ngoc Son's homeland.

Comrade Le Dang Thuong was born into a poor peasant family. His parents were Mr. Le Dang Nhuong and Mrs. Le Thi Thieu. Although Mr. Le Dang Nhuong was just a farmer who worked hard day and night to earn a living for his family, he was very patriotic and had progressive ideas. According to Mr. Le Dang Nhuong, Mrs. Le Thi Thieu saved money so that comrade Le Dang Thuong and his brothers could study at the village school. Thanks to that, comrade Le Dang Thuong was soon exposed to patriotic literature.

At the end of March 1930, under the leadership of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee's representative, the Anh Son Provisional Party Committee was established with comrade Tran Du as Secretary. Immediately after its establishment, the Anh Son Party Committee assigned party members to each commune and village to promote propaganda and recruit more party members. After a period of mobilization, the Bach Ngoc commune party cell was established under the name Bach Truat Party Cell, with comrade Cao Tien Tue as Secretary.

Although newly established, the party members in Bach Truat Party cell accepted the instructions of their superiors and quickly carried out propaganda work, developing the Party base and patriotic mass organizations. At this time, comrade Le Dang Thuong became a member of the Red Farmers' Association and became an active member participating in the propaganda work of the cell.

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Being a knowledgeable person, comrade Le Dang Thuong was assigned by his brother, comrade Le Dang Xuong - in charge of the Red Farmers' Association, to read and lecture on progressive articles to the members of the Farmers' Association. His activities of commenting on books and newspapers through humorous and easy-to-understand language attracted a large number of people to participate. In addition, he and the members of the Farmers' Association also regularly participated in the Tuong festival (called Tro). Through plays praising the spirit of love for the homeland and country, the Tuong festival further strengthened the spirit of patriotism and hatred of foreign invaders in each Yen Phuc child.

Not only was comrade Le Dang Thuong enthusiastic in propaganda work and educating patriotism among the people, he was also an active factor in the direct struggle against the enemy. Under the leadership of the Party cell, he participated in the struggle between the protectors and the tyrants to fight against excessive taxes and to reclaim the alluvial land for the people.

In particular, in September 1930, the Anh Son District Committee advocated organizing a large-scale struggle to force the enemy to implement the demands of the masses that the Anh Son District Chief had signed and received in June 1930. On the morning of September 8, 1930, Yen Phuc was bustling with the sound of drums and wooden fish. Following the direction of the Party cell, comrade Le Dang Thuong and the people simultaneously marched to the gathering place, joining the demonstration of Bach Ngoc commune.

When the protest group of General Bach Ngoc passed Hoi Quan bridge, the enemy dropped a bomb on the bridge, causing damage and killing 2 people, and injuring several others. Faced with the imbalance of forces, the Party cell ordered the protest group to temporarily retreat to limit casualties and preserve their strength.

In early 1931, due to prolonged drought, people in Yen Phuc were facing famine everywhere. Faced with the situation where people and families were forced to go deep into the forest to dig for cassava and brown tubers to survive, comrade Le Dang Thuong, along with party members and members of the Red Farmers' Association, organized a campaign to mobilize landlords to lend rice to relieve the famine. For uncooperative landlords, the comrades organized the masses to break into the rice warehouses to distribute to the starving families. Thanks to this timely and effective relief activity, people's trust in the Party cell and mass organizations was enhanced.

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In September 1931, with his enthusiastic activities and contributions to the local revolutionary movement, comrade Le Dang Thuong was admitted to the Bach Truat Party cell. From a member of the Red Peasant Association, comrade Le Dang Thuong was recognized by the organization and became a member of the Indochinese Communist Party, ready to devote his youth and intelligence to the struggle to liberate his homeland and country under the call of the red flag of hammer and sickle.

On September 15, 1931, comrade Le Dang Thuong and the Bach Truat Party cell organized and led more than 100 people to the house of the village chief of Phuc Yen village, Phan Huy Cau, to rescue two outstanding people who had been captured by the enemy. Then, under the leadership of the comrade and the Party cell, the people of Bach Ngoc commune coordinated with the people of Vinh Giang and Tan Dan communes to organize a large demonstration. Faced with the strength of the demonstration, the district chief Phan Tu Kham sent soldiers to suppress it.

