The soul of the homeland in the General's soul

(Baonghean) - General Vo Nguyen Giap, a revolutionary soldier, the most handsome Uncle Ho soldier in the Ho Chi Minh era, a general of the people... I felt that more clearly during these sorrowful days, present in An Xa village (Loc Thuy - Le Thuy - Quang Binh), the General's hometown.

The simple, modest three-room, two-wing wooden house with a dark brown tiled roof is hidden in the middle of a peaceful village. This place has just suffered the fierce destruction of storm No. 10. The traces are large tree stumps that have been uprooted; the fields are still flooded... The Kien Giang River is still red with alluvium from upstream. But it seems that the river has slowed down when flowing through An Xa village in recent days.

I have been there many times, sometimes late at night, but the gate to the General's house has never been closed. From this village alley, General Vo Nguyen Giap went to war. His whole life was a career of fighting for the people, for the country. I imagine that on nights away from home, or nights in the middle of the battlefield, in the General Staff Headquarters of the Vietnam People's Army, after drafting a top secret urgent telegram directing the battlefield, the General would spend some time thinking about his hometown, thinking about the small house by the gentle Kien Giang River, with the ferry, the star fruit tree, the jackfruit tree behind the house, about the fields that were flooded during the rainy season, about the traditional sedge mat weaving profession of the village that is still preserved today...

And the people of Loc Thuy, Le Thuy, Quang Binh are simple, gentle, patient, hard-working, working hard all their lives in the fields, on the river, in the mountains... All those souls and rural features were deeply imprinted in the General's soul, contributing significantly to the personality and talent of a revolutionary soldier. Every time he made a decision to fight, the General thought about the sacrifice and loss. During his life of fighting, the General never stopped thinking about the lives of soldiers, about each drop of blood that soldiers had to shed as little as possible; about the pain of mothers in each countryside.

The gate to the General's house in An Xa village. Photo: HQ

In front of the General Vo Nguyen Giap Memorial House is the gentle Kien Giang River, where the talented general spent his childhood, this afternoon is quiet. Occasionally, the motorized boats passing by slow down, the small waves seem reluctant to hit the riverbank still imprinted with flood silt... The house was burned down many times by the French, then destroyed by war.

In 1977, in response to the wishes of the people of An Xa village, the local government and the General's family restored the house. By 2000, the house had been restored to its original form and kept intact the old style with simple, modest furniture. In the garden, there are many trees planted by the General himself during his visits to his hometown. The milk fruit tree that the General brought from Hanoi to plant in his garden has survived many storms and floods, and now has lush branches and leaves...

In the afternoon, flocks of white storks fly over the fields of An Xa village... I see the soul of the beloved General's hometown in every tree and small path. That soul of the countryside contributes to nurturing our souls with symbols of sustainability and trust!

Hoai Quan