The strong struggle of the masses made the enemy extremely afraid. The French colonialists and the feudal puppet government intensified their policy of terror and arrests on a province-wide scale. In Anh Son district in general and Bach Ngoc commune in particular, they carried out many repressions and arrests of party members and elite people. During this search and sweep, comrade Le Dang Thuong and 77 other comrades fell into the enemy's hands. He was captured by the enemy and taken to Yen Linh station. Here, the enemy used many brutal torture methods in an attempt to extract information about the Party organization in Bach Ngoc. However, those methods could not subdue the will of the staunch communist Le Dang Thuong. Helpless, they decided to take comrade Le Dang Thuong to Phu Dien prison, then to Vinh prison.

Vinh Prison is located in the Vinh ancient citadel area with an area of ​​19,500m2, where many generations of patriots and revolutionary soldiers were detained from the Van Than and Can Vuong movements to the August Revolution in 1945. The enemy used both blatant and sophisticated, sinister tricks such as bribery and torture... in order to exploit information on the activities of the Party's grassroots organizations.

Despite suffering many types of torture, comrade Le Dang Thuong still shook his head and refused to confess. Every time he asked and did not receive a satisfactory answer, the enemy frantically poured whips and stingray whips on his body in an attempt to break the will of communist Le Dang Thuong.

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With his qualities and will, comrade Le Dang Thuong and the prisoners in Vinh prison stood up and were ready for a new struggle right in the dark prison. Under the leadership of the Vinh Prison Communist Party Cell [1], comrade Le Dang Thuong and his fellow political prisoners, through forms of struggle such as opening political classes, holding protests, hunger strikes, writing plays, patriotic poems and literature, etc., contributed to turning the prison into a revolutionary school, defeating all enemy plots to recruit and counter-revolutionary.

Due to his active activities, comrade Le Dang Thuong was considered a dangerous element by the enemy and was often given "special care". After 5 months of being imprisoned and tortured by the enemy, he fell. Comrade Le Dang Thuong sacrificed his life, but his spirit and will to fight, steadfast and indomitable, contributed to encouraging the fighting spirit of political prisoners at Vinh Prison.

In recognition of comrade Le Dang Thuong's contributions to the revolutionary movement, on October 8, 1962, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, on behalf of the Government, posthumously awarded him the Certificate of Merit of the Fatherland according to Decision No. 288/QD-TTga. On October 22, 2013, comrade Le Dang Thuong was recognized as a Revolutionary Veteran by the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee under Decision No. 4705-QD/TU.

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A special thing is that the wife of Martyr Le Dang Thuong was also a veteran revolutionary cadre. Comrade Hoang Thi Hien was born in 1902, in the same hometown as comrade Le Dang Thuong. Following her husband's footsteps, comrade Hoang Thi Hien [2] was an active female cadre in the revolutionary movement in 1930-1931, and her house was also a base for hiding Party cadres.

After comrade Le Dang Thuong died in Vinh prison, comrade Hoang Thi Hien was also arrested by the enemy at Yen Linh station. After 3 months in prison without being able to get any information, the enemy was forced to release her.

After being released from prison, comrade Hoang Thi Hien continued to actively participate in mass organizations in the period 1940-1941. Continuously after the August Revolution in 1945 until 1956, she worked as a member of the Executive Committee, then President of the Commune Women's Association. Comrade Hoang Thi Hien was both a female party member who was always ready to devote herself to the revolutionary cause, and a responsible woman who single-handedly raised two children, Le Dang Duong [3] and Le Thi Em.

For her contributions, on August 31, 1964, comrade Hoang Thi Hien's family was awarded the Certificate of Merit to the Country by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. On April 14, 1983, Nghe Tinh Provincial Party Committee also issued Decision No. 18/QD/TU recognizing her as a long-time active party member (before August 1945). In August 2022, comrade Hoang Thi Hien continued to be posthumously awarded the Third Class Independence Medal by the State.

Born and nurtured the revolution in his hometown Ngoc Son, Do Luong district, martyr Le Dang Thuong soon absorbed progressive ideas and became a typical party member in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement. Not only was he a pioneer in the local revolutionary movement, martyr Le Dang Thuong was also a shining example of a loyal spirit in imperialist prisons.

